August 26, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Mike Miles expects HISD’s state takeover to end after this school year

Houston ISD’s state takeover could end after the 2026-27 school year, state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles said Tuesday. Miles, appointed as superintendent by the state in June 2023, said he believes the district has nearly met all the criteria needed to end the state takeover. Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath is expected to decide whether to begin the transition back to local control in June 2027. Miles' comments echo what Morath told reporters in August: that he expected the takeover to end “relatively soon.” “We always wanted to work quickly to get out of the intervention strategy,” Miles said on a Hello Houston radio appearance. “I think the official end may be the end of this school year, and then the commissioner will determine what sort of transition period there will be.”

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To exit the state takeover, HISD must improve three areas: accountability ratings, board governance and special education compliance. Since the intervention began in June 2023, HISD’s number of D- and F-rated schools has dropped from 121 to 13. HISD students have since seen improved passing rates in almost every STAAR tested grade and subject. But many high schools have also seen ratings improve, in part, due to enrolling students in online college-prep courses — courses which the state has since discredited. Miles said HISD enrolled students in the courses to keep them from taking remedial courses in college, not to boost ratings. He said the district was not alone in the widespread use of college-prep courses statewide. "We're using what is allowed in our high schools to help kids so that they don't have to take remedial courses in college, and almost every high school in the state is using it," Miles said. Miles told the radio program that the district still had “some work to do” to improve special education compliance before ending the takeover. In the 2026-27 school year, the district also began to consolidate some special education services, which has drawn both state scrutiny and a federal investigation. While the district could begin its transition out of the state takeover after the 2026-27 school year, Miles has a contract for four more years until 2030. On the first day of school, Miles did not commit to staying through the transition to an elected board, saying "anything can happen." “The new school board — when that happens — they’ll want their own superintendent, I think,” Miles said Tuesday. HISD's state-appointed board of managers recently approved their annual evaluation and undisclosed bonus for Miles. He is eligible for up to $231,000 in addition to his base pay of $462,000.

The death of government transparency in Texas

Last fall, Texas A&M University was in the midst of a firestorm. State Representative Brian Harrison of Midlothian, a brash right-wing social media power user, had posted a video to X that a student had recorded of a professor discussing gender identity during a lecture. Harrison included a letter to Governor Greg Abbott demanding that she and university President Mark Welsh be immediately fired. Within two weeks, the professor and Welsh had been pushed out, and Texas A&M, which had cycled through four presidents in five years, was once again in search of a leader. With a colleague at The Texas Tribune, I set out to understand how the flagship public university in a system that educates 175,000 students across twelve campuses had reached such a point. We started by filing public-information requests for records from the school’s regents, chancellor, and other top officials, seeking texts and emails, as well as memos, calendars, and voicemails—all of which are supposed to be accessible to the public. We soon confirmed that system leaders had been talking extensively. But many crucial messages that we knew existed were nowhere to be found.

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In one instance, we obtained a thread of texts among a few of the regents that referenced other messages between Abbott and Jay Graham, the vice chair of the board, about Harrison’s post. But our probe for those records yielded nothing. University staff told us that they could “only produce records that exist as of the date of the request.” It seemed that everyone involved had deleted their copies of the conversation. Eventually, a top official with the Texas A&M system provided us with clarity; they said the regents, wary of public-information requests, were accustomed to using a work-around: “Read it and delete it.” Though destroying public records before the mandatory retention period expires can be a crime under state law, enforcement is rare, leaving officials free to routinely violate the foundation of the once robust Texas Public Information Act. A generation ago, our lawmakers, journalists, and engaged citizens considered transparency and openness to be bedrock principles of our state’s government. Laws enacted in the seventies secured the public’s right to know how state officials wield their authority. For decades these laws had served as a point of state pride: Texas boasted of offering some of the most transparency-friendly rules in the United States. The TPIA spells out its foundational philosophy in the preamble: “The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.” These transparency laws led to revelations of some of the worst cases of malfeasance in the state. They also prompted the creation of regulations that have benefited taxpayers. After the Austin American-Statesman used over one hundred records requests to uncover more than 450 unreported child sex abuse incidents across Texas day care facilities, legislators passed a slate of new laws regulating the industry. And after the Houston Chronicle filed three hundred public-information requests and found that the Texas Education Agency had pushed districts not to identify students with disabilities, denying children services they were legally entitled to receive, the U.S. Department of Education took federal action, and the Legislature tightened its policies. But over the past two decades, governmental bodies, with the help of the courts, have degraded Texas’s public-transparency apparatus piece by piece, nearly hollowing it out.

‘Honeymoon’s over’: Warsh under pressure as Fed weighs raising rates

Three years before taking over as chairman of the Federal Reserve, Kevin M. Warsh recounted an exchange he once had with a hero of his, Paul A. Volcker, the celebrated central banker. Mr. Volcker, who navigated the Fed through one of the worst bouts of inflation in the 1970s and 1980s, told Mr. Warsh, then a governor, that the central bank’s job boiled down to two primary responsibilities. The first was getting interest rates “about right.” The second was to “make sure you look like you know what you’re doing.” Those duties are top of mind as Mr. Warsh prepares for his first address as chairman to the world’s leading economic policymakers in Jackson, Wyo. His speech, scheduled for Friday at 10 a.m. Eastern, is the biggest draw of the three-day conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

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It will offer Mr. Warsh the most powerful perch yet to articulate his own framework for thinking about the economy, the policy choices in front of the Fed as it contends with elevated inflation and how he is assessing seismic changes — such as new sources of productivity gains from artificial intelligence — that could alter the country’s growth prospects in the years ahead. Those details have been intentionally sparse, reflecting Mr. Warsh’s inclination to guard his preferences. One of the only things that Mr. Warsh has made unequivocally clear is that he is committed to getting inflation down after five years of the central bank’s overshooting its 2 percent target. And even then, he has spoken only obliquely about the possibility of raising rates to get there. The lack of specifics on where Mr. Warsh stands on a number of fundamental issues has caused confusion both inside and outside the Fed, overshadowing his broader ambitions to enact sweeping change at the institution. Resolving this does not require Mr. Warsh to provide specific guidance about the Fed’s policy moves in September and beyond, as he is staunchly opposed to doing. But a slight change of tack is required to begin to reset the narrative after a rocky start. “You won’t accomplish anything if you are unwilling to tell people how you think the economy works,” said Anil Kashyap, an economist at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. “You have to have a mechanism that you think explains why if you’re going to do something differently, it’s going to turn out better. And that means you need to pick a lane on various issues.” “The honeymoon’s over,” Mr. Kashyap added.

Three takeaways from Bill Gates’s 5,784-word warning on AI: ‘There is no plan’

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates issued a stark warning about AI’s risks to employment and the human condition, saying that companies were barreling ahead with the technology with no larger plan for the massive upheaval it would cause. “Even under the best circumstances, the transition to this new AI era will be one of the most turbulent times in human history,” he wrote in a 12-page essay published to his personal website Wednesday. “Right now, we are not preparing for it. I don’t see evidence that leaders, experts and communities are confronting the challenges adequately.” The message is more sober than Gates’s 2023 essay on AI, when he wrote he was as excited about this revolution as the internet and PC rollouts. Though Wednesday’s missive highlighted AI’s immense potential for good—citing developments in energy, medical care and agriculture—he stressed how badly things could go if the transition is mismanaged. “There is no plan to ease the entry into the AI era,” he wrote, calling for more regulation of the technology.

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Here are three of his main points: AI will hit both white- and blue-collar jobs quickly. Much of his essay focused on jobs, noting that entry- and midlevel jobs are most at risk of being eliminated. He argued that AI will soon also affect blue-collar work, and the breadth and speed make it different from other workplace transitions. While the move from agriculture to office work took generations, sectors like law, customer service, software and manufacturing will feel AI’s impact over the course of a decade. When AI can produce error-free work, “it will be able to function on its own without a human checking in on it, and companies will have every economic incentive to let it,” Gates wrote. A society with many more jobless people will need a stronger social safety net, he said. When factories closed, many locals saw more opioid deaths: “Imagine similar pressures on both white-collar and blue-collar workers nationwide.” Critical thinking is more important than ever—and at risk. Gates stressed the risk of cyberattacks on the grid, hospitals and banks. Fraud and surveillance will be widespread. AI will also enable governments to use deadly force without a human’s input, Gates wrote.

State Stories

Greg Abbott has ‘serious doubts’ ICE agent in Texas jail is a fugitive

Gov. Greg Abbott has “serious doubts” that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent accused of shooting a man in Minneapolis is a fugitive whom he is legally bound to return to Minnesota, as officials there have requested, according to court filings in the case. The officer, Christian Castro, was arrested in Texas and is being held in Cameron County. He could be released from jail as soon as Wednesday under Texas law, which sets a 90-day limit on the detention of fugitives awaiting extradition. Minnesota officials last week sued to force Abbott to sign his extradition papers before then. A judge is hearing arguments in the case Tuesday. The Republican governor said in court filings this week that Castro appears to have been ordered by the federal government to return to Harlingen, where he lives and is usually stationed, after the January shooting. Castro was sent to Minneapolis during President Donald Trump’s deportation surge there.

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Abbott said he directed the secretary of state last month to investigate whether Castro qualifies as a fugitive under the law. The governor says he is waiting on the findings before deciding whether to authorize the extradition — which Minnesota officials sought months ago. “While the Governor has serious doubts that Mr. Castro qualifies as a fugitive, the Governor has not yet received a report from the Secretary and so has not made a decision concerning Minnesota’s request,” the court filings say. “Minnesota rushed to file this lawsuit, claiming (incredibly) that an ICE agent subject to ongoing federal investigations — and who never bothered to post bond — was somehow a flight risk.” At a press conference last week, Abbott said he wouldn’t respond to Minnesota's request "at all" until officials there admitted fault in a series of unrelated fraud cases involving government programs. Those cases do not involve Texas. Minnesota says the extradition matter is pressing. The state is seeking a temporary restraining order to keep Cameron County Sheriff Manuel Trevino from releasing Castro until Minnesota authorities have him in custody.

Medicaid and SNAP enrollment delays in Texas

New data from the state's Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) show that Texas families are facing growing delays as they wait for the state to process their applications for Medicaid health insurance and SNAP food assistance. The data show an increase from 2,000 delayed Medicaid applications in January to 183,000 in July. "Texas families should not have to delay health care because the state can't process their Medicaid applications on time," said Diana Forester, Director of Health Policy at Texans Care for Children. "We urge state leaders to step up for kids who are home sick from school and pregnant women who need prenatal care."

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Gina Hinojosa calls Tarrant County ‘ground zero’ in fight for the American dream

Gina Hinojosa outlined her vision for Texans to reclaim the American Dream to over 300 people during her rally in Fort Worth on Tuesday. The Democratic nominee for governor spoke about her plans to reform the public education system, make healthcare and electricity more affordable and combat data centers. During the 2022 midterm elections, Gov. Greg Abbott won Tarrant County with just over 51% of votes. Hinojosa called Tarrant County “ground zero” for this election. “The whole world is watching Tarrant County,” Hinojosa said. The county’s voting patterns have long been seen as a indicator of what will happen in Texas and national elections.

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Taylor Eowers is a public school teacher with a son who has special needs. Eowers said his family is probably about to get kicked off of Medicare. “A candidate who can bring both public education and children’s healthcare into the mix has 100% got my vote,” Eowers said. Fort Worth ISD is one of eight school districts across the state that has been taken over by the Texas Education Agency due to consistent failing accountability ratings. “We need to include parents, include the community as part of the solution when our schools are struggling,” Hinojosa said, adding that she is against the state taking over public schools. Hinojosa said school districts face challenges due to underfunding, focusing on testing and the “teacher exodus” that has happened under Abbott. In the first three months following the state takeover, nearly 800 teachers resigned from Fort Worth ISD. “We will save Texas schools because there can be no American dream without strong public schools,” Hinojosa said.

Dallas caps property tax rate, bucking hikes in other Texas cities

While other Texas cities have decided to increase taxes to balance their books, Dallas officials aren’t going to do that. The City Council voted 8-6 to cap the rate at 69.78 cents per $100 of taxable value. They agreed with City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert’s budget recommendation, indicating officials could seek deeper cuts. Dallas has pursued tax rate cuts for 11 years straight, forgoing more than $200 million in revenue. Tolbert’s $5.6 billion proposal offers a slight 0.10 cent decrease to its current rate, inspiring robust debate about whether it was enough or even necessary. The final budget will be adopted Sept. 16.

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Council members debated whether to increase or lower the cap for more than an hour. Some said a lower property tax rate helps residents and makes the city more competitive to lure businesses. But several have pushed back saying a cut in the city’s tax collections also means neighborhood services will need to be pruned. Mayor Eric Johnson said in a statement that the council’s vote Tuesday showed “sound fiscal discipline and a serious commitment to keeping Dallas competitive, pro-growth and affordable compared with other major Texas cities.” Mayor Pro Tem Jaime Resendez and council members Laura Cadena, Adam Bazaldua, Paula Blackmon, Cara Mendelsohn and Paul Ridley voted against the cap. Council member Bill Roth was absent when the vote was taken. Tuesday’s move makes Dallas an outlier among major Texas cities. Austin, San Antonio and Fort Worth have either approved or proposed raising their property tax rates. Houston is keeping its property tax rate flat.

Tensions flare at Fort Worth City Council meeting over $10B data center

New details have been announced about Fort Worth’s proposed $10 billion data center project — including its developer — after a tense meeting drew both ire and support for the project. At its meeting on Aug. 25, the Fort Worth City Council approved an amended site plan for a data center project in the city’s southeast edge, near Forest Hill and Everman. Fort Worth-based energy consortium Black Mountain has been attached to the data center, but on Tuesday, a representative from the Virginia-based data center developer EdgeConneX announced that the company is the developer and operator. “We’re not a crypto-mining operation, and we’re not a speculative developer looking to ride the data center wave,” Todd Workman, a representative from EdgeConneX, told council members.

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Workman said that EdgeConneX has started outreach efforts to get local students involved with careers at the data center. A council vote on the plan was postponed after residents — and some City Council members — expressed confusion and hesitation over the plans for the development. Zoning cases for the land were initially approved by the City Council in 2025. The site plan that was approved on Tuesday includes four buildings, plus a substation that would only power the data center. Throughout the year, just about any meeting regarding data centers in Fort Worth has drawn hours-long public comments from residents and activist groups, and attention from state representatives and candidates for statewide office. That was still the case on Tuesday, as dozens of people came to speak against the data center. “I think we’re moving too fast,” said Sue Weston, the owner of the historic Weston Gardens. The data center’s footprint is adjacent to her property. Weston told the city she does not believe enough environmental assessments on the data center have been completed.

Dr. Summer Rose: 5 tips to help parents recognize if their student is struggling during back to school season

(Dr. Summer Rose is a clinical psychologist and CEO of Communities In Schools of the Dallas Region.) Kids are back in school, and as that first day excitement fades and schedules become routine, parents and teachers may begin noticing early signs that a student is struggling. Maybe they're suddenly reluctant to go to school, their grades or attendance begin slipping, their behavior changes, or they start withdrawing from friends and activities. Those changes can be easy to chalk up to an adjustment period, but they can also be critical clues that something more serious is happening.

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One bad grade or bad morning is not reason for concern, Dr. Rose says. Look out for patterns that are cause for concern. Be curious before you become punitive. Dr. Rose says while it's easy to take technology away when grades slip, dig deeper to see if there's larger issue at play. Don't forget about the adjustment period. During back to school season, kids are just getting back into a strict routine. If your student still isn't adjusting well after a few months, Dr. Rose says it's worth having a conversation with them about underlying stressors. It's normal for students to experience summer learning loss, and the first month of school is usually the time to "catch-up." Dr. Rose says teachers should monitor students' progress throughout that first month, and let parents know if their student may require extra support. Teachers are a great resource into how your child is doing in the classroom. Some students at home present themselves to be on top of their game, but that may not be the reality for them in the classroom. Check in with educators on your students' progress these first few months.

More than 500,000 people across Central Texas don’t have enough food to eat

Texas has the highest population battling food insecurity in the country, with over 6 million residents in the state struggling to access food consistently throughout the year. That’s about 1 in 5 households, according to Feeding America, a nationwide network of food banks. Central Texas’s food insecurity rate decreased after 2020, but has increased each year since 2021. In 2024, just over 17% of the population in the region—more than 500,000 people—didn’t have enough to eat and didn’t know where their next meal would come from. Experts say a lack of access to enough food can lead to negative impacts on physical and mental health and affect other parts of life, from work and school to relationships.

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Every year, Feeding Texas releases a Map the Meal Gap study to show food insecurity levels in counties across the country, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The nonprofit uses data like unemployment numbers, cost of living, access to nearby grocery stores and more to measure food insecurity. The 2026 report released this summer highlighted food insecurity from two years prior. In Central Texas, the food insecurity rate in 2024 varied by county, with Williamson County at the low end showing 14.6% of its population dealt with food insecurity, while Caldwell County had the highest at 19.9%. Many households who do deal with food insecurity do not qualify for federal food assistance programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). In Texas, about 47% of the population that is food insecure does not meet eligibility requirements for SNAP, whether that’s because a household’s income is higher than the threshold for the program or for other reasons. In Central Texas, more than 40% of those facing food insecurity do not qualify for SNAP, but that figure does vary by county. Broken down by demographics, 34% of the region’s food insecure population is Black, 23% is Hispanic and 12% is white. Data on Asian Americans and Native Americans was not available.

Ross Fire explodes to 50,000 acres in Palo Pinto County; ‘We’re throwing everything at this’

A wildfire that broke out Monday along Highway 180 near R.D. Bell Road in Palo Pinto County, known as "Ross Fire," has grown to 50,000 acres with 12% containment as of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. Highway 180 and Highway 254 are closed near the scene as crews battled the flames. Officials said spot fires are popping up about a mile north of the fire. Palo Pinto ESD 1 said the fire grew to over 18,000 acres in just 12 hours, and by 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, had grown to over 50,000 acres. Additional air assets arrived on scene Tuesday morning to assist the over 100 firefighters already on the scene to battle the blaze.

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At least five structures are known to have been destroyed by the Ross Fire. Officials said additional damage assessments are expected to be conducted Tuesday. Firefighters have been working throughout the night to protect structures from the raging fire, Danny Watkins, chief of the Palo Pinto County Emergency Services District, said in a video posted to Facebook. "The primary objective for the day is structural protection because of the fire conditions and the fuel load; we're going to engage where we can, but the homes are the first priority," Watkins said. "The fuel load and the weather conditions, it's kind of been the perfect storm where we just haven't been able to contain it. We're doing everything we can; we're throwing everything at this and still having minimal effect." The city of Graford is on high alert due to the fire, according to Palo Pinto officials. Graford ISD and Perrin-Whitt CISD have canceled school due to the fire, officials said.

What Texas’ childcare cuts could mean for Dallas families on the waitlist

Texas wants Dallas County to provide childcare support to 1,604 fewer children per day, which could keep families on the waitlist longer. The Texas Workforce Commission set Dallas County’s target at 11,516 children served per day for the 2027 Board Contract Year. That is down from the 13,120 target the agency approved for the current contract year. The number is a target for the average number of children served each day. It is not a confirmed count of individual children who will lose care or an annual count of families receiving help.

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ChildCareGroup, which manages the Child Care Financial Scholarship program for Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas, has not received formal guidance on final service levels for the coming program year, CEO Tori Mannes said. But Mannes said there are no plans to remove current scholarship recipients from the program. As children leave because a parent no longer needs care or no longer meets eligibility requirements, fewer children will be enrolled from the waiting list, she said. In an Aug. 11 discussion paper, TWC reported it updated the current-year targets effective with the July performance report to give local workforce boards a way to gradually reduce enrollment before the new contract year. In June, TWC approved ending a staff-retention strategy after agency staff said it could not show whether the program reduced turnover. The commission also ended a planned $25 million childcare-expansion initiative that had not yet been awarded. Staff said the money should instead support more children amid long waitlists. In July, the commission redirected another $29.76 million in quality funds not needed to meet state quality earmarks into direct care.

SB 12 — ‘the drag ban’ — again ruled unconstitutional

Texas’ drag ban — Senate Bill 12 passed in the 2023 Texas Legislature — has once again been ruled unconstitutional, according to numerous reports. A federal judge in Houston ruled Tuesday, Aug. 25 — for the second time — that Senate Bill 12, the so-called Texas drag ban which came out of the 2023 legislative session, is unconstitutional. Today’s ruling once against pauses enforcement of the law, which had gone into effect in March. U.S. District Judge David Hittner of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas found that the ban is an unlawful restriction on speech that violates the First Amendment. He also issued a permanent injunction against enforcement of the law.

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Brian Klosterboer, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas which represented the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said in a statement that Hittner’s ruling on Tuesday “confirms that the Legislature’s attempt to ban drag performances was unconstitutional from start to finish. “Drag has a rich history as a refuge of joy and liberation for countless Texans, and it’s not going anywhere,” Klosterboer continued. “This law stifled free expression across our state and made people afraid to engage in or attend drag shows and other performances. But all Texans — no matter our gender or background — are guaranteed the right to free expression. “We celebrate this victory and remain committed to stopping state officials from targeting LGBTQIA+ Texans and making our state less free and fair,” he said. SB 12, passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2023, was part of a wave of “drag ban” laws that swept across the country. The Texas law prohibited “sexually oriented performances” on public property or in the presence of minors under the age of 18. It allowed for businesses hosting such shows to be fined $10,000 and for performers in those shows to be charged with misdemeanor offenses.

Anthropic may make another huge footprint outside Austin

Fresh off its huge data center lease in Milam County northeast of Austin, Silicon Valley-based Anthropic PBC is in talks to occupy a gargantuan data center development on the east side in Bastrop County. While no agreement has been finalized, the artificial intelligence company has been working with Washington, D.C.-based BlackChamber Partners LLC and Dallas-based Pacifico Energy LLC on what's been described as a 2,842-acre gas-fired electric generation facility to support a major data center development in the Cedar Creek area, several sources told ABJ. Public documents indicate that at full buildout the power plant would deliver 710 megawatts of "site-rated redundant power using simple cycle natural gas turbines" that will support 490 megawatts of informational technology load.

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Translation: A roughly 500-megawatt data center is in the works. Details aren't made public, but for perspective, such data centers often measure in the millions of square feet. Anthropic is largely known for its language learning model called Claude. It recently signed what could amount to a $16.1 billion data center lease at Riot Platforms Inc.'s campus in Milam County near the former Alcoa Corp. plant. BlackChamber and Pacifico last week pulled a tax abatement request filed with Bastrop County. They withdrew another request for property tax abatements from the Bastrop Independent School District through the Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation Act, or JETI. The decision to pull those applications was led by Anthropic, which cited a desire not to pull money from the local community, sources said. The company is said to be working with local officials on a list of community priorities to partner on ahead of potentially leasing the property. The project is located at 382 Earl Callahan Road.

Ex-Democratic Texas rep turned Republican anti-trans activist appointed judge in Houston

After a whirlwind few years that saw her anger Democrats, switch parties, get appointed to a state prison board and join the American chapter of an international anti-transgender group, former Texas state representative Shawn Thierry has a new gig: Houston judge. On Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced that he had appointed Thierry as judge of the 515th Harris County Judicial District Court. Thierry's appointment is effective Sept. 1, with her term expiring Dec. 31, 2028. The 515th District Court was one of five new courts created last legislative session to address a backlog of civil court cases. "I look forward to serving on the bench with integrity, fairness, and respect for the rule of law," Thierry wrote in a statement on X.

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Abbott's office noted in a press release that Thierry currently serves on the Texas Juvenile Justice Board, which Abbott appointed her to in 2025. She is a graduate of Howard University and holds a JD from Thurgood Marshall School of Law and, the press release notes among her many distinctions, "a former volunteer with the Houston Food Bank." But Abbott's office did not mention some of Thierry's more recent work. Thierry was originally elected as a Democrat in 2017 to represent Texas House District 146, which includes Houston's historically Black Sunnyside neighborhood, replacing outgoing Rep. Borris Miles, who now serves in the Texas Senate. Thierry mostly flew under the radar until the 2023 legislative session, when she broke ranks with her party to vote for several bills opposed by LGBTQ+ advocates and allies. Thierry was one of 12 Democrats to vote for a bill that would have taken books deemed sexually explicit out of Texas schools. She also voted to ban transgender athletes from competing on college teams that align with their gender identity.

Grapevine-Colleyville school board drops effort to keep legal fees hidden from public

The Grapevine-Colleyville school board voted last night to dismiss three lawsuits filed against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that aimed to block the release of records that district parents have long demanded be made public. All three lawsuits were related to invoices for legal fees the school district paid to attorney Tim Davis and the firms he worked for while he served as the school board’s counsel. In 2024 and 2025, Rachel Wall, a Grapevine-Colleyville parent, requested the unredacted invoices from the district under the Texas Public Information Act. The Star-Telegram did the same in 2025. The school board, represented by Davis, initially sought to withhold those records, arguing they were protected by attorney-client privilege. The Texas Attorney General’s Office, however, ruled that fee details were not privileged and ordered the district to release the invoices.

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The board then sued Paxton to keep the invoices from becoming public. As reported in June, there had been little movement in those cases. Davis parted ways with Grapevine-Colleyville earlier this summer, leading to speculation that the school board would abandon its legal fight to withhold the unredacted invoices. In July, a spokesperson for the school district said the school board was in the process of reviewing the documents. All along, Wall has argued that taxpayers are entitled to see how district money is being spent in the name of transparency. She said Grapevine-Colleyville paid Davis and his firms upwards of $600,000 over the course of four years. On Monday, the school board passed three motions to dismiss the lawsuits. In each instance, the vote was 6-1, with Trustee Shannon Braun the lone dissenting vote. There was no public discussion prior to the votes. School board president Dalia Begin did not immediately respond to a text message requesting comment on the board’s change of heart regarding the invoices. Braun did not immediately respond to a voice message asking for insight into her reasons for opposing the motions. The Keller school board, which Davis also represented, filed a similar lawsuit against Paxton last year to block the release of unredacted legal invoices. A spokesperson for Keller did not immediately respond when asked if the board had considered abandoning its legal challenge.

The NBA investigated a team employee's sexual misconduct claim. Did they talk to her?

According to Joshua Primo’s therapist, the San Antonio Spurs rookie flashed his penis nine times during their private sessions. Though she said she reported her claims to Spurs management, the team didn’t issue any consequences until cutting him months after they ended her employment as the team’s performance psychologist. That’s what Dr. Hillary Cauthen alleged in her November 3, 2022, lawsuit against Primo and the team, spurring the National Basketball Association to launch an investigation. The league’s inquiry, ironically, led commissioner Adam Silver to compliment her former employer. Silver told the press that the Spurs—who publicly disputed Cauthen’s “accuracy of facts, details and timeline” before reaching a settlement—“handled the situation in a very responsible way.” But, he also acknowledged that the league was pursuing “safeguards” to ensure situations like Cauthen wouldn’t happen again.

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Nearly a year after Cauthen’s lawsuit, the NBA suspended Primo for four games for “exposing himself to women” after finishing a probe that “consulted with relevant experts.” eyeblack learned that according to Cauthen’s attorney, the NBA’s decision was news to her. Literally. Tony Buzbee, the lawyer who represented Cauthen in her case against the Spurs, told eyeblack that NBA never contacted her about joining its probe, nor did Silver or any official inform her about those promised safeguards. “The league never even asked to speak to her,” said Buzbee. “We made her available, [the NBA] never responded.” Buzbee’s claim, if true, marked the second time in the last three years that the NBA was publicly criticized for ending an investigation without interviewing the woman who made the complaint. Buzbee cited Cauthen’s press conference announcing the suit, where she articulated her desire to “protect those that suffer in silence” and “help organizations develop a culture of care,” as a clear example of her desire to participate. “Maybe, if they are performing an investigation, and I’ve stated publicly that my client is available to speak, they should make an effort to reach out?,” Buzbee said.

National Stories

Dolly Parton, country music superstar whose songs spoke to millions, dies at 80

Dolly Parton, a rhinestone-studded, rags-to-riches daughter of Appalachia who for six decades ruled country music — and much of pop culture — with an outsize personality and down-home wit that enshrined her as one of America’s most cherished originals, died on Tuesday in Nashville. She was 80. Her death was announced by her family. A spokesman said that she died after a brief battle with cancer and that she had been admitted to the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville on Friday. Concerns about Ms. Parton’s health arose last year when she postponed a Las Vegas residency, and intensified to the point that she took to social media in October to announce, “I ain’t dead yet.” This May, she canceled the residency but said that she had responded well to treatment after her immune and digestive systems had, as she put it, “got all out of whack” in recent years.

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From her hardscrabble beginnings to glittering stardom, Ms. Parton’s life was the stuff of make-believe. With her voluptuous figure, sparkly stage costumes and blond bouffant wigs, she was likened by the writer Chet Flippo to the Big Rock Candy Mountain, the Depression-era symbol of abundance. Her songs spoke to millions, confronting privation and loss even as they radiated possibility and hope. She was, quintessentially, a uniter of people. In 2019, The New York Times ran a story with the headline “Is There Anything We Can All Agree On? Yes: Dolly Parton.” Ms. Parton cannily exploited — and transcended — rural stereotypes and kitsch to fashion a folksy chic entirely her own. (“A country girl’s idea of glam,” she called it in the song “Backwoods Barbie.”) In the process, she became an international celebrity who headlined stadium tours, starred in Hollywood movies, built a business empire and appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone. Her at times girlish soprano notwithstanding, she was anything but the “dumb blonde” invoked in the title of her 1966 single. “I’ve created this and played it up — the makeup, the whole persona,” Ms. Parton said, alluding to her plastic surgeries as well as her colloquial “Dollyisms” in a 2002 interview with The Times.

Trump’s pick for open House seat in Kentucky scrubs president from campaign website

President Trump’s pick to replace Republican Rep. Andy Barr (Ky.) in the House has completely scrubbed the president from his campaign website. Former state Sen. Ralph Alvarado’s (R) campaign website no longer features an image of the candidate next to Trump with them both giving a thumbs-up and shifted from branding himself as a national leader in the “America First” movement to an “independent” focused on healthcare. The scrub of his website was first reported by NBC. Alvarado and the White House did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment explaining the change.

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An archived version of Alvarado’s website says he “was one of President Trump’s earliest supporters, and now he’s stepping up to fight alongside him in Washington to fire up the economy, secure our border, and stop the woke agenda.” It touted the former state senator as the only Latino to speak in support of Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Now statements on the website focus on healthcare and lowering costs. “Healthcare isn’t a talking point to me — it’s been my life’s work. In Congress, I’ll work with both parties to fight for affordable healthcare, lower costs, and practical solutions that help Kentucky families,” a quote from Alvarado on the campaign website’s landing page says. His statement comes as healthcare premiums increased after lawmakers decided not to renew Affordable Care Act subsidies and as the Trump administration pushes changes to the vaccine schedule for school-age children. Democrats say Alvarado’s shift in rhetoric shows that he’s “two-faced.” “He is a two-faced, corrupt politician who has shown he is willing to say anything to deceive Central Kentuckians just to try and get elected,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Eli Cousin told The Hill. “Alvarado scrubbing his website to try and paper over his real record is just the latest sign that he is feeling the heat and knows that this race is a true toss up,” Cousin added. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the seat vacated by Barr as “likely Republican.”

FEMA crew broke law by skipping homes with Trump signs, federal watchdog says

A crew of Federal Emergency Management Agency staffers working on the response to Hurricane Milton in 2024 violated the law and agency policy by skipping nearly a dozen homes displaying signs supporting then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, a federal watchdog said Tuesday. The new report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General found that the decision by a crew with the agency’s Disaster Survivor Assistance program “eroded public trust in FEMA’s ability to treat everyone impartially, offer unbiased and consistent assistance, and ensure equal access to resources and tools.”

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Back-to-back hurricanes hit Florida within two weeks of each other in late September and early October 2024, prompting emergency declarations and federal assistance. FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance crews canvassed 744,288 homes and other sites in response, according the report, and did not contact “555,374 locations for reasons such as private property signs or safety concerns.” During FEMA’s hurricane response, which was unfolding during the last few weeks of the pivotal election, a FEMA crew lead instructed team members to avoid homes with Trump signs due to safety concerns. The same crew bypassed those 11 homes in Florida, according to survey notes obtained by the inspector general’s office. At the time, the crew leader did not feel safe given the heightened tension and “was looking for ways to define safety. People were not getting good guidance, so she made her own way,” said a former senior FEMA official with direct knowledge of the situation. After several FEMA workers filed a complaint, the agency started its own investigation and officials referred the complaint to the Office of Special Counsel and DHS’s inspector general office.

Pennsylvania reports first 2 US measles deaths in 2026

Two unvaccinated Pennsylvania residents have died after being infected with measles, the first U.S. deaths this year related to the contagious virus. State health officials announced the deaths Tuesday. They did not reveal any details about the people who died, other than that they lived in Lancaster County, west of Philadelphia. “My deepest sympathies are with the loved ones who are facing this unimaginable loss,” said state Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen. “Because measles was largely eliminated in the Commonwealth for more than three decades, people are not familiar with this disease and don’t fully understand the potential severity of the illness.” The U.S. has now seen five measles-associated deaths in the last two years — more than the combined total of reported deaths over the previous three decades — and is enduring its worst year for measles since 1991.

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With 2,777 cases as of Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this year already has surpassed 2025’s measles count. In November, international health officials will meet to determine if the U.S. and Mexico have lost their measles-free status. The U.S. eliminated local measles spread in 2000 by maintaining high vaccination rates, which have fallen in recent years to below the 95% coverage needed to prevent outbreaks. The measles surge has coincided with moves by President Donald Trump’s administration to scale back childhood vaccinations, based on concerns — unfounded, according to scientific studies — about vaccine safety. Trump earlier this month signed an executive order calling for revamped childhood vaccine recommendations. He also advocated separating the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three different shots, and administering all childhood immunizations at separate appointments whenever possible. Doctors have raised concerns that Trump and U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are stoking confusion and hesitancy.

In headache for Republicans, second Dan Sullivan advances in Alaska Senate race

A candidate with the same name as Alaska’s incumbent U.S. senator advanced Tuesday to the general election in what will be one of the most closely watched races in the country this fall. Dan J. Sullivan, who goes by Dan Sullivan, was among the top four finishers after the Aug. 18 primary and moved on to the November matchup, which is a ranked choice contest. The incumbent, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, and Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola also have advanced. The challenger Sullivan, a retired teacher from the island community of Petersburg, sued for a spot on the ballot and succeeded after a judge invalidated a decision by a top state elections official who said he had filed his candidacy with an intent to confuse voters.

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The allegation was driven by claims raised by the senator and his GOP allies. The state Supreme Court ultimately ordered Dan J. Sullivan eligible for the ballot. While the challenger sought to appear on the ballot as Republican Dan J. Sullivan, the Division of Elections listed him as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation. The senator was listed as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and incumbent. A call seeking comment from the challenger was not immediately returned Tuesday, and emails to campaign staff for the senator also were not immediately returned. President Donald Trump endorsed Sen. Sullivan for reelection and called the other Sullivan’s candidacy an attempt to trick voters. Dan J. Sullivan criticized the incumbent for embracing Trump’s endorsement and said the president was “more interested in raising tariffs on our allies than in lowering the cost of groceries, housing and energy.” It was too early to determine who would fill the fourth and final slot in the Senate general election race. The Senate race was one of three major contests on Alaska’s primary ballot, which also featured races for the state’s lone U.S. House seat and governor.

MAGA influencer outed as a Pentagon employee in bizarre turn after botching ‘scoop’ from State Dept.

Jennica Pounds, who is more well-known as MAGA influencer DataRepublican on social media, was outed as a special government employee of the Department of Defense Monday. Pounds’s Pentagon employment came to light after a bizarre incident in which she claimed she was being “set up” by the deep state — but it was revealed she merely botched a “scoop” she was being handed by a State Department official. Up until June, Pounds was a member of the credentialed Pentagon press corps. She had not disclosed her new gig with the Pentagon.

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The story began to blow open on Friday, Aug. 21, when the X account for the far-right outlet AF Post wrote, “Jennica Pounds, aka Data Republican, a Department of War employee, alleges that Undersecretary of State Sarah Rogers is attempting to ‘entrap’ Pounds by providing her with information to ‘leak’ under the guise of offering her a ‘scoop.'” Per AF Post, Pounds also believed the “Deep State” — or Rogers — was “trying to set her up to commit a crime, in this case claiming Rogers is trying to entice her to leak sensitive information.” “It’s not okay when the Deep State sets you up to commit a crime,” Pounds wrote in a now-deleted thread. “I have never been more angry in my life.” On Monday, AP Pentagon reporter Konstantin Toropin posted on X, “The Pentagon confirms – ‘Ms. Pounds serves at the Department of War as a Special Government Employee.'”

Trump nabs crucial primary wins in South Carolina, Oklahoma

President Trump notched two critical wins in South Carolina and Oklahoma on Tuesday, with Sen. Darline Graham (S.C.) and former state Sen. Mike Mazzei (Okla.) clinching the GOP nominations in their respective primary runoff races. The Republican contests for South Carolina Senate and Oklahoma governor served as another key test of the president’s influence in the GOP as several of his gubernatorial and House picks have fallen short in their primaries this cycle. Graham defeated Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) by nearly 5 percentage points while Mazzei eked out Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond by about half a point, according to Decision Desk HQ. Graham, who was appointed to serve the remainder of her late brother, Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.), term in the upper chamber, faced growing questions around her lack of political experience after a gaffe on the debate stage last week.

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But Trump’s endorsement carried both her and Mazzei across the finish line, underscoring the president’s firm grip on the party in key contests ahead of the November midterms. Trump had ripped Mazzei’s opponent in the days ahead of Tuesday’s contest. Graham pulled it off in South Carolina — helping Trump avoid an embarrassing primary loss. Trump threw his political weight behind the incumbent and visited the state last week to rally alongside Graham. His super PAC MAGA Inc. also invested $827,000 in the contest, marking the group’s largest investment so far this election cycle. Graham’s win is particularly notable given the president’s initial gubernatorial pick — South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette (R) — lost. He had also backed Attorney General Alan Wilson in the race, but the outcome prompted questions about whether South Carolina Republicans would buck the president’s endorsee again. Trump came out on top in a tight Oklahoma governor’s GOP runoff with Mazzei’s victory over Drummond. Drummond narrowly led Mazzei in the initial June primary runoff. The race took a nasty turn, with Mazzei releasing a drug test this week after public pressure from Drummond, who did the same. In the days ahead of the runoff, Trump also hammered the attorney general, calling him a “fake Republican.” Drummond, a rancher, opposed a Trump-backed aluminum plant in the state and in recent days has slammed the president’s decision to import beef and tariff Canadian goods.

Copyright August 26, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved