February 22, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Records show ICE agent fatally shot U.S. citizen nearly a year ago in Texas, as lawmaker seeks public hearing

Democratic Texas state Rep. Ray Lopez, who serves as vice chair of the Texas House Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety and Veterans' Affairs, said he formally exercised authority under Rule 4, Section 6A of the Texas House Rules to compel Committee Chairman Cole Hefner, a Republican, to schedule a hearing on Martinez's death. The proposed hearing would examine the shooting death of Ruben Ray Martinez in South Padre Island, Texas, on March 15, 2025. While his death was reported at the time, ICE's involvement in the shooting was not disclosed until this week, over 11 months after the shooting.

click here for more

Lopez said it is the first public use of the provision, which was adopted during the 89th Legislative Session that concluded last June. The rule requires a committee chair to "promptly schedule" a hearing designated by the vice chair. Lopez requested a written response from Hefner by the end of business on Feb. 23. It was not immediately clear when a hearing might be scheduled. Local news outlets in Texas reported on Martinez' killing last year, but the involvement of federal immigration agents in the fatal shooting was first revealed earlier this week by Newsweek, which used government documents recently released by the American Oversight Project, a nonprofit ethics watchdog, to connect the death with an internal ICE report. The internal ICE report, which redacts Martinez's name, stated that the March 15 incident involved agents from Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of ICE, who were helping South Padre Island police officers control traffic in the late night hours following a major car accident.

Armed man shot and killed after entering perimeter around Trump’s Florida home

US Secret Service agents and Palm Beach County law enforcement shot and killed an armed man after he “unlawfully entering the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago” Sunday morning, the Secret Service said. The president and first lady were at the White House in Washington, DC, at the time of the incident. A man in his early 20’s entered the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago around 1:30 a.m. before he was shot by agents and a deputy with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the Secret Service said in a statement. He appeared to be carrying a shotgun and a fuel can, according to the Secret Service. The man’s name is being withheld until his family is notified of his death. His background and motive are under investigation by the FBI and other authorities, the Secret Service said. No law enforcement agents were harmed in the incident, the statement said. The Secret Service agents involved will be placed on administrative leave during the investigation “in accordance with agency policy,” the statement said.

click here for more

Meta launches Texas campaign to get AI-friendly Republicans elected

A Super PAC backed by a $45 million investment from the California tech giant Meta launched an ad campaign in Texas this week to boost state Republicans viewed by the company as friendly to the development of artificial intelligence. On Friday, the Forge the Future Super PAC launched its first round of digital ads that support Kelly Hancock, who is locked in heated GOP primary battle for Texas Comptroller, two candidates for state Senate and one North Texas state representative. The ads don't make mention of AI or the data centers that drive the technology, and instead focus on the candidates' efforts to keep taxes low and improve education. Brian Baker, a GOP strategist leading the effort, said in a statement the Super PAC will support "a select group of pro-innovation Republican candidates" for the state Legislature and state offices like governor and attorney general.

click here for more

"Our focus is on elevating Republican leaders who have demonstrated a strong commitment to championing America’s tech future and maintaining our global competitive edge," he said. Hancock and the other candidates, who include state Rep. Trent Ashby, a Lufkin Republican running for an East Texas state Senate seat, and Brett Ligon, who is vying to replace Galveston state Sen. Mayes Middleton, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The campaign, which is also active in California and Illinois, comes amid a flurry of efforts in Texas to put guardrails around AI technology and the affiliated data centers that require huge amounts of water and energy to operate. Last year, state Sens. Angela Paxton and Tan Parker, both Republicans, spearheaded a bill that for the first time established a regulatory framework for AI in Texas, including provisions prohibiting the misuse of biometric data and AI technology that discriminates against a particular group of people or encourages suicide and self-harm. Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is pushing regulation to stop the development of data centers on prime farm land by encouraging tech companies, through tax breaks and other incentives, to insteadbuild them on less productive acreage.

DHS suspending TSA PreCheck and Global Entry as shutdown continues

The Department of Homeland Security is suspending two popular programs Sunday that allow some travelers to move more quickly through airport security because of the shutdown of much of the agency, according to a DHS spokesperson. The department is pausing its TSA PreCheck and Global Entry programs — one of several emergency measures the agency said it is taking to redirect staffing more than a week after Congress did not vote to send more money to the agency. DHS Secretary Kristi L. Noem said in a statement that the agency is “making tough but necessary workforce and resource decisions” and prioritizing the “general traveling population” at airports and ports of entry. “This is the third time that Democrat politicians have shut down this department during the 119th Congress,” Noem said in a statement. “Shutdowns have serious real world consequences, not just for the men and women of DHS and their families who go without a paycheck, but it endangers national security.”

click here for more

Democrats in Congress demanded Republicans agree to impose new restrictions on DHS after federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renée Good, last month in Minneapolis. The White House negotiated with Democrats, but the two sides did not reach a deal before DHS funding ran out on Feb. 14. Among the changes the agency is making starting Sunday is suspending airport police escorts for members of Congress and other expedited services, the agency said. The Federal Emergency Management Agencywill also halt all “non-disaster related response to prioritize disasters,” Noem said, noting the upcoming winter storm this weekend. The Washington Post previously reported that DHS halted almost all travel amid the standoff over the agency’s funding. DHS is now requiring approval for all FEMAtravel, including for disaster relief. Democrats have insisted that federal agents wear body cameras and don’t wear masks, get judicial warrants before raiding people’s homes, stop raids on “sensitive sites” such as churches and schools, and adhere to a new code of conduct similar to those of state and local police, among other demands.

Tariff ruling sends CEOs back to company war rooms

For a few minutes after the Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s signature tariffs Friday, Ethan Allen Chief Executive Farooq Kathwari felt a jolt of relief. Then a jumble of emails from colleagues began pouring in. “This is good news for us,” a leader in the furniture maker’s Mexico operations wrote. It’s too early to know what this means, the head of merchandising emailed minutes later. The executive followed up soon after: With no guidance from the court on refunds, she said, “businesses must continue to pay.” Now that the Supreme Court has resolved one question about the Trump tariffs, it has left U.S. business leaders awash in a flood of others: Are tariff refunds any closer to reality? Will the possibility of new tariffs under a different legal authority prove costlier? And how to proceed without ruffling the Trump administration—which has staked its economic agenda on tariffs—or customers seeking price breaks?

click here for more

Many company bosses say they are now spending the weekend digesting legal briefs and the president’s response to game out what comes next. Since the ruling, Trump has announced a new global tariff of 15% under a different legal authority, arguing the levies are necessary to address large trade and balance-of-payments deficits. “We’ll try to understand it much better,” Kathwari said of the days ahead. “It’s a bit complicated.” Mark Mintman, chief financial officer for Kids2, an Atlanta-based manufacturer of baby products and toys, learned of the ruling on vacation in Florida from a string of text messages. Since he was away, he entered the 170-page ruling into ChatGPT for a quick summary, he said. “My emotional response is muted,” said Mintman, given all of the uncertainty and potential additional tariffs. “I’ll take this as a tiny win.” Kids2 sold around half of its potential refund value, which it estimates is around $15 million, to a hedge fund to recoup some of the cost. The fund will also help with any legal action needed to pursue a refund. The uncertainty around refunds “is a big reason we made the agreement,” he said.

State Stories

SMU’s $50 million pledge is a threat to TCU, Texas, Baylor, Texas A&M et al

The insanity and absurdity will one day slow down, or stop, but SMU is making sure rather than join the family of schools in search of a “solution,” it will play by a series of regulations that exist in the land of make believe. SMU bought its way into power college sports, and now the Mustangs will attempt to buy its way to national titles. On Friday, SMU announced that four families donated $50 million, as well as an initiative to raise an additional $50 million by the end of the year. All of these millions are designated to fund “scholarships, NIL advancement and revenue sharing,” SMU said in a statement. (If you are part of the group that believes $100 million could do so much for groups that desperately need it, you are correct, but we can’t lose sight on the importance of beating Wake Forest in football).

click here for more

The statement did not specify how much of this potential $100 million will go to football players, but 85 to 90 percent feels about right. Misplaced priorities aside, this type of money will be felt immediately in recruiting, and in the 2027 season on the field. Whatever margin between TCU and SMU that existed for the majority of this century is gone. These are two private schools in the same major metro area that compete in the third and fourth most visible conferences in college sports. Flip a coin as to which one - the ACC or Big 12 - is “superior.” For years TCU justifiably didn’t give SMU much thought because there was no need, a line of thinking that now is out-dated. There is no way to slalom around what $100 million that is dedicated to the recruitment of players will do to an athletic department, and university. A winning football team does a lot for a school. Ask TCU. The momentum SMU created since it joined the ACC two years ago is undeniable, and this sort of donation ensures it won’t fade. That type of spending will find the most talented players available. And the players who aren’t immediately available. At least the players who like money.

Judge blocks Houston, Katy schools from enforcing Texas law banning DEI efforts

A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction Friday to block three Texas school districts, including Katy and Houston, from enforcing a new state law that bans diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at public schools. The law, Senate Bill 12, has banned gender and sexuality alliance clubs at high schools across the state, among other provisions. In August, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the Transgender Law Center and the Baker McKenzie law firm sued Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath and Houston, Katy and Plano ISDs to block the law from being enforced. The organizations filed the suit on behalf of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, the Gender and Sexuality Alliance Network and two anonymous individuals. They say the new law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments and the Equal Access Act. In December, attorneys asked for an injunction to prevent further harm to students.

click here for more

“This win affirms that every young person, no matter their background, should have the freedom to learn about themselves and the wide range of identities of their peers,” said Dale Melchert, a senior staff attorney at the Transgender Law Center, in an ACLU press release. “Students in these districts can once again join GSA clubs, learn about and discuss various histories and cultures, and critically—have their identities, including usage of the correct names and pronouns respected by their teachers. We will keep fighting for schools that are safe, inclusive, and welcoming for all.” The school districts involved in the lawsuit are now temporarily blocked from enforcing four sections of SB12, which restricts school-sponsored DEI efforts; prohibits staff from referring to students with names or pronouns that they are not assigned at birth; bars instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity; and bans student clubs based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The judge in his ruling said the three districts have declined "to take a position as to SB 12 on the merits, even after implementing policies or otherwise taking action to accord with its overall directive." He ordered the districts to declare within two week if they plan to defend SB12.

Lubbock Feeders announces feedyard closure after 70 years

It’s the end of an era on the South Plains. After 70 years of operation, Lubbock Feeders, a cornerstone of the region’s agricultural economy since 1955, has announced it will close its doors. The feedyard, which celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2025, has fed well over five million head of cattle during its decades of operation, becoming both an economic engine and a cultural symbol of the South Plains. Manager and CEO Kyle Williams described the closure as a tough and emotional decision, underscoring the weight of ending a 70-year legacy built by generations of cattle feeders, employees and agricultural partners. The decision follows a series of economic and regulatory challenges that have significantly impacted operations.

click here for more

Typically, between 60 and 70 percent of the yard’s cattle inventory originated from Mexico. However, since November 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has closed the southern border to live animal imports for biosecurity purposes. The action was taken in response to the northward movement of the New World screwworm, a parasitic fly whose larvae feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, posing a serious threat to livestock, pets, wildlife and, in rare cases, humans. Without access to Mexican cattle, Lubbock Feeders lost a critical supply pipeline. The border closure comes at a time when U.S. cattle inventories are already at historically low levels. Fewer available cattle, combined with sharply rising market prices, have squeezed feedyards across the region. For Lubbock Feeders, the combination of limited supply and escalating costs proved unsustainable. The Lubbock Feeder partners ultimately determined that closing the business was the only viable path forward. The impact extends far beyond the feedyard’s gates. Local farmers who depended on feedyard demand to sell corn, silage, and other feed crops now face uncertainty. Truckers, veterinarians, equipment suppliers and countless other businesses tied to the cattle-feeding supply chain will also feel the effects.

Dallas City Hall report divides backers of move, supporters to stay

The same report, two different readings. With a nine-figure repair estimate now public, the City Hall debate has grown louder. One side says it’s time to move. The other says restore the landmark. The Dallas Morning News asked a relocation advocate and a City Hall supporter to lay out their arguments. Developer Jack Matthews said Saturday the report bolsters his initial views — City Hall should be torn down. That potentially would free the current site at 1500 Marilla St., which some have suggested as a prime spot for an arena, hotels and mixed-use projects tied to expansion of the convention center growth. “It confirms what I was thinking in an even stronger way,” he said. “It’s more expensive than I thought.” The question now, he said, is whether the city should build a new City Hall elsewhere or move government operations into an existing property, such as a downtown office tower, in or near the urban core.

click here for more

Matthews favors updating an older building. Spending money to update the current City Hall should not be considered. “We have too many more important places to spend money than building a new City Hall,” he said. Matthews, a major player in Dallas real estate, is involved in several projects downtown and in the nearby Cedars neighborhood. “My dog in this fight is – the better Dallas is, the better my developments are,” he said. “What’s good for the city is good for me.” Matthews also pushed back against assertions from the building’s supporters that the estimates compiled by the Dallas Economic Development Corp. were not legitimate. He said the firms involved are “at the very top end of reputation and ability to understand these things” and added that he does not believe any would “sell their soul” for the possibility of working on a future City Hall project.

Two Texas exonerees to launch a podcast dedicated to the junk science that got them convicted.

Josh Burns and Andrew Roark, who have been convicted and later exonerated of crimes related to “shaken baby syndrome,” which is now largely considered junk science, will launch a podcast, Unshaken Truth, next month. In 2024, Roark became the 47th person exonerated in Dallas County after spending decades behind bars. Burns, who is from Michigan but now lives in Texas, was also exonerated that year. The two say that the Robert Roberson case spurred their decision to begin the podcast.

click here for more

“Robert’s case horrified me,” Roark said in a press release announcing the podcast. “The idea that someone could be executed in a situation where there was actually no crime, based on the exact same junk science of shaken baby that led to my wrongful conviction, really shook me. His case is so similar to mine, except, even worse, his daughter died.” They say the first season of the podcast will focus on Roberson’s case and the science that convicted him, the state laws regarding the use of junk science in court, and guests who have worked to get him off death row. That includes author John Grisham, lead detective Brian Wharton, who investigated the death of Roberson’s daughter Nikki but now believes Roberson is innocent, State Rep. Lacey Hull, and Keith Findley, co-founder of the Center for Integrity in Forensic Science. They also plan to have other exonerees on the show, which will drop weekly on Thursdays beginning March 5. In October, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay of execution for Roberson, just a week before his scheduled execution.

How the Bush Center’s Shilo Brooks plans to avoid turning it into a ‘mausoleum’

Less than a year into his new job as president and CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, Shilo Brooks is operating on all cylinders. The 43-year-old Texas Panhandle native, named after a Louis L’Amour Western character, landed back in his home state in July following a three-year stint at Princeton University. “I’ve been really shocked by just how extraordinary Dallas is, and how it’s grown since I first came here as a kid from Lubbock,” Brooks said, in his first interview since officially taking over the reins in September. “It happened just in my lifetime.” Brooks was named in May to succeed the highly regarded Ken Hersh, who led the center for nearly a decade of dynamic growth and increased community engagement. “Ken set up this organization so that a person like me could be here,” said Brooks, who still carries vestiges of his Lone Star lingo. “He left me a really, really healthy organization that’s ready to position itself for its next chapter. I’ve been handed the keys to a really fast car, and all I have to do is drive it wherever I want to go.”

click here for more

Where exactly is that? “A number of these institutions are mausoleums for the president,” Brooks said. “I’ve said this to President Bush: ‘We don’t want this to be a Graceland for you.’ And he said, ‘No, we don’t. That’s not what this is about. It’s about the future.’ “So we are an organization focused on the future but understands the principles that animated him, which are American principles. I want to make it clear that his legacy matters,” he added. “The Bush Center at this particular inflection point in America, when things are so polarized, has a role to play as a preserver of American ideals in their most robust sense,” he said. “I want to make clear that this place is about the best of what our country is. We want to be an educational institution that offers people a chance to reflect on that.” But before Brooks began drawing his roadmap for the future, he spent several months settling his family into their Park Cities home, getting his 8-year-old daughter ready for elementary school ? and becoming more attuned to the ways of Dallas, and the 43rd president’s legacy domain.

Democrats are going to miss Ken Paxton as Attorney General

The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long, they say. If you want to be in it for the long haul, then, cast away Christ’s instruction from the mount: Do hide your light under a bushel. No brightness of any kind has been detectable around our great state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, since he won office in 2014, which may be the reason he has held it for so long. Three full terms, despite the efforts of a large part of his own party to impeach him from office or remove him in his primaries for allegations including corruption, incompetence, and horndoggery, and the failed efforts of state and federal prosecutors to put him in jail. But his haters are finally notching one in the W column. Whether he wins or loses his bid for the U.S. Senate, he will, come January 2027, no longer be the top lawman in Texas. For this they may be glad, but only for a moment. Paxton’s reign contains a central perversity that remains poorly understood by both his most fervent critics and his most adoring fans: He has not been very good at his job. His first two terms were marked by incredible dysfunction and a degradation of the core functions of his office—the prosecution of crimes and the advancement of Republican causes.

click here for more

His predecessors—Greg Abbott, and before him John Cornyn, who became a U.S. senator in 2002—did these perfectly well, and anyone who takes over for him will likely be better at both. Though his career has been saved several times now by Republicans rallying around him, believing him to be persecuted by RINOs and the left, the irony is that they would have been better off sacrificing him—while Democrats should have preferred him to any Republican who might replace him. The view that Republicans would be better off without Ken’s dead weight seems to have been held by, among others, Paxton’s former first assistant attorney general, a fellow by the name of Chip Roy. In 2020, while a congressman, he argued during one of the AG’s recent scandals that “Attorney General Ken Paxton must resign,” because “the people of Texas deserve a fully functioning AG’s office.” Roy now seems most likely to succeed him, and pledged at a four-way primary debate on Tuesday that he would, in essence, work harder and smarter than his former boss. If that comes to pass, Democrats in Texas will find themselves missing Ken. Roy has been in a feud with Paxton since 2015, when he was picked to be Ken’s sidekick in the AG’s first year in office. He had been Ted Cruz’s chief of staff in the U.S. Senate, where he sometimes pushed the hard-line Cruz to take even harder stances. He was, in other words, ideological and uncompromising. In the AG’s office, Roy and the other senior staff ran things because Paxton visited the Austin office just a few days a week.

Even as Cy-Fair ISD reverses a book ban, some say the harm can't be undone

Nearly two years after Cypress-Fairbanks ISD trustees voted to remove 13 chapters from several career and science textbooks, a newly elected board has reinstated the materials. The initial ban triggered community outrage and protests, an influx of campaign donations ahead of board elections, and ultimately the defeat of conservative trustees at the ballot box last November. But teachers and students say the effects of that decision – rushed lesson planning, strained morale, and cautious classroom discussions – can’t be undone with a single vote.

click here for more

“I’m not going to be a part of CFISD for much longer, but it is deeply gratifying to see such change,” Cy-Fair ISD senior Alissa Sundrani, 17, said. “That being said, this is not the end, and there is still a good amount wrong with CFISD curricula that needs to be updated. I hope this empowers the board to do so.” Now that the newly elected board — supported by Democratic political donations — has reinstated the chapters, several former and retired teachers are sharing new details about how the ban undermined their authority, limited their teaching and even changed the course of their careers. At least one science teacher filed a grievance against the board. Another science teacher left her position entirely. "Our professional educators are highly and continuously educated in their field yet many began to feel stifled in the classroom by boardroom decisions," Nikki Cowart, Cy-Fair AFT president said. "(It can) cause morale to plummet when school board policies are decided without any input from the employees or the families we serve."

North Texas FIFA host committee outlines human rights priorities ahead of World Cup

Workers’ issues and human trafficking were among the chief concerns of a human rights plan released Monday by the North Texas World Cup host committee. FIFA requires each of the 16 host cities to develop a plan addressing human rights issues ahead of the tournament, which is expected to bring over 100,000 people a day to North Texas. With a first draft submitted to FIFA in January, the plan was developed over the course of several years in collaboration with more than 200 stakeholders, including the city of Dallas and nonprofit organizations across the region. The version presented to the media at a roundtable discussion on Tuesday will be refined before a final plan is published in May.

click here for more

The host committee is responsible for public safety, transportation, local vendors and events such as the fan festival in Fair Park. FIFA will independently oversee operations at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium, which will be referred to as Dallas Stadium during the tournament, and the International Broadcast Center in downtown Dallas. The region will host nine matches, the most of any of the 16 host cities. Dallas is preparing to host an estimated 3.8 million fans during the World Cup’s 39-day run, with over 35,000 fans expected to attend events at Fair Park each day. The human rights plan outlines a vetting process for local suppliers, who must comply with FIFA’s sustainable sourcing code before being approved as vendors. Supplier categories include food and beverage, security, general contractors, event planning and janitorial services. The code prohibits forced labor, trafficking, child labor and other abuses of workers’ rights. Suppliers who gain approval may be subject to continued monitoring under the plan, and an independent third-party firm will conduct employee interviews to ensure compliance with host committee policies. The plan also stipulates a $15 minimum hourly wage for event workers.

Bastrop County leaders could call for renaming FM 969 as ‘Charlie Kirk Corridor’

Bastrop County commissioners could call on their state leaders to rename a portion of a busy road through their area after the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk. They’re set to vote Monday on a resolution in support of deeming FM 969 from the Bastrop County line to State Highway 71 as the “Charlie Kirk Corridor.” If that passes, county leaders said they would then ask their state lawmakers to introduce legislation that could officially bring about that name change and designation. The next time Texas legislators can introduce and approve a bill to do something like this is when the regular legislative session begins on Jan. 12, 2027.

click here for more

Kirk, who helped create the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA, died in September after a gunman shot him while speaking at a college event in Utah. Following the assassination, Gov. Greg Abbott joined other Texas leaders in pushing for every high school in the state to create Turning Point clubs on their campuses. Texas became the third state to announce a partnership with the group after Florida and Oklahoma. KXAN also recently looked further into the dozens of Texas educators who risk losing their ability to teach over comments they made on social media in the wake of Kirk’s assassination. The state began collecting complaints about teachers’ online posts. While diving into records, KXAN found that several months into the state’s review of more than 350 misconduct complaints tied to social posts, several school districts and the state are continuing to push back on releasing details that would reveal how many educators face losing their teaching certification — or the comments that triggered the state’s investigation into them.

UNT dean's fears of political repercussions led to removal of art exhibit, leaked transcripts show

In leaked transcripts of meetings held by leaders of the University of North Texas art school, Dean Karen Hutzel wouldn’t tell faculty or staff who ordered an exhibit closed and removed from a campus gallery. She described the decision as an “institutional directive” in a meeting with faculty, and told college staffers that she was expecting “a media storm.” Administrators might survive public excoriation, she said. Elected representatives, however, can more readily slash programs, impugn professors and hold state funding over college executives’ heads. Hutzel discussed administrators’ widespread fears over funding loss, and how those concerns are compounded by leadership purges at the University of Texas and Texas A&M University after ideological clashes with Texas Republicans, who have spent the last two legislative sessions fighting what they say is leftist bias and indoctrination in public education.

click here for more

Texas public universities have seen curriculums forcibly overhauled by lawmakers, and entire programs have been eliminated because they don’t align with the conservative values of Republican lawmakers in the state house or in Washington. The UNT College of Visual Arts and Design has been in headlines across the country since it shuttered an exhibit last week by globally known street artist Victor Quiñonez, known broadly by the graffiti tag he developed in east Dallas, Marka27. The graduate of Dallas’ renowned Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts had an exhibit, “Ni de Aquí Ni de Allá,” open Feb. 3 in the CVAD Gallery. The exhibit explores Quiñonez’s identity as a bicultural and bilingual American. Born in Juarez, Mexico, Quiñonez grew up in east Dallas. His exhibit, whose title translates to “neither from here, nor from there” included work from his “ICE Scream” series. The work uses a popular Mexican treat, the paleta, to honor his heritage while it considers incarceration and deportation.

Austin-area doulas lead the way as profession eyes future advocacy efforts

When Josephine Adegbite had her second baby last spring, all the stars seemed to align. At a midwife-led birthing center in Manor, she labored in a tub of water as music played. Just when it was time to push, she heard the opening notes of “Akikitan” — one of her Nigerian grandmother’s favorite Yoruba gospel songs. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. Like, what are the odds?'” Adegbite said. “I think that's what gave me so much more power and strength to give birth.” While the timing may have been perfect, the playlist was planned with this day in mind. By Adegbite’s side the whole time — supporting her with water, towels and massages and keeping the music rolling — was her doula, Alicia Rivera-Clemente. “I was happy to be there and happy to see that she was so comfortable and felt safe,” Rivera-Clemente said.

click here for more

Adegbite’s first experience giving birth just a couple of years earlier was different. The memory of the difficult emergency c-section she underwent with her toddler-aged eldest daughter was still fresh when she found out she was pregnant again. “I did not like it,” Adegbite said. “I did not like the recovery. I didn't like the way I was treated in the hospital. I felt like I didn't really have a voice.” That’s why, this time, she sought out a doula — a non-medical support person to be her advocate during pregnancy and childbirth. A growing body of research shows that doulas are associated with better birth outcomes. That includes reduced rates of preterm labor and fewer c-sections — which can be lifesaving but come with increased risks when performed unnecessarily. These benefits have been especially noted for Black women, who have a maternal mortality rate 2.5 times higher than white women in Texas, per data from the Texas Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee. Legislators and health leaders in states including Texas have begun to take note in recent years, introducing bills that support furthering access to doula care.

National Stories

What happened to the $150 hotel room?

For Skift’s annual company meeting in New York, Rafat Ali tries to put the participants in Manhattan hotels. Last year, his team scoured the city for reasonable rates, but came up empty. Each room cost hundreds of dollars, so all but one of the attendees were sent across the river, to New Jersey. The last-minute guest got stuck by the Lincoln Tunnel, in a modest property charging luxury prices during the popular fall tourism season. That spot, the Yotel, “used to be cheap, and now, of course, it’s too much,” said Ali, the founder and CEO of Skift, which specializes in travel news and research. “It was like $400 or $500 a night.” Hotel rates rise with inflation, a simple fact of economics. Goods and services — from the price of eggs for the breakfast buffet to the hourly wage of housekeepers — cost more, so properties adjust their rates accordingly. The midscale segment, which caters to travelers who have graduated from budget but are still several pay grades from luxury, is especially vulnerable.

click here for more

“What used to cost $100 now costs $150 and what used to cost $150 now costs $200,” said Jan Freitag, national director for hospitality market analytics at CoStar. “That’s just a way of life.” According to CoStar, the average daily rate of U.S. hotels jumped from $131.56 in 2019 to $160.49 in 2025. Some destinations surpass the national average, such as New York City ($333.81 a night), Boston ($232.51) and Miami ($224.24). Freitag said that, in all but the high-end sector, the increase in hotel prices is below the inflation rate, so room rates, when adjusted for inflation, are less today than they were several years ago. But ultimately, you are spending more money for the same standard room with the same basic amenities at the same chain hotel. You’re not getting a more spacious room or finer linens, though you might get stuck with a resort fee. (The price is for hotel only, not including taxes or resort fees, which vary wildly by destination.)

A new generation of MAGA megadonors is emerging — and they’re swamping Democrats

Artificial intelligence executives, cryptocurrency moguls and other donors who have little or no history of federal political contributions are pumping millions of dollars into President Donald Trump’s flagship super PAC, a NOTUS analysis of new campaign finance disclosures indicates. While Trump is constitutionally ineligible to serve a third presidential term, the newbie megadonors’ money could serve the dual purpose of boosting Republicans during the 2026 midterms and endearing the donors to Trump himself. Ben Landa, who built one of the largest nursing home operations in New York, cut a $5 million check to the MAGA Inc. super PAC in August. Trump nominated Landa last month to be ambassador to Hungary.

click here for more

Private equity investor Konstantin Sokolov went from making a few four-figure contributions in years past to cutting checks worth a combined $11 million to MAGA Inc. in 2025. Sokolov also donated an undisclosed amount toward the president’s White House ballroom project. And Foris Dax, the company better known as Crypto.com, has given $30 million to MAGA Inc. since Trump took office. Crypto.com, which has not donated to federal candidates or committees in previous election cycles, scored a massive win this week when Michael Selig, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, announced the federal government’s intention to regulate prediction markets and shut out individual state governments, which could promulgate more draconian rules. Billionaire Jeff Yass, a prominent Republican megadonor, has already given nearly $54.5 million through the same period. Together, their contributions have more than replaced the money Republicans lost when older megadonors died — Bernie Marcus, Sheldon Adelson, Harold Simmons, Foster Friess, David Koch — or all but quit giving, as Robert Mercer did.

How the Epstein files frustrated Trump’s White House

When the Justice Department released its last trove of millions of files about Jeffrey Epstein, President Trump found himself in the same place he had spent a year trying to avoid—dealing with the fallout, again. The files showed his own commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, had visited with Epstein long after Lutnick said they had cut ties. Lutnick had to publicly explain his past statements, provoking a direct conversation with Trump, according to administration officials familiar with the matter. Trump questioned why he previously denied connections to Epstein when he knew he had visited Epstein’s island, the officials said. Since last February, the administration has tried to move on from questions about an issue that has animated Trump supporters like few others, even as it has continued to metastasize.

click here for more

Trump officials initially opposed the release of the files from the investigation into the convicted sex offender and then fumbled their response, telling allies there was little new information to glean from the documents. The disclosures from the latest release, ordered by Congress, have instead forced prominent lawyers and business leaders to step aside, and prompted new criminal inquiries in three other countries. Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are testifying before Congress next week, after the released files included photos of Clinton visiting with Epstein, too. The latest episode started during a conference call just before Christmas, when aides broke the news to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that another million documents attorneys believed were likely duplicates in fact weren’t. Blanche sighed in exasperation, eventually alerting senior White House aides, who shared his anger and received updates for days, according to administration officials. In the ensuing weeks, the agency ordered hundreds of additional prosecutors to review the files, working through weekends to redact sensitive information and at times plying them with pizza to keep going at night.

As Trump pushes voting restrictions, states have a rarely used option to push back

When Kansas began requiring residents to prove their U.S. citizenship before voting more than a decade ago, Steven Wayne Fish tried and failed. A first-time father in his 30s at the time, he wanted a say in debates over public school funding despite having never voted before. But Fish, who was born on a since-decommissioned Air Force base in Illinois, couldn’t find his birth certificate, leaving him unable to register for the 2014 general election. A federal court eventually blocked the Kansas law following a lawsuit in which Fish was the namesake plaintiff. For years, the Fish legal case served as a warning to politicians who wanted voters to produce documents proving their citizenship. That’s changing, as President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress try to impose a similar proof-of-citizenship voter registration requirement nationwide through a long-shot proposal called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act or SAVE America Act.

click here for more

Blue states would have a major tool to push back. Whether they would use it is less clear. States have the power to set separate rules for state and local elections and to apply federal restrictions only on residents voting in federal races, according to interviews with more than a dozen election experts, officials and lawmakers. Operating two distinct election systems, a process called bifurcation, would give states more freedom over who can vote in races for governor, state legislature and other down-ballot contests. Bifurcation would ensure that individuals like Fish could still cast a ballot in some contests, even if they couldn’t vote for members of Congress or president. “It’s very strange and surreal,” Fish told Stateline about a potential national requirement during an interview on Tuesday in Ottawa, Kansas, where he works at a warehouse. Those looking back at his state, he said, will see “it did not work at all.” Under the U.S. Constitution, states regulate the times, places and manner of federal elections, though Congress has the authority to override them. But Congress has far less authority over state and local elections.

Team USA's Matt Boldy makes incredible goal to put team ahead vs Canada in Olympic gold medal game

Tensions were high going into the Winter Olympics gold medal men’s ice hockey game between Team USA and Canada on Sunday and it was the Americans who had the crowd on their feet early. U.S. forward Matt Boldy received the puck in the center of the ice. He tapped the puck forward and was able to split Canadian defenders Devon Toews and Cale Makar. Neither Canadian defender was able to stop him.

click here for more

Boldy pulled the puck back and got it around Canadian goaltender Jordan Binnington for the first score of the game. It came on Team USA’s first shot. Auston Matthews and Quinn Hughes were credited with assists. The score sent the Milan crowd buzzing, and the incredible goal drew a ton of social media reaction. The U.S. had a 1-0 lead after the first period. Boldy, who plays in the NHL for the Minnesota Wild, is on the Olympic roster for the first time. He was a part of Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off and had a goal and two assists in the tournament last year. Canada defeated the Americans in the final of that tournament as the rivalry between the two nations was revitalized.

Blizzard warnings issued for swath of East Coast, including NYC

A fierce storm was poised to blast the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast with heavy snow and strong winds Sunday into Monday, leading forecasters to issue blizzard warnings for much of the coastal Northeast, including New York City, which faces as much as two feet of snow. The storm is expected to bring heavy snowfall, strong winds and blizzard conditions from Delaware to southern Connecticut, the National Weather Service said on Saturday. Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center, said the winds will bring the blizzard conditions but also “create other problems, including moderate to major flooding and high surf at the coast.” He also said there could be widespread power outages with Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts at the highest risk.

click here for more

The blizzard warnings were in place for nearly 30 million people from Sunday morning until Monday afternoon, with the heaviest snowfall — one to two inches per hour, if not more — expected by Sunday night, the Weather Service said. Forecasters warned travel will be “dangerous, if not impossible” on roads, as it became clear that the Monday morning and evening commutes will be messy in the big cities, from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, to New York City to Boston. As of Saturday night, more than 3,500 flights across the United States were being canceled for Sunday, according to the flight-tracking site FlightAware. This is the first blizzard warning issued for New York City since 2017, according to the Weather Service. There was also a blizzard warning for the city the year before, in 2016, when a record-breaking snowstorm dumped an accumulated 27.5 inches of snow onto Central Park — the largest since records began in 1869.

What happens to billions in tariff money already paid? Supreme Court leaves refunds unsettled.

In striking down a large chunk of President Donald Trump’s tariffs Friday, the Supreme Court set up a new legal battle over the $130 billion-plus the government has collected from those duties. The justices, in their 6-3 ruling, did not order the Trump administration to provide refunds to importers for the tariffs already paid, or spell out how repayment should work. That likely leaves the U.S. Court of International Trade responsible for sorting out a thicket of legal issues related to possible repayments; under customs law, tariff refund claims are typically handled through that trade-focused, New York-based court and processed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The president himself lamented the court’s omission in a press conference Friday afternoon. “They take months and months to write an opinion and they don’t even discuss that point,” he told reporters at the White House.

click here for more

“Wouldn’t you think they would have put one sentence in there saying that, ‘keep the money’ or ‘don’t keep the money,’ right? I guess it has to get litigated for the next two years.” In a dissenting opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh warned the refund process will be a “mess” — echoing Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s description during oral arguments. Barrett, nonetheless, joined the majority ruling against Trump’s duties. “The Court says nothing today about whether, and if so how, the Government should go about returning the billions of dollars that it has collected from importers,” Kavanaugh wrote, adding that “refunds of billions of dollars would have significant consequences for the U.S. Treasury.” That’s a point the president and other senior economic officials made repeatedly in the build-up to the court’s decision. In a Truth Social post last month, Trump warned that striking down the tariffs could force the U.S. to repay “many Hundreds of Billions of Dollars” — potentially “Trillions” when accounting for related investments — calling such a scenario “a complete mess” that would be “almost impossible for our Country to pay.” Trade and customs experts agree any potential repayment process will be a logistical “nightmare” for both the federal government and the companies seeking compensation — and that legal fights are likely.

DOJ struggles as White House presses on voter fraud

The Justice Department has struggled to meet White House demands to prosecute noncitizen voters as conspiracy theories that President Donald Trump and his allies have pushed in public fail to hold up legally. The president has grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of results, advisers said, leading to his public pronouncements about nationalizing elections and requiring voter ID, which he lacks the authority to do unilaterally. Top Justice Department officials regularly meet with officials from Homeland Security Investigations — the law enforcement arm of the Department of Homeland Security that works with prosecutors to bring cases against undocumented immigrants — about tracking down instances of voter fraud.

click here for more

The meetings include at least one aide to Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff and the architect of the president’s aggressive immigration policies, according to two people familiar with the matter who, like several others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. A White House official said the effort dates back to an executive order last year, and it’s standard to coordinate implementation involving multiple agencies. This week, DHS instructed all HSI offices to review all open and closed voter fraud cases and report any individuals who registered to vote before they became naturalized U.S. citizens, according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post. The Justice Department is preparing to give HSI officials access to voter registration data for suspected noncitizens, according to a Justice Department official familiar with the matter. The officials have so far decided against DOJ providing all voter data to DHS because of concerns about generating bad publicity or being difficult to defend in court, the official familiar with the matter said. The information would come from state voter rolls, but many states have refused to give those to the Justice Department. The efforts so far haven’t yielded results, in large part because the types of rampant voter fraud that the Trump administration describes have never been found. A Justice Department official said that it has brought significantly more voter-fraud cases than the Biden administration and that the law enforcement agency could bring more cases once it reviews the remaining voter rolls.

Copyright February 22, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved