April 8, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

The US and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire, with talks ahead to bridge the gulf between them. Here’s what to know

After a month and a half of spiraling conflict in the Middle East, the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday – less than two hours before US President Donald Trump’s deadline, after which he had promised to wipe out a “whole civilization.” That threat, which critics warned could be a war crime if carried out, appears to have been staved off for now at the 11th hour. But there remains a gulf between the two countries, who each portrayed the temporary truce as a victory for their nations. The ceasefire is a starting point for further negotiations, and it remains to be seen what final terms may be included in a proposal to definitively end a war that has upended the Middle East and caused a historic global oil disruption.

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Trump announced the ceasefire in a Truth Social post, saying it was made on the condition that Iran agree to reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil flows. The ceasefire had been mediated by Pakistan’s prime minister and its military chief, he said. Iran had put forth a 10-point proposal, which the US views as “a workable basis on which to negotiate,” Trump added. The next two weeks will allow a final agreement to be drawn up, he said. In an interview with AFP news agency Tuesday, Trump described the deal as “total and complete victory.” But he would not say whether he would fulfill his prior threats to destroy Iran’s civilian infrastructure if Tehran reneged on the agreement, only saying: “You’re going to have to see.” And in a later Truth Social post just past midnight, he said the US would be “helping with the traffic buildup in the Strait of Hormuz,” adding: “Big money will be made.”

Analysis: Democrats lost in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s old district. They still had one of their best election nights in recent memory

At this point, it’s not really news that Democrats are doing very well in special elections and other races held since the 2024 presidential contest. Their recent track record is abundantly clear. But even by their recent standards, Tuesday was a very good night – one of their best of the Trump era, in fact. In one swing state, Georgia, they notched their best Trump-era overperformance in a special congressional election, across more than three dozen races. And in Wisconsin, arguably the nation’s top swing state, the Democratic-aligned state Supreme Court candidate sailed to victory by a huge margin.

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Perhaps Tuesday’s most-watched contest was the special election for former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s 14th District in Georgia. Greene, after all, has refashioned herself as a Trump critic of late, and there was some question whether the Iran war might hurt Republicans. While it’s difficult to isolate the causes, the results certainly weren’t encouraging for the GOP. Republican Clay Fuller won the race, as expected, in a district that President Donald Trump won by 37 points in 2024. But with nearly all the vote in, Fuller was winning by less than 12 points. That’s a 25-point overperformance for the Democratic candidate, Shawn Harris. That would make it Democrats’ biggest special election overperformance since Trump first took office in 2017, according to data compiled by CNN. Their previous best was a 23-point overperformance in Florida’s 1st District last year.

What spending probes at DHS reveal about Kristi Noem’s time in office

On a Monday in mid-March, a group of Department of Homeland Security investigators entered the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s headquarters and headed up to the eighth floor, past two access-controlled doors, and to an office near the administrator’s. The agents roped off the area, copied notebooks left on the desk, and put stacks of documents and equipment in boxes. That workspace belonged to an influential figure at DHS who had been integral to overseeing much of FEMA’s day-to-day operations — including decisions on grants and awards that are now part of an Office of Inspector General review of contracts issued under then-Secretary Kristi L. Noem’s leadership, according to several current and former DHS officials, including two with knowledge of the headquarters search. Kara Voorhies joined DHS early in Trump’s second term and worked closely with Noem’s top aide, Corey Lewandowski, as a contractor.

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Both held unusual roles at DHS that stationed them at the top echelons of the agency and put them at the center of some of its most controversial and consequential moves over the past year. Last June, Noem demanded that DHS headquarters approve all contracts worth more than $100,000, giving top officials significant control over everyday spending and creating major delays. Noem’s successor, Secretary Markwayne Mullin, has swiftly scrapped that rule and said leadership should review contracts valued at more than $25 million, a cap that he called “appropriate.” Among the awards that have come under public scrutiny are a $1 billion contract fast-tracked to a pro-Trump donor last year; a $200 million contract to purchase two private jets for Noem and other top officials to use for travel; and another $200 million contract, for ads that Noem starred in last year. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) said that the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is conducting a probe of “potential wrongdoing by Lewandowski and Noem in connection with DHS contracts.” He said he is also aware of information indicating that the DHS Office of Inspector General is investigating the handling of grants and contracts by Noem, Lewandowski and others.

Wisconsin city passes nation’s first anti-data center referendum

A small Wisconsin city home to a data center project backed by President Donald Trump voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to restrict future data centers, in a first-of-its-kind referendum that backers said could offer a blueprint for AI infrastructure opponents around the country. Voters in the Milwaukee suburb of Port Washington approved the measure by a roughly 2-to-1 margin, according to unofficial results. City residents who sponsored the voter initiative said it marks an escalation of tactics to oppose the massive facilities needed to power artificial intelligence and could inspire activists in other towns to follow suit.

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“This is really setting a precedent,” Christine Le Jeune, founder of the nonprofit Great Lakes Neighbors United, said in an interview Tuesday evening. “This is something that other communities can look to.” At least three other communities around the country are set to vote on similar ballot measures targeting data center projects later this year. And in Ohio, data center opponents are seeking to place an initiative on the statewide ballot that would ban new construction of certain large data centers. The Port Washington referendum doesn’t actually derail the city’s controversial data center campus — a $15 billion, 1.3-gigawatt facility from tech giants OpenAI and Oracle that’s one of multiple “Stargate” AI megaprojects the companies are planning with the Trump administration’s support. Instead, it takes aim at future projects by requiring city leaders to obtain voter approval before awarding developers lucrative tax incentives.

State Stories

Texas considers required reading list for schools, which includes the Bible

Texas education officials are considering sweeping changes to English and social studies instruction that would put readings from the Bible on a new state-required reading list for millions of public school students. The changes would also bring a U.S. and Texas centric lens to history, with less emphasis on world history, a shift some historians and progressive groups have opposed. The Texas State Board of Education, an elected board with a 10-to-5 Republican majority, was meeting on Tuesday to consider the proposals, which could shape instruction for a generation of students. Texas is home to 5.4 million public school students, about 11 percent of the total U.S. public school population. The hotly debated reading list drew hours of public testimony, from teachers, students, parents, politicians and religious groups.

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A draft of the list, proposed by the Texas Education Agency, outlines more than 200 texts, with widely recognized classics such as “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle for kindergartners, “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle for seventh graders and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech for eighth graders. But it also includes passages from the Bible in middle and high school, raising questions about the separation of church and state. A second proposed list, from Will Hickman, a Republican member of the state board, would require fewer books overall and include biblical passages starting in elementary school. Supporters say the Bible excerpts, which include the story of David and Goliath from the Old Testament and a meditation on love from First Corinthians, have important literary value. Critics asked the board to dial back the biblical passages, arguing that they belong in a comparative religion class, or not at all. The board is weighing broader questions about which books — and which authors — qualify as essential reading, and how much flexibility to give to teachers to select additional texts of their choosing.

Dallas GOP chair could be ousted over return to joint elections

Dallas County's Republican Party chair announced Monday in a statement that he could be voted out as the local party leader for agreeing to hold joint elections for upcoming runoffs. Allen West indicated in his weekly newsletter that party members are unhappy that he signed an amended contract with the county election department to hold joint Republican and Democratic voting in May. West decided to abandon separate, precinct-based voting and return to joint, countywide voting after last month's chaotic primary elections that confused thousands of voters, which set off a chain of legal action in local and state courts.

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"The wise and prudent individual understands when you say, 'Hey, let's just say we did it. We will learn from what happened, and we will move on,' " West said. "You don't go back to the well again, because I think that you could expose yourself to — like I said — some very serious legal ramifications and litigation." He said holding another election that confuses voters from both parties opens up the Republican Party to potential risks, including disenfranchisement accusations. West was reelected as chair one month ago in that messy primary election. "I'm not resigning and I'm not changing my mind about signing the amended contract," he said. "But I don't have any problems if people want to bring a motion to vacate — even though I was just reelected for another two-year term in March. That's fine. But I believe it's the right decision and I'm not going to kowtow to 35 or some odd people that just want to have their way."

Texas AG to ‘leverage’ DOGE data to investigate ‘dozens’ of Medicaid providers for potential fraud

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating “dozens” of Medicaid providers for alleged fraud – based on data released by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. A DOGE team recently released U.S. Department of Health and Human Services claims data to “detect Medicaid fraud.” “Based on this data, the Office of the Attorney General has launched numerous new investigations that target Medicaid providers,” Paxton’s office said in a statement Tuesday. “These investigations will leverage DOGE’s newly released data, the OAG’s internal claims data, and other investigative tools, including Civil Investigative Demands where appropriate in anticipation of litigation.”

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The investigations target home health and occupational therapy providers – as well as “entities that potentially committed fraud related to COVID-19 treatments.” The release does not specify which providers, or how many, the office is investigating. Paxton’s office did not immediately respond to KERA’s request for comment. The investigations continue a growing trend of state officials and agencies focusing on alleged Medicaid fraud and abuse. Paxton’s office recently filed several cases against providers and health care organizations related to potential Medicaid fraud – including a lawsuit filed in February against a Dallas doctor and Children’s Health for allegedly submitting Medicaid claims related to gender-affirming care for minors. The Texas Senate Health and Human Services Committee has a public hearing scheduled Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. to “explore and recommend ways to prevent fraud and abuse” in programs like Medicaid. It’s one of the interim charges Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick assigned to the committee in January.

Corpus Christi lakefront no more! Property values sink as water disappears

Falling water levels at Lake Corpus Christi are reshaping more than the shoreline. They are beginning to drag down property values in surrounding communities. What used to be a short walk to the water from her home is now a much longer distance for Indian Point resident and realtor Sabra Herschap. She says the lack of water is directly impacting demand for lakefront homes. “ The beauty of living on the Lake is the water, and that’s the number one factor why people buy out here, and as you can see, we’re not going to get a lot of buyers with the water. This is considered two water lots, and I’ve seen the water of course, all the way up to our bulkhead right here, and it has not been this low since I believe 1958.”

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Herschap says the slowdown is already showing up in the numbers, with more listings seeing price reductions and fewer buyers willing to commit. “ I have seen a lot of prices drop. It’s just been incredibly difficult to encourage people that hate the lake is going to be back next summer, because we don’t know when the lake is going to be back.” Homes that once advertised waterfront access are now sitting farther from the shoreline. In nearby Lake City, more properties are hitting the market and staying there longer, signaling a shift toward a buyer’s market. “Back in the day, you would have fiesta Marina with the dances, and they would do their short-term rentals. The lake was up. People were out skiing. And you just can’t sell that package right now.” Just a few miles away in Mathis, Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Sabas Encinia Jr. says the broader economy remains stable despite the lake’s decline. “ Mathis isn’t just about the lake, obviously, we would like the lake full. We would have more visitors. But, overall, in doing some retail numbers, we are still overachieving.” Encinia says the focus is on diversifying beyond lake-driven tourism to maintain growth even as water levels remain low.

Susman Godfrey pushes back on Trump's EO push

More than a dozen legal groups representing corporate general counsel, smaller law firms, former judges and law professors filed federal court briefs late last week supporting Texas-based Susman Godfrey and three other corporate law firms that are the targets of punishing executive orders issued in the spring by President Donald Trump. The friend-of-the-court briefs signed by 21 law professors at Texas law schools, 23 small law firm lawyers in Texas and at least nine prominent Texas litigation boutiques asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to uphold four lower court rulings that said the presidential executive orders that declared the law firms as threats to national security unconstitutional.

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General Counsels United, an organization comprised of 800 current and former corporate chief legal officers, told the federal appellate judges that the executive orders against Susman Godfrey, Perkins Coie, WilmerHale and Jenner Block are “inflicting concrete and present harm” to U.S. businesses in their dealings with their own lawyers. Perkins Coie has offices in Dallas and Austin. The brief states that Trump’s executive orders are “impacting their ability to hire or retain the targeted law firms” and impeding “the willingness of other companies and law firms to challenge or defend against federal action.” “Current general counsels face a significant constraint that makes public commentary difficult: speaking publicly about the orders’ impact on their companies risks inviting the very federal retaliation they are describing,” GCs United argues. At least 10 Texas-based law firms — including Aldous Law, Carrington Coleman, Crain Brogdon, Lynn Pinker, Nachawati Law Group, Waters Kraus and Sommerman, McCaffity, Quesada & Geisler, all of Dallas — joined an amicus brief filed on behalf of 842 law firms stating that the executive orders are an “undisguised retaliation for representations that the firms, or former partners of the firms, have undertaken or may be planning to undertake.”

Dr. Peggy Smith continues to serve teen health needs in Houston for more than 50 years

As Women's History Month comes to an end, ABC13 introduces a woman who's been passionate about teen health for more than 50 years. She was hired in 1972 to close the first teen health clinic in Houston, but after seeing the need, she's fought not only to keep it open but also to expand it to now seven locations in our area. ABC13 took a tour of one clinic located in the Third Ward on Cullen. It's also where we met Dr. Peggy B. Smith. She's the director of Baylor's Teen Health clinic and knows these walls well, with more than 54 years of experience as a professor in the OBGYN department. She explained how this is where her passion for health care started.

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"This population has no voice, you know that. So, I immediately started looking at ways to continue the funding, expand the mission, and provide meaningful ways to provide health care to uninsured youth 13 to 24 years of age. For about 30 years, we did a lot of maternity," Smith said. With a lot of preventive health care, Smith said, they're providing access to things like contraception. Dr. Smith said that, over the years, their research has shown that all their services have been working. She said they were able to reduce the teen pregnancy rate, and eventually it led to expansion. They now offer a wide range of health care services, and they've expanded their clinic locations throughout the inner city. "I was looking at the statistic today, and one of our clinic sites, 43% of the population in that neighborhood don't have a medical provider, which translates, they may have been born at a hospital, maybe public or private, but the opportunity to really see a PCP or having a primary care physician does not exist," Smith said.

Why the SBC hasn’t intervened in Houston megachurch Second Baptist’s civil war

The Southern Baptist Convention has spent decades encouraging its participating churches to operate “through democratic processes” while touting the responsibility individuals have in shaping ministry. But the SBC has remained silent as one of the convention’s largest megachurches — Houston’s Second Baptist — faces a crisis over its members’ loss of voting rights. Current and former church members known as the Jeremiah Counsel say a group of members were misled by Second Baptist’s leaders into approving bylaws in 2023 that stripped them of their voice. The bylaws placed the church’s future in the hands of the new “ministry leadership team,” including the senior pastor and his appointees — not the church’s 94,000-member congregation.

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The Jeremiah Counsel accused Second Baptist of sacrificing its democratic values and filed a lawsuit that is scheduled for trial in Harris County in late July. The dispute highlights a broader tension in the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. with 47,000 churches. While the SBC prides itself on its commitment to democratic principles, it also values church autonomy as a core tenet, giving churches wide leeway in how they handle their internal affairs. What happens when those two philosophies collide at a Southern Baptist megachurch? So far, not much. Second Baptist's new bylaws might not disqualify the church from being part of the convention, but they do stray from centuries of Baptist tradition, said Doug Weaver, a professor of historical studies at Baylor University who teaches Baptist history and Pentecostalism. “What can make the Baptist vision effective is that it allows everybody to have equal voice, equal responsibility,” Weaver said.

Taylor Sheridan will create a Battle of the Alamo film for new Texas museum

Taylor Sheridan will remember the Alamo for a new museum in San Antonio. The Fort Worth-raised filmmaker is making a film about the Battle of the Alamo for the new Alamo Visitor Center and Museum in the South Texas city. The nearly 160,000-square-foot facility will feature event spaces, a cafe, a rooftop terrace, a gift shop and a 4D theater. It’s the 4D theater where Sheridan comes into play, according to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. “Once I saw the plan for the theater, I knew there was only one screenwriter, film producer, and director in the world to make this film for the Alamo Museum – Taylor Sheridan,” Patrick said in a statement on Tuesday, April 7. “Over the last decade, Taylor has told the story of the American west – the people, the land, the depth, and the history – in a way no other filmmaker has. In addition to his amazing film portfolio, Taylor is a native Texan who knows and loves our state and its history.”

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Patrick said he contacted Sheridan about the historic project, and “despite his incredible schedule,” was met with an enthusiastic yes. “The Alamo is the very bedrock Texas was founded upon. To chronicle the sacrifice made by the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives defending the Alamo is an honor I eagerly accept,” Sheridan said in a statement. Patrick continued that this is an amazing gift from Sheridan and “a big win for Texas.” “[Sheridan] has agreed to join us in telling the story of the Battle of the Alamo for the millions who will visit the Alamo in the years to come,” Patrick said. “I am reaching out to the Board of the Alamo Trust, who is managing the Alamo restoration plan, and I know they will be as excited as I am about this opportunity.” Originally, the museum was expected to open in late 2027. However, the San Antonio Express-News reported in February that the opening had been pushed to spring 2028. No casting or production information has been released for the new project. But there is already an Alamo connection to a current Sheridan project: “Landman” star Billy Bob Thornton previously starred as Davy Crockett in John Lee Hancock’s 2004 feature film “The Alamo.”

Granbury approves data center power plant, despite resident pleas

After hearing comments from dozens of concerned residents, and against the advice of the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission, the Granbury City Council at its meeting on April 7 agreed to rezone a roughly 2,000 acre parcel of land so that developers can build a power plant for a future data center. In January, the City Council approved the annexation of that land, which straddles Meadow Wood Road, south of U.S. 377 and north of Paluxy Highway. In July 2025, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved an emissions permit submitted by Dallas-based developer Bilateral Energy LLC to build eight simple-cycle power turbines and 87 linear generators at 1225 Meadow Wood Road, which is in the center of that parcel.

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Bilateral’s website describes the company as “powering data centers, empowering the grid” and advertises “private power infrastructure” for AI data centers. The City Council has maintained that they only learned of the power plant at the meeting in January, but residents say they don’t believe it as questions about transparency and trust have rippled through the idyllic town on the winding banks of the Brazos River. The Granbury City Council chambers was nearly overflowing with people Tuesday evening as residents came out to speak on the agenda items and voice their disapproval and disappointment. The two items up for discussion at Tuesday’s concurrent meeting of the City Council and the Planning & Zoning Commission were additions to two of the city’s zoning ordinance articles to add standards for data centers, and the rezoning request, which asked the city to change allowed future uses at the 2,000 acre site to purely industrial and to change the current zoning at the site to industrial use.

Austin ISD to make ‘deeper cuts’ to close projected $180M shortfall

Austin school leaders on Tuesday floated “deeper cuts” to close a projected $180 million budget deficit ahead of next school year that could impact campuses. The multi-million-dollar budget shortfall is what district leaders expect next school year if they make no changes to the budget – even with the expected cost-savings from closing 10 campuses. “We have been very thoughtful to protect the classroom. We do our best to fend off the changes that impact budget,” Superintendent Matias Segura said. “We are no longer in a position to protect all things.”

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District leaders identified more than a dozen potential areas to reduce spending, including staffing cuts. The district estimates it could save $23 million by eliminating funding tied to vacant positions at the department level, $6 million if it adjusts elementary campus staffing and another $16 million if it adjusts secondary campus teacher staffing. The district also discussed reducing employee stipends, including stipends that go to special education teachers (an estimated $5.7 million in cost savings) and potentially reducing or eliminating academic programs. Segura told board members the substantial increase in the district’s budget deficit is due to changes in property values and a drop in enrollment. Segura highlighted changes in federal immigration policy, specifically, as a major factor in enrollment changes. “What is different this time is families are leaving, and no new families are coming,” Segura said.

Cornyn and Moran: The Working Families Tax Cut Act prescribes real remedies for health care

We hear from Texans every day who have rightfully grown weary of our health care system. Wait times are too long, bills are too high, and Congress often seems too little too late on plans to fix it. But last year, President Trump and Congressional Republicans secured meaningful health care reforms through the Working Families Tax Cuts Act that will improve health care access and affordability for Texans and all Americans. First and foremost, the Working Families Tax Cuts Act delivered historic wins for rural communities. This landmark legislation established the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), a $50 billion initiative that represents the single largest investment in rural health care in more than two decades. Texas received $281 million this fiscal year through the RHTP – the most of any state in the nation. The Lone Star State is expected to receive similar amounts annually over the next four years.

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These resources will provide a vital safety net for rural communities, particularly in places like East Texas, home to multiple health systems that deliver exceptional care. We will visit with health care professionals at the UT Tyler Health Science Center later this week to discuss how RHTP funding would improve operations throughout East Texas. Bold strides are already being made with the establishment of the UT Tyler School of Medicine, and RHTP funding will only accelerate these efforts, whether through modernizing infrastructure or bolstering recruitment and retention. For smaller providers, RHTP funding could mean the difference between closing and staying afloat. The good news is that local providers who know their communities best will have flexibility in determining how funds are spent. The benefits to the Piney Woods don’t stop there. Families who live outside the hustle and bustle of city life can rest assured knowing that the Working Families Tax Cuts Act prioritized telehealth as another cost-saving, convenient option. Working parents with busy schedules, seniors with mobility challenges, and folks with compromised immune systems all benefit from receiving care from home. And rural patients can connect with doctors without driving hours to the nearest hospital. By permanently allowing patients with high-deductible health plans access to telehealth services without first having to meet their deductibles, Republicans ensured remote care remains a lasting option for Texans.

Texas Rangers launch criminal investigation into Camp Mystic

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Tuesday that the Texas Rangers have launched a criminal investigation into Camp Mystic, where 27 campers and counselors were killed during a catastrophic flash flood on July 4. The Texas Department of State Health Services, which also is investigating the Hill Country camp, has received more than 600 complaints and requests to not renew Camp Mystic's state license this year, Patrick said in a letter to the state agency. "You should not renew or approve a camp license for Camp Mystic, or any other camp the same operators intend to run, until your investigation, and all criminal and legislative investigations are complete and necessary corrective actions are taken," he wrote.

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"With many questions remaining unanswered surrounding the deaths of 27 young girls, parents and Texans deserve to have all issues resolved prior to Camp Mystic and/or their operators being allowed to welcome children back into their care this summer," he added. Camp Mystic submitted a license renewal application to DSHS on March 30 seeking approval to reopen its Cypress Lake camp this summer, a portion of the retreat that did not flood on July 4. The camp's current license expired March 31. Camp Mystic has drawn intense scrutiny and criticism since the July 4 flash flood killed 25 children and two counselors staying at its original Guadalupe River camp on the south fork of the river near Hunt, about 18 miles southwest of Kerrville. Richard "Dick" Eastland, 70, one of Camp Mystic's executive directors, also was killed as he tried to rescue campers from the high waters. His vehicle was carried away by the current and crashed into a tree. The DSHS said it will investigate potential violations of laws and rules governing youth camps. The Texas Rangers, an arm of Texas Department of Public Safety, said it's assisting DSHS "regarding complaints of neglect by Camp Mystic." Patrick said in his letter to DSHS that the Texas Rangers are conducting a criminal investigation, though the DSHS's investigation is administrative. Patrick didn't elaborate.

Rising fuel costs threaten Texas trucking industry and consumer prices

The ongoing war in Iran is having economic impacts at home, with gas prices rising more than 30% since the start of the conflict and diesel prices climbing above $5 per gallon, putting pressure on Southeast Texas truckers and the broader supply chain. Despite Southeast Texas sitting below state and national averages at $7.76 per gallon for gasoline, diesel prices remain significantly higher — a concern for the local trucking industry that depends on fuel to keep goods moving. At Lamar State College Orange, instructors say the rising fuel costs are already creating challenges for the next generation of truck drivers and could soon impact consumers’ wallets.

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The commercial driver’s license, or CDL, course at the college trains students using industry-standard trucks while preparing them for careers in transportation. But program leaders say rising diesel costs are pushing the industry into uncertain territory. “I can remember buying diesel for 99 cents a gallon, and now we're over five dollars a gallon,” said Carl Cormier, CDL program director at Lamar State College Orange, who has more than 30 years of experience in the trucking industry. Cormier said higher fuel costs will likely drive up the price of everyday goods. “Imagine these companies, or these independent owners and operators having to put fuel in their trucks and spending between $5 to $8 a gallon, so that entails it's going to end up bringing the cost of our food, clothing and all these things are starting, the prices can start driving up,” Cormier said. He added that trucking companies will have little choice but to pass the added costs on to consumers.

National Stories

Liberal judge cruises to landslide victory in Wisconsin Supreme Court race

Chris Taylor, a Wisconsin Court of Appeals judge, won a seat on the state Supreme Court in a quiet election Tuesday she was widely expected to dominate. Taylor, who ran as a liberal candidate, defeated a conservative appeals court judge, Maria Lazar, increasing the court’s liberal majority to 5-2. The Associated Press called the race at 9:36 p.m. Tuesday with Taylor in a clear lead. It was the fourth consecutive victory for Democratic-backed Supreme Court candidates in Wisconsin, just a year after Elon Musk, Turning Point Action and other national donors attempted to flip the court in the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. Conservative donors spent more than $100 million in 2025 backing candidate Brad Schimel, who lost to now-Justice Susan Crawford.

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This year’s election drew far fewer dollars and eyeballs. Taylor, a former attorney for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin who later served as a state assemblymember and as a Dane County Circuit Court judge, raised more than $5.8 million since last year, according to campaign filings, compared to $983,000 by Lazar. Early voting dropped almost 60% from the 2025 race, while absentee ballots decreased by almost 50%. Slipping turnout reflected voters’ limited attention to this year’s election. More than 60% of a sample of registered voters in mid-March told the Marquette Law School Poll that they hadn’t heard enough to have an opinion about either candidate. Voters’ lack of familiarity with Taylor and Lazar led political strategists on both sides to believe the election was anyone’s for the taking, despite Taylor’s large fundraising advantage.

USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins sent Easter email to staff touting 'Jesus' and 'God'

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins sent USDA staff an Easter email that emphasized the story of Jesus being crucified and resurrected, a message that some Christians said alienated them for its overt religiosity. “Happy Easter — He is Risen indeed,” Rollins wrote in the email sent on Good Friday, which CNBC has reviewed and was first to report. “From the foot of the Cross on Good Friday to the stone rolled away from the now empty tomb, sin has been destroyed,” Rollins wrote. “Jesus has been raised from the dead. And God has granted each of us victory and new life. And where there is life — risen life — there is hope.”

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The email included an illustration of a round stone rolled away from the entrance to Jesus’ tomb, with the words “Christ is Risen” written above the image. A USDA staffer who spoke to CNBC said the email was offensive to them as a devout Christian, and as a department employee who works “with people of other faiths, Muslims, Hindus.” The staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were worried about retaliation, said other USDA employees also were offended by Rollins’ message. “People are not on board for her sort of brand from a Christian nationalist perspective,” the staffer said. “It misses the mark from a lot of angles.” “I find it blasphemous, actually, because it’s contrasting Jesus’ message,” they said.

Did Trump accidentally do something woke for global health?

A surprising quirk of the Trump administration is that every so often, it tries so hard to be anti-woke that it accidentally does something woke. See, for example, the efforts of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who oversaw USAID’s demise — directives that have contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people — and who stood at the White House beside the president of Kenya a few months ago, railing against what he called the “NGO industrial complex.” Now, I don’t know who taught Rubio that progressive catchphrase, but I doubt that he got it from INCITE!, the radical feminist collective that popularized a variation of the term in an anthology that examined the role of nonprofits in undermining social progress. In the two decades that followed, the idea of a nonprofit or — as they’re often known in international contexts — NGO “industrial complex” grew into a snarky self-critique for much of that sector’s left-leaning young workforce.

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By the time Teen Vogue used the term in 2022, the phrase also hinted at an enduring related criticism of USAID’s tendency to primarily fund Western nonprofits rather than local governments and organizations in recipient countries. In an unexpected twist, this term has found its way into the vocabulary of a very Republican secretary of state, now reflecting a preference for funding foreign governments over non-governmental organizations (NGOs). “If we’re trying to help countries, help the country,” Rubio said in his remarks in December announcing a new $1.6 billion bilateral aid deal between the US State Department and Kenya. “Don’t help the NGO to go in and find a new line of business.” Whatever one thinks of Rubio, he has a point. As part of the “America First Global Health Strategy” announced last year, the Trump administration has embraced an approach to foreign aid that more left-leaning reformists have been talking about for years, a concept known as localization, or the idea that giving aid directly to local governments and organizations — not Western nonprofits — is the best and most cost-effective way to strengthen global aid overall and global health systems especially. In recent months, the US has negotiated dozens of deals between the State Department and African governments, which are set to collectively receive billions of dollars that they can spend as they see fit.

The Trump administration is fighting a losing battle against local energy laws

The Trump administration’s latest attempt to dismantle a local energy law could test whether President Donald Trump’s energy agenda can endure mounting legal headwinds. The Justice Department asked a federal judge last week to deem Morris Township, New Jersey’s 2022 ban on gas-powered and other nonelectric appliances in new apartments unlawful. The lawsuit is the latest effort by the administration to dismantle state and local environmental laws that it argues are “overly restrictive” — a campaign it started exactly a year ago with an executive order. Over the past year, federal courts have regularly handed the administration and aligned industry groups losses, largely protecting local policy from the president’s oil and gas agenda.

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Federal judges ruled in two separate cases last week that the Energy Policy and Conservation Act — the federal law Trump’s team is citing to claim that Morris Township’s gas hookup ban is unlawful — does not preclude local and state governments from regulating energy consumption. The law gives the federal government power to regulate energy efficiency and labeling, but local and state governments can set their own standards for energy use, a judge in one of those cases ruled. “The government is making the same arguments that all of these other cases have made using that same reasoning … that’s ultimately not been successful in other jurisdictions,” Vincent Nolette, who works on city-level climate change policies at the Columbia Law School’s Sabin Center for Climate Law, told NOTUS. “There’s good reason to think that a judge would continue to interpret EPCA as not preempting these local building laws.” The Justice Department’s environmental suits have mostly focused on Democratic-leaning cities and states, attacking everything from climate superfund laws to local attempts to file litigation against oil and gas companies. Previous targets have included New York, Vermont, Michigan and Hawaii. The administration filed another lawsuit over a gas ban against two solidly blue California cities.

Abortion clinics are closing nationwide. Could urgent care help fill the gap?

Providing abortions was the last thing Shawn Brown thought she'd be doing when she opened an urgent care clinic in Marquette, a small port town on the remote shores of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. But she also wasn't expecting the Planned Parenthood in Marquette to shut down last spring. Roughly 1,100 patients relied on that clinic each year for cancer screenings, IUD insertions, and medication abortions. Now the area has no other in-person resource for abortions. "It's a 500-mile stretch of no access," Brown said. So the doctor, who describes herself as "individually pro-life," added medication abortions to Marquette Medical Urgent Care's already busy practice, which treats a steady flow of kids with the flu, college students with migraines, and tourists with skiing injuries.

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At least 38 abortion clinics shut down last year in states where they're still legal, according to data collected by I Need an A, a project supported by a number of nonprofits that helps people find abortion options. Even states that recently passed constitutional amendments protecting abortion rights, such as Michigan, have had clinics close since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. And as rural hospitals shutter labor and delivery units, patients are losing access to pregnancy care. "You cannot have a high-risk pregnancy up here," Brown said. "It's a scary place." Now communities are coming up with alternatives, such as Brown's urgent care clinic. The idea that urgent cares "could be an untapped solution to closures for abortion clinics across the country is really exciting," said Kimi Chernoby, the chief operating and legal officer at FemInEM, a national nonprofit that works to improve professional training and patient outcomes for women in emergency medicine. One patient at the Marquette urgent care on a recent day was a woman who requested NPR identify her by her first initial, A, so she could talk candidly about a sensitive medical decision. She drove more than an hour on snowy backroads while her kids were in day care to get to her appointment.

The Iran war is hitting California harder than any other state

The last South Korea-bound oil tanker to sail through the Strait of Hormuz dropped off its cargoes late last month. That is a grim omen for California, which relies on the Asian nation for jet fuel shipped 6,000 miles across the Pacific. The reverberations of the Iran war are poised to hit California harder than other states. That is because California imports roughly 75% of its crude oil, almost one-third of which comes from the Middle East. It also gets jet fuel and gasoline from countries whose refineries depend on the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf. With the Hormuz still closed, South Korea and India—two of California’s biggest fuel suppliers—are dramatically slowing exports, threatening to squeeze the Golden State’s energy supplies. This month, South Korea is set to ship about half the jet fuel it normally sends to California, according to market intelligence firm Vortexa.

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“If it’s not resolved soon, it’s going to get super tight,” said Andy Walz, who runs Chevron’s oil refining, pipeline and chemicals business. California’s coffers are sufficient to meet demand for refined products like jet fuel and gasoline in April, but a shortfall is likely to emerge over the following months, Walz said. Asian refineries are working through their existing inventories, and some countries including Japan and South Korea are releasing strategic oil reserves as a buffer. “At some point, those things are going to be gone,” Walz added. The price of gasoline is often a political flashpoint in California. Prices at the pump on Tuesday averaged $5.93 a gallon, more than $1.75 above the national average. The state has higher-than-average gasoline taxes and fuel-standard requirements that add about $1.10 to the price of a gallon of gas, estimates Ryan Cummings, a researcher at Stanford University’s Institute for Economic Policy Research. California wasn’t always an island in the energy market. Chevron and other oil companies blame the state’s energy policies and policymakers’ push to spur a transition away from fossil fuels for a huge drop in oil production and refinery shutdowns.

Delta, WestJet and other airlines announce higher baggage fees and fuel surcharges

More airlines are tacking extra fees and surcharges onto already rising ticket prices, hoping to recoup costs as the war in Iran causes fuel costs to surge. Delta Air Lines announced on Tuesday it would start charging $10 more to check a bag on U.S. domestic flights, following similar baggage-fee increases last week by United Airlines and JetBlue. WestJet, Canada’s second-largest airline, said on Tuesday that it would add fuel surcharges of up to 60 Canadian dollars, or about $43, to some flights, a day after Air Canada, the country’s largest, rolled out 50 dollar fuel surcharge for flights to warm weather destinations. Porter Airlines, a smaller Canadian carrier, began adding a temporary fuel surcharge of 40 dollars on award flights in late March.

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“Fuel is the largest contributor to airline operating costs, and a temporary surcharge helps us manage the recent surge in fuel prices,” WestJet said in a statement, noting that fuel typically accounts for about 20 percent of an airline’s costs. The carrier also said it would temporarily cut some lower-demand flight routes. Since the war in Iran began on Feb. 28, U.S. jet fuel costs have climbed more than 87 percent, to $4.69 a gallon on Monday, according to Argus Media. “When fuel prices rise, airlines don’t just absorb the hit — they pass it along, often in ways that are less obvious than a higher ticket price,” said Sara Rathner, a travel and credit card expert at the personal finance website NerdWallet. “Bag fees, seat selection costs and new surcharges can quietly inflate the cost of a trip.” Airfares — both domestic and international — have also jumped since the war started, according to an analysis of economy round-trip tickets by the travel search engine Kayak: On March 30, an average international trip cost $998, compared with $774 on Feb. 23, and a domestic U.S. trip cost $350, compared with $336 on Feb. 23.

Copyright April 08, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved