August 28, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

NDAs are hiding data center deals, drawing ire from locals — and attention from lawmakers

By fields of cotton and soybeans where his bees forage and pollinate, Foster Hensel pries open the lid of one of his beehives, setting off a rising hum from inside. "You hear the difference in the sound?" he asks, pumping the bellows of a small smoker to try and settle the bees. "They're getting a little aggravated." What has Hensel concerned is a few miles down the road. In Boyce, a small town in Rapides Parish in central Louisiana, construction is starting on a 300-acre data center site. The beekeeper worries the new warehouse-like facilities will raise his utility bills or change the local environment. And he asks why there's not more information. "Let me quote a good writer, Shakespeare — there's something rotten in Denmark," Hensel said. "There's something wrong with that." The negotiations between the data center developer — Dallas-based Applied Digital Corp. — and local officials were shielded under nondisclosure agreements (NDAs).

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In Rapides Parish, the secrecy left residents with unanswered questions and distrust of their local leaders. But the use of NDAs for negotiations on data centers is common across the country, according to experts and those in the industry. And the practice has faced opposition from the public and some lawmakers. Bills to ban NDAs for data centers have been introduced in several states, including Michigan, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Ohio. Last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro banned their use on data center projects by agencies he oversees. Eric Bonds is a professor and environmental sociologist at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia. He and his research partner found that NDAs were used in at least 25 of 31 data center projects they surveyed there last year. He said NDAs seem to be "standard practice." "After we published our research," Bonds said, "we heard back from reporters and activists kind of around the country from Arizona, Indiana, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania." Companies and local officials who sign nondisclosure agreements say they're needed to protect corporate secrets and to negotiate freely. But experts say they also give data center developers an edge as they move from county to county — in this case, parish to parish — seeking the best deals. "Information is power, and these folks, they're powerful, and they want to make a lot of money, so they're going to control information as closely as they can so they have an advantage," said David Cuillier, director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida.

ICE officer's release escalates fight between states over extradition

The release of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer from a Texas jail on Thursday despite Minnesota’s request for his return could set a dangerous precedent, increasing friction between states and helping criminal defendants avoid justice, legal experts said. Christian Castro was released from a detention center in Brownsville after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declined to immediately sign his extradition warrant. A federal judge also declined to block Castro’s release or order Abbott to sign the warrant. Minnesota officials say they believe Castro could flee to Mexico to avoid prosecution on charges he shot a man and lied about it during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis in January. Extradition from Mexico would require action by the Trump administration, which opened an investigation into Castro’s actions but also has argued ICE agents have “absolute immunity” for their actions on duty.

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The standoff between the two states is highly unusual. Under federal law, states have little discretion to reject extradition requests from fellow states. Thousands of fugitives are sent to other states each year as a matter of routine. But Abbott, a Republican, said last week he would not respond to Minnesota’s extradition request, citing the ongoing investigation into fraud in government social service programs in the state, which President Donald Trump used to justify his immigration crackdown there. The decision is alarming because it injects politics into the extradition process, said Marsh Halberg, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor in Minnesota. “Something that’s been a routine process may now turn into a political card,” he said in a phone interview. In recent months, California and New York have rejected extradition requests from Louisiana for doctors accused of mailing abortion pills. But legal scholars say those cases are different because the doctors weren’t in Louisiana and never fled the state and became fugitives. Under federal law, the New York and California governors had no duty to turn over the doctors, Georgetown University law professor Stephen Vladeck wrote on Substack. “Abbott is just refusing to perform his,” he said.

Texas Senate hopeful Talarico teams with Mark Cuban on plan to break up healthcare 'monopolies'

Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is out with a new plan, first shared with CNBC, to break up what he says are healthcare monopolies and bring down the cost of prescription drugs. And he’s teaming up with entrepreneur Mark Cuban to launch it. Talarico, a member of the Texas House of Representatives who is running against state Attorney General Ken Paxton in one of the most closely-watched Senate races of the 2026 election cycle, will appear with Cuban for a live event and podcast recording in Fort Worth on Saturday to discuss the plan.

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“Mark and I agree it’s time to break up the Big Medicine monopolies that control our broken healthcare system,” Talarico said in a statement to CNBC. “Healthcare corporations are ripping us off — jacking up premiums and profiting off our pain. This plan will break up monopolies, lower medical debt, bring down the cost of prescription drugs, and ensure doctors decide what medication their patients need — not insurance companies.” Talarico is trying to become the first Democrat elected statewide in Texas since 1994, in a seat that would be key for the party if they want to win control of the Senate from Republicans. The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter rates the race a “toss-up,” and recent polling shows Talarico and Paxton neck-and-neck. Democrats across the country have hammered home a cost-of-living message heading into the November election, criticizing President Donald Trump and the GOP-controlled House and Senate for enacting policies they say have hurt the economy and raised prices.

Trump visits Houston for GOP fundraiser and NASA ceremony

President Donald Trump touched down in Houston Thursday afternoon ahead of a private fundraiser before a Friday ceremony at NASA’s Johnson Space Center on his third visit to Texas since returning to the White House. The two-day trip puts Trump at the center of two consequential Texas stories: Republicans’ effort to hold a U.S. Senate seat in an unexpectedly competitive election and NASA’s push to return astronauts to the moon through the Artemis program. After arriving at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base, Trump was scheduled to headline a Republican National Committee reception to raise money ahead of the midterm elections. He is also scheduled to visit NASA Johnson Space Center on Friday.

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Trump's visit to help raise money for Republicans in Texas come as his endorsed candidate, Ken Paxton, is neck and neck with James Talarico in the race for U.S. Senate. The RNC Chair previously told the Houston Chronicle that Texas is a "treasure trove" for finding Republican conservative donors. According to a copy of the invitation for Thursday's event obtained by a New York Times reporter, donors must pay $10,000 to attend the reception and more than $88,000 for a photo opportunity. At NASA, Trump will honor the Artemis II crew and award the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch. Only 30 astronauts have received the honor, according to NASA. Experts said Trump has shown a particular interest in space policy over his two terms in office. “He's certainly, particularly among modern presidents, one of the more energetic and impactful drivers of national space policy,” said Casey Dreier, chief of space policy for the Planetary Society, a space advocacy organization. He redirected NASA to the moon with the Artemis Program and created the U.S. Space Force during his first term. In his second term, Trump worked to streamline regulatory paperwork required by companies seeking to launch rockets. Many presidents have enjoyed the symbolic power of NASA and human spaceflight, Dreier said. Trump seems to understand that returning NASA astronauts to the moon is a “very potent symbol of American capability,” he said. “He understands the power of symbolism and of a story and narrative,” Dreier said of Trump. “One of his great strengths is understanding how to sell an idea.”

State Stories

Enbridge to buy Houston pipeline co.'s crude oil business in $600M Permian deal

Canada-based Enbridge Inc. (NYSE: ENB), which has its U.S. headquarters in Houston, is acquiring pipeline assets for $600 million. Houston-based Salt Creek Midstream LLC is selling its crude oil gathering business — including 100% of the Orla and Wink North systems and a 50% interest in the Delaware Crossing system — to Enbridge. The business has about 500 miles of crude oil gathering infrastructure in the Delaware Basin portion of the Permian Basin. It serves more than 20 producers and has about 320,000 net dedicated acres under long-term commercial agreements with an average remaining contract life of about 10 years. The assets have a combined 420,000 barrels per day of throughput capacity and 350,000 barrels of storage capacity with access to Enbridge’s majority-owned Gray Oak Pipeline.

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"These assets will strengthen our value chain in the Permian Basin and Enbridge can now offer customers full wellhead to water integration via Gray Oak, Cactus II and the Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center,” Colin Gruending, Enbridge’s executive vice president of liquids pipelines, said in a news release. The deal is expected to close in 2026. RBC Capital Markets acted as financial adviser to Enbridge. Sidley Austin LLP and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP were legal advisers to Enbridge. Salt Creek Midstream was formed in 2018 by Houston-based Arm Energy Holdings LLC and funds managed by Los Angeles-based Ares Management LP (NYSE: ARES). Aside from the crude oil gathering business, Salt Creek also has natural gas and water infrastructure in the Permian Basin. Enbridge is working on several other pipeline projects that come out of the Permian Basin. A joint venture is developing the 450-mile Eiger Express Pipeline, which will run from the Permian to Katy with a capacity of 3.7 billion cubic feet per day. A separate joint venture reached a final investment decision with Houston-based Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE: TRGP) last year to develop a 160-mile, bidirectional natural gas pipeline between the Corpus Christi area and Katy.

Prominent general contractor's Texas offices raided by federal authorities

Federal authorities raided a general contractor's Austin, San Antonio and Plano offices on Aug. 26. More than a half-dozen eyewitnesses told the Austin Business Journal they spotted around 15 federal and state officers enter Three Barton Skyway, which is located at 1221 South MoPac Expressway, in the morning. The officers were circling in on the office of Plano-based Cadence McShane Construction Co. LLC and left with several boxes and confiscated cell phones, sources said. Srinath Kasturi, Cadence's executive vice president over the Austin office, on Aug. 27 confirmed the activity at the Austin office, along with offices in San Antonio and the Plano headquarters.

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Kasturi said the incident "involved a government agency obtaining records related to a previous project," and added that Cadence fully cooperated and provided the requested information. He identified that agency as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and said no arrests or detainments were made. Cadence McShane is a prominent general contractor in the area and has worked on some of the region's most notable projects, including the massive NFM-anchored shopping center in Cedar Park. It ranked No. 11 on ABJ's list of largest area general contractors, based on $315.3 million in construction billings in 2025. It reported 79 local employees at the time. Representatives from the Texas Department of Public Safety on Aug. 27 confirmed they were at the scene assisting HUD, and deferred questions to HUD. HUD officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Austin Police Department confirmed it was not involved.

Free speech lawsuits against Tarrant County judge awaiting decision from US appeals court

A U.S. appeals court will determine whether two lawsuits alleging First Amendment violations move forward against Tarrant County and Judge Tim O’Hare. The lawsuit Bishop Mark Kirkland filed against the county and O’Hare in January is paused until the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decides whether to reconsider a lawsuit Kirkland’s attorney, CJ Grisham, filed against the county judge last year. Both men allege that O’Hare violated their constitutional right to freedom of speech when he had them removed from public meetings of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court. A magistrate judge canceled the Aug. 28 hearing to settle Kirkland’s lawsuit, citing U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman’s decision to wait on the appeals court before further judgment.

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“The related case before the Fifth Circuit is substantially similar in posture and involves the constitutionality of precisely the same county rules of decorum,” Pittman wrote in an Aug. 6 court filing. The cancellation issued Aug. 7 came three days after O’Hare earned state headlines for ordering all attendees to leave the commissioners courtroom when some of them clapped after he told them not to during a public meeting. A former Tarrant County state lawmaker was arrested and carried out of the courtroom by sheriff deputies after continuing to speak when O’Hare cut off his public comments. Grisham, an attorney and gun rights activist from Temple, alleges that O’Hare violated the First Amendment when the county judge had him removed from a commissioners court meeting for using profanity in January 2025. U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means dismissed the lawsuit in April, and Grisham is appealing that decision. Kirkland, a Fort Worth pastor, sued O’Hare days after the county judge had him removed from a commissioners court meeting in December — then refiled the suit in January after it was tossed out for logistical errors. O’Hare had cut Kirkland’s speaking time short when the pastor commented on the county judge ordering attendees not to clap during the meeting.

‘The whole enchilada’: House Speaker Mike Johnson says all eyes are on San Antonio’s new district

A new congressional district on San Antonio’s South Side is ground zero in Republicans’ efforts to save a narrow U.S. House majority this November. On Wednesday evening, that brought U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), U.S. Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Florida) and Rudy Yakam (R-Indiana) to a VFW near the Mission Marquee Plaza, where they mingled with veterans and local officials at a campaign event for first-time congressional hopeful Carlos De La Cruz. “I just want to tell you that leaders from across Congress and across the country are all watching what happens right here in this district,” Johnson told the crowd of roughly 200 people. “This district is the whole enchilada — did I say that right?”

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Texas’ 35th Congressional District was drawn to give the GOP a leg up in an election that party leaders worry could be brutal. Johnson can only afford to lose a few seats and still hold onto the speaker’s gavel, so his party placed a gamble on a part of the country that swung toward President Donald Trump two years ago. Last year, Trump got Texas to redraw its congressional districts outside of the census cycle, creating the new San Antonio-area district and reshaping several others south of here that are currently held by Democrats. “2024 was a bellwether election,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday. “We had a true demographic shift. We had a record number of Hispanic and Latino voters — we had a record number of Black and African American voters — coming to the Republican Party.”

Houston ethics proposal targets late, missing campaign finance reports

Political candidates seeking office at Houston City Hall could soon face stiffer penalties for some campaign finance violations under a new proposal being considered by city officials. Filing campaign fundraising reports late — or failing to file them at all — is a criminal offense under state and city laws and can be subject to hefty fines. But in practice, the city doesn’t enforce those rules, leading to routine violations from officeholders and their challengers alike. A new proposal filed by Council Member Julian Ramirez seeks to encourage more timely reports by requiring the city secretary to file a sworn complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission anytime a candidate misses a deadline.

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“With no penalty assessed for not meeting the deadline, filers can ignore the requirement with impunity,” the proposal reads. “Because violators are not held accountable, the public’s confidence and trust in its government is undermined.” Ramirez is pushing the idea through Proposition A, which allows any three City Council to place an item on the city council agenda. The proposal, which is also supported by Council Members Amy Peck, Sallie Alcorn and Joaquin Martinez, must pass a legal review before being scheduled for a vote. Ramirez and other council members have engaged in more than a year of talks at City Hall over ethics reforms. Mayor John Whitmire campaigned on rooting out waste, corruption and conflicts of interest in city government, but various proposals, from reviving the city ethics commission to reforming the Office of the Inspector General, have not advanced. Ramirez’s proposal also would require City Secretary Troy Lemon to post the names of delinquent filers on a city website within 24 hours after each filing deadline. Under state law, contenders for Houston mayor, controller, and city council seats are required to post reports with donations and spending twice a year, with extra reports due before each election day.

Expect road closures, enhanced security in downtown Dallas during GOP convention

All roads surrounding the American Airlines Center will be closed during the upcoming Republican midterm convention in Dallas. That includes Houston Street, Victory Avenue and Nowitzki Way. That’s part of the city's traffic and safety plan for the convention, which runs Sept. 9 through 10 at the arena. “Our teams are planning for the expected while also preparing for the unexpected,” said city manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, who added that security measures will begin Sept. 7 and conclude Sept. 11. The plan was developed in partnership with the U.S. Secret Service, FBI, Dallas Police, Dallas Fire-Rescue and DART Police.

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Secret Service Special Agent in charge Christina Foley said the public should expect “visible and non-visible” security measures around the arena, including checkpoints, vehicle barriers and temporary fencing. Deputy Dallas Police Chief Devon Palk said there will be temporary and rolling road closures around the convention, along with motorcades and other security operations. “The most significant traffic impacts are gonna be expected around the American Airlines Center and Victory Park," he said at a news conference Thursday. "Other areas of the city may experience temporary closures as security needs arise. Some of these closures could happen with little to no notice." Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s Victory station will also be closed during the convention beginning Sept. 8 through 10. Dallas will pay nearly $2 million on police to provide security for a midterm Republican convention in September, officials said Monday. Security and traffic preparations for the convention are estimated to cost the city $1.8 million, the Office of Emergency Management and Crisis Response shared at a committee meeting on Monday.

Dallas knew of ICE flights as operator sought privacy at Love Field

Dallas officials were explicitly told a private aviation company was taking over ICE deportation flights at Love Field Airport, email records show, even as the city publicly described that message only as an "irregular operations courtesy notice." The emails don’t show that Dallas controlled federal immigration decisions or had authority to stop the flights. But they give a more detailed picture of what city officials knew about the operations and how they responded behind the scenes. The records also show Signature Aviation asked Dallas aviation department officials to approve black mesh being installed along fencing beside a public observation area, saying it wanted greater privacy and sought to “prevent further media scrutiny.” A senior city aviation official separately asked in a later email that the operations be conducted “more discreetly” away from the observation area.

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The information comes from more than 100 pages of emails among Dallas aviation officials and Signature employees obtained by The Dallas Morning News through a public records request. Dallas aviation officials confirmed to The News in July that flights connected to federal immigration operations had occurred at the city-owned Dallas Love Field. Officials with the city and Signature told The News they had no authority to stop lawful flights conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. City officials also said the information they normally received from private aviation companies was generally limited to operational details like flight times and aircraft type. But on June 29, Signature General Manager Brett Langsdorf emailed Dallas airport and police officials a more explicit notice. “Starting tomorrow, we will be taking over all ICE deportation flights that Atlantic once had,” Langsdorf wrote. He said the planes, buses and support vehicles for the operations would use Signature’s Terminal 3.

Houston ICE shooting could go before grand jury soon, Sean Teare says

Harris County prosecutors plan to bring witnesses to the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo before a grand jury “very soon,” District Attorney Sean Teare said in an interview Thursday. Teare’s announcement comes less than 24 hours after a second witness, Daniel Tirado Pantoja, was released from federal custody. The investigation into Salgado’s fatal shooting July 7 by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent has entered “a tipping point,” Teare said in an appearance on Hello Houston. “Physically, when you’re talking the evidence from before it occurred and what happened that day, I think we’ve gotten just about all we’re going to get,” Teare said. “There are still pieces of evidence we need from the federal government that we are waiting on. But we are much more moving into the evaluation phase and determining what, if any, charge we’re going to present to a grand jury.”

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Officials with Teare’s office declined to provide a more precise timeline in the case. Two witnesses in the van the day Salgado was fatally shot in Magnolia Park have been released from federal custody, but Teare said a third was still fighting his detention in court as of Thursday. The third witness, Victor Salgado Araujo, is Lorenzo Salgado’s brother. Ruby Powers, the Houston-based immigration attorney who represents Victor Salgado, told the Houston Chronicle Thursday that there has been movement recently in her client’s case, but a timeline on when a federal judge might rule on Salgado’s petition for release is unclear. Local prosecutors have interviewed all three of the men at some point in federal custody, Teare said. Teare said investigators with his office have compiled witness accounts and surveillance video that provide a compelling picture of events leading up to and immediately following Salgado’s shooting, but no one has yet provided video of the incident itself. The lack of evidence of the shooting itself suggests ICE has changed its tactics, Teare said, and is moving toward more surreptitious enforcement. “The agency has adapted from Minnesota and now you’re doing these operations at 7 a.m. on a side street,” he said. The name of the ICE agent who killed Salgado has not been released.

Austin City Council begins process of banning large-scale data centers

It’s the perfect moment for an easy vote. The Austin City Council just came through a tough budget-writing process. It’s only weeks removed from the controversial decision on the Dog’s Head development. Taking a vote to ban large-scale data centers must feel quite comfortable by comparison. And banning large-scale data centers is definitely the plan. As Mayor Kirk Watson said at Tuesday’s work session, “It’s pretty clear what we’re hoping to see.” Watson opened the conversation by referring to recent Council message board posts, including one of his own, stressing that data center approvals in Austin’s extraterritorial jurisdiction should be frozen until Council finalizes a policy on their development. A post from Council members Vanessa Fuentes, Ryan Alter, José Velásquez, Zo Qadri, and Mike Siegel took the sentiment further, stating they are “committed to ensuring that Austin does not allow a single large, ‘hyperscale’ data center within the City limits.”

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State law forbids Austin from simply banning data centers overnight, however. Joi Harden of the Austin Planning Department told Council that a data center ban will need to be executed through the city’s zoning process. That process would allow opportunities for public comment and conclude with Council amending the city’s Land Development Code, which currently does not even define the term “data center.” Council pushes the proposal forward today, Aug. 27, with a vote directing City Manager T.C. Broadnax to begin crafting amendments to the LDC for Council consideration. Harden told the CMs the process could be complete by spring of next year. Harden also ran through a presentation with the now-familiar reasons that large-scale data centers are causing such an emetic backlash – they consume obscene amounts of energy and water, give off sound and light pollution, and are housed in ugly industrial buildings. She and Austin Energy’s Stuart Reilly said the city is currently providing electricity to a handful of small data centers of 20 megawatts or less. These are not to be confused with large wholesale data centers, those using between 20 and 100 MW, Harden said, or the hyperscale data centers, the thousand-acre facilities consuming more than 100 MW. With the presentation complete, the Council members offered comments. Alter noted that the increased electricity use would increase the state regulatory fees that are a portion of everyone’s utility bill.

Here's why MD Anderson Cancer Center President Peter Pisters is retiring and what's next

Dr. Peter Pisters’ career has been divided into 10-year chapters, and the outgoing president of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is turning the page on another one. “I was an academic surgeon for a period of time, then I was a mid-level administrator. I've been a healthcare CEO in two countries, and now I'm going to go on to something else,” Pisters told the Houston Business Journal in an interview. Pisters announced his retirement as president this week after nine years in the role. He’s handing over the reins to Dr. Jeffrey Lee, the cancer center’s chief physician executive, who now serves as interim president. Pisters told the HBJ that his and Lee’s working relationship is so good that they could “finish each other’s sentences.”

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Pisters said he’d been thinking about the decision to leave for some time, but his ultimate call was aided by the institution’s strong financial position and improvement in several care and research metrics. After Pisters’ last day on Sept. 30, he plans to take some time before jumping into his next venture. His wife, also a physician, is retiring, and he’s welcoming a grandchild. But leaving the day-to-day demands of one of Houston’s biggest academic medical centers will also give Pisters time to reflect on what he described as “the societal factors that are going to impact us decades into the future,” like artificial intelligence in healthcare. Pisters also said his time as MD Anderson’s president and previously as a healthcare CEO in Toronto shaped his thinking on healthcare accessibility in the U.S., especially given what he described as an “epidemic of chronic disease.” “We're going to really want to think about how we really deal with that and how can some of the new technologies influence our ability to even out gaps in healthcare across society at this point in time,” Pisters said. “I think lots of opportunities will open, and those will be created by a confluence of factors and positive changes in the way that we approach medical student education, the ways in which AI is used to benefit society and to improve healthcare in rural areas and in underserved areas.”

Wylie is getting 'DeFlocked' after city council votes against renewing traffic camera contract

Wylie City Council voted unanimously to end its contract with Flock, marking the Texas city to move away from the controversial traffic surveillance technology. After almost two hours of discussion Tuesday the council voted 7-0 to end its automatic contract renewal, with the possibility of revisiting a new contract in the future. Wylie's contract with Flock will expire on Oct. 31. Mayor Matthew Porter acknowledged what he saw as the technology's successes in solving cases, but added his concerns are not with the Wylie Police Department. Porter said his main concerns stem from how Flock stores and shares the data. “My concerns are not with Wiley,” Porter said. “My concerns are that we continue to see misuse by other departments, some of which are partners that we share data with within the state.”

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The city had deployed six license plate reader cameras since August 2024 at an annual cost of roughly $27,000. At least one of those cameras was recently vandalized — a trend seen across the nation. Residents in some Flock coverage areas say they are concerned over the privacy and data management of information collected by Flock Safety's automated license plate readers, or ALPR. Most recently, the Hood County Commissioners Court shut down three Flock cameras after residents raised concerns. Wylie Assistant Police Chief Tommy Walters said the tools were helpful in solving crimes, but he also said the department put additional internal regulations to try and prevent misuse. “I was a critic of this kind of technology when it first started coming out, " Walters said. “So there was a group of people that sat around and discussed the safeguards that can be put in place from implementation. These weren't knee-jerk reactions.” Local residents remained focused on who ultimately holds access to their information. Throughout public comment, speakers like Austin Gregory, founder of DeFlock Wylie, voiced concerns about misused information.

National Stories

Years late, billions over budget: California’s high-speed rail hasn’t laid a track

Some 18 years after California voted to launch a bullet train that would travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles in under three hours, the project now costs billions more than planned, is years behind schedule and has yet to lay its first track. The 2008 ballot measure passed narrowly, 52.7% to 47.3%, kick-starting America’s largest active infrastructure project. A legislative bill said it should be completed by 2020, and the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s initial business plan estimated a cost of $33 billion. After years of legal battles, cost overruns, leadership changes and political fights, the price tag is up to $126 billion, with a high estimate of $231 billion, and it isn’t expected to be fully operational until 2040. Since 2008, the authority has spent about $15 billion, purchasing thousands of land parcels and building giant overpasses, rail beds, walls and other concrete structures that now rise over California’s Central Valley. The work has generated thousands of jobs.

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But the Authority’s inspector general estimated the project will “exhaust its current funding resources” as early as next year, according to its July report. “This is a disaster,” Democratic state Sen. Catherine Blakespear said at a Transportation Committee meeting in April to review the project’s 2026 business plan. “I am such an enthusiast for rail and I really want this to be successful and just hearing these things makes it seem like we’re proceeding on a wing and a prayer.” The authority is currently focused on completing an initial segment through the Central Valley, then connecting it to San Francisco and Los Angeles later. The topic is polarizing in the valley. “You can’t really talk about it too loudly until you know where people stand. I’m pro-train, but it’s a divisive issue,” said Constance Peters, a shift leader at The 18hundred restaurant in Bakersfield who grew up in the area. Before that, she worked for a concrete company that helped build some structures for the rail project. “Californians have money. We want to travel,” Peters said.

New coalition fights Trump’s efforts to weaken protections for historic sites

A coalition of more than 600 historic preservation groups, architectural associations, tribal governments and other organizations is urging Congress to block President Donald Trump’s efforts to weaken or evade laws intended to protect historic sites. Members of the new coalition say that they are seeking to safeguard sites in every congressional district — and that they intend to pursue legal action if Congress does not act. “Our coalition did not exist six weeks ago. Today it brings together constituencies who have rarely spoken with one voice,” the groups wrote in letters that were set to be sent to all members of Congress on Thursday. The signatories want lawmakers to reject the administration’s revisions to a 60-year-old federal law that governs changes to landmarks such as the National Mall, sites that are significant to Indian tribes and other properties eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

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The proposed changes would allow federal agencies to undertake their own projects or permit construction by private developers without public input, breaking with long-standing requirements for public participation. Some members of Congress are also considering similar changes to the review process, which is required under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The administration can enact regulatory revisions to Section 106 without congressional approval, but the coalition is asking lawmakers to help oppose such changes. The coalition also wants Congress to block legislation that would separately allow similar revisions to take effect. The coalition says it is also responding to Trump’s attempts to unilaterally change historic sites, such as demolishing the White House’s East Wing to build a planned ballroom. Administration lawyers have argued in court that they do not need to seek congressional approval for Trump’s projects, such as the ballroom and his planned triumphal arch. “The burden of standing up for congressional authority is falling heavily to civil society organizations, law firms, and individual Americans when Congress itself should be taking the lead,” the coalition wrote in a letter shared with The Washington Post.

What a fake poll reveals about worries around prediction markets and the midterms

Earlier this month, after news broke that a phony company had released fake election polls, it prompted immediate speculation that the stunt was an attempt to manipulate prediction markets — fears especially pronounced with midterms right around the corner. The 21-year old man behind the fake polls posted a statement saying the bogus polls were "a short-term social experiment" to see just how fast the fabricated figures would circulate in news stories and social media. He said he was not trying to profit off the attention the polls attracted. But the suspicion was understandable, considering the spate of high-profile market manipulators uncovered in recent months on the surging prediction market sites Kalshi and Polymarket, where billions of dollars of bets flow in every week on everything from baseball games to the future of the Trump administration's policies.

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While the poll stunt may not have been an effort to rig prediction markets, concerns are growing ahead of the midterms two months away about other attempts to influence the betting sites with ginned-up polls, viral social media campaigns, or other misinformation. "These markets are very easily manipulated, and the platforms say they invest in surveillance and catch people after the fact, but when it comes to elections, the consequences are really grave," said Amanda Fischer, chief policy officer at Better Markets, a financial reform group that studies prediction markets. Fischer added that since this is about to be the first major election cycle with Kalshi and Polymarket having gone mainstream, "some folks will be looking for ways to game prediction markets, partisan interests, and worse, perhaps even foreign actors." This year, prediction market operators have caught traders trying to make a buck through various types of insider trading, from a special forces soldier betting on the operation to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro to former Congressman George Santos betting against his own attendance at the State of the Union address to President Trump's teleprompter operator profiting off the president's prepared remarks.

Federal judge again blocks Trump's mail ballot executive order

A federal judge on Thursday halted — at least for now — attempts to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting. The move stalled the directive for a second time only about a week before the first mail ballots are due to be sent out for the rapidly approaching midterm elections. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani blocked the government from implementing the order for two weeks. The case could soon be appealed back to the Supreme Court, days after the justices handed down a procedural decision that allowed the the administration to move ahead. The ruling Thursday came after Democrats and voting rights groups refiled their lawsuits to comply with the recent Supreme Court decision. The high court’s conservative majority did not rule on the legality of Trump’s executive order, instead saying Talwani had acted too soon.

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Now the administration has issued a formal rule governing whether the U.S. Postal Service will deliver states’ mail ballots, effectively restarting the legal fight. The whipsawing legal battle has major ramifications for the midterms. Nearly one-third of Americans vote by mail and election officials contend there isn’t enough time to revise their systems to comply with the new Postal Service directives. The Postal Service says it won’t deliver mail ballots unless states provide a list of voters who should receive them and format the envelopes in a certain way. “Plaintiff states have neither time nor funds to design new mail ballots, seek approval of the new designs, order production of mail ballots, update their own election management systems, train election officials to use the USPS portal and upload citizen data to the portal, all before the midterms,” Talwani wrote Thursday. The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. A hearing in the case is set for Sept. 3. “This rule is a clear attempt by the federal government to interfere in elections it has no power to control. Today, a federal court halted it before this administration could wreak havoc on our elections,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of two dozen Democratic attorneys general who filed one of the suits, said in a statement after the order.

Trump’s quietly working to give part of Yosemite to a private developer

For more than a year, the National Park Service has been quietly working to fulfill an unprecedented directive from Trump officials: Parcel off a corner of Yosemite National Park to give to a private developer. National Park Service staff in California and Washington, D.C., are trying to arrange a land exchange between a Nevada-based company and the federal government, according to four people directly familiar with discussions, as well as agency documents reviewed by NOTUS. Since the spring of 2025, the Trump administration has been looking into ways it could cede a roughly quarter-mile strip of land inside Yosemite to a company that, through a web of limited-liability companies, is operated by real-estate developer and investment firm Kingsbarn Realty Capital. Officials are proposing the Park Service give up the land or “interest” in the land in the form of an easement, and in return receive land of equal value somewhere in California that has yet to be decided.

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The private developers own an 83-acre plot of land just outside the western boundaries of Yosemite, about five miles from one of the park’s defining ancient sequoia groves. Jeff Pori, the CEO of Kingsbarn, wants to build a short road connecting the property to one of Yosemite’s central thoroughfares. The new road would give the land exceptionally rare private access to a park that is otherwise almost entirely buffered by national forests. The property’s current access road is more than 10 miles from an entrance to the park, and much further from Yosemite’s most iconic sights. Without a new road, visitors to the property — whether it be developed into a hotel, resort or private residence — would need to drive an hour and a half in a circuitous route to reach the popular Yosemite Valley. The planning process has created a tense environment inside the National Park Service for the people involved; Kingsbarn’s proposal is backed by the full weight of the Interior Department’s top political leadership, sources said. “They want us to be responsive to the property owner and their lobbyists or people, and they want us to work with these folks,” said one person familiar with the conversations.

Fauci contempt push stalls as Trump administration questions legal path

A Republican push to prosecute Dr. Anthony Fauci for contempt of Congress has stalled as the Trump administration questions whether the legal approach supports an indictment by the Justice Department. Three weeks after a GOP-led Senate committee voted to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress, some administration officials are skeptical that the current approach is procedurally sound enough to indict him for failing to answer questions before lawmakers, according to people familiar with the matter. The Aug. 6 contempt vote was brought by Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.), a longtime Fauci critic. He sought to bypass the Senate’s customary full-floor vote by having Vice President JD Vance certify the resolution, allowing him to refer it directly to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.

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Paul, who has said Fauci should go to prison, pushed a contempt vote against the 85-year-old former public-health official after he declined to answer questions before Paul’s committee over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. The contempt resolution, which passed on a party-line vote, would traditionally be considered by the full Senate. Given his resolution would almost certainly fail to meet a 60-vote threshold to pass, Paul’s measure called on Vance to certify it in his capacity as Senate president. But as of early Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said that Vance’s office had yet to receive a document to certify. Paul’s office sent the report to the vice president late Tuesday, according to people familiar with the process, following repeated inquiries from The Wall Street Journal about its status. The Justice Department, which received a letter from Paul the day of the vote laying out the committee’s case against Fauci, has yet to receive a formal referral, a person familiar with the matter said. And President Trump hasn’t determined whether he wants the Justice Department to act on the referral, according to people familiar with the discussions, who say the issue hasn’t been a high priority for the president.

Copyright August 28, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved