May 12, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Report: Texas public schools have largest non-Covid enrollment drop in recorded history

Total public school enrollment in Texas dropped by over 76,000 students, according to a Texas 2036 report released on Monday morning. The 2025-26 school year is only the second time public school education has dropped in recorded Texas history, dating back to the 1987-88 school year. The other recorded drop happened in the 2020-21 school year, during the height of the COVID-19 shutdowns. The enrollment drop is happening across the state, with only the Abilene area seeing an increase in enrollment, and only certain areas in central and east Texas holding steady. The biggest drops are taking place in south and west Texas, with the Midland, Amarillo, Edinburg and San Angelo regions all losing at least 2.5% of their student population.

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“(The decline is) spread out across all types of students, it’s spread out across all areas of the state,” Mary Lynn Pruneda, the Director of Education and Workforce Policy for Texas 2036, said. “So that makes it really hard to point to one particular thing and say, “Yes, this is definitely the reason that there are fewer kids in public schools today.'” Schools are also disproportionately losing Hispanic and White students. While the overall public school population dropped 1.4%, the Hispanic population dropped by 2.1% and the White population dropped by 1.9%. Overall, Hispanic students made up 81% of the loss enrollment loss. The data also shows declines in traditionally underserved communities — with homeless students dropping by 8% and economically-disadvantaged students dropping by 2.3%. The drop is also primarily hitting the start of the education funnel — 60% of the lost students were in elementary school, “a shortfall that will move though middle and high school pipelines within the decade.”

Ken Paxton ignored dozens of WinRed complaints while suing ActBlue

Texas retiree Charlene Allmon thought she was making a handful of modest, one-time donations to GOP candidates who flooded her email inbox. But the payments never stopped. Throughout 2024 and 2025, Republican fundraising platform WinRed drafted more than $15,000 from Allmon’s bank account. In a single day, it charged her 29 times. Panicked, she turned to Attorney General Ken Paxton for help. "Didn’t realize they were sucking my life savings out of my bank account," Allmon, an 87-year-old living outside Austin, wrote in a complaint to his office on Feb. 26. She never heard back. Allmon is among dozens of political donors who begged Paxton's office in recent years for recourse against WinRed and its Democratic competitor ActBlue, complaining of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges and nonstop text messages requesting more money, according to public records obtained by Hearst Newspapers.

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Paxton hasn't publicly taken action on their concerns. He uses WinRed to fundraise for his bid against U.S. Sen. John Cornyn — and deploys the same aggressive tactics flagged by some of the complainants. Neither Paxton’s Senate campaign nor the office of the attorney general responded to Hearst’s request for comment. Last month, the Republican attorney general sued ActBlue, but the lawsuit did not address what was outlined in the consumer complaints. Instead, he accused the platform of failing to properly block foreign and anonymous donations. “Fair elections are the foundation of our democracy, and I will work to ensure no illegal campaign donation flies under the radar,” he said when announcing the suit. Democrats have accused Paxton of suing ActBlue for political gain while giving a pass to the platform that helps his party. Candidates across the country use WinRed and ActBlue to process campaign contributions from online donors. The platforms are central to Texas’ U.S. Senate race, with Paxton, Cornyn and Democrat James Talarico relying on them to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars.

‘Malaise’: Karl Rove warns the GOP’s House majority may be doomed despite gerrymander advantage

Fox News’ Karl Rove warned that the country’s malaise may doom the GOP’s House majority during a Sunday evening chat with Trey Gowdy. After criticizing both parties for pushing aside “the business of the people” to carve up states’ congressional district maps ahead of November’s midterm elections and arguing that while “this is not a new phenomenon,” it’s also not “a particularly helpful phenomenon,” Rove was asked about the underlying politics. “All right, Mr. Rove, there were more Democrats in Congress before Jim Clyburn’s seat was drawn. I actually worked for the federal judge that was on that three-judge panel,” mused Gowdy. “Is there a chance these new maps win the battle but lose the war? I mean, if you get too cute by half, is there a chance that it could backfire?”

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“Oh, sure. You could in essence take, you know, like here in Texas, take big cities, which are typically Democrat, and split them up among several sort of suburban and rural Republicans and thereby reduce their margin and make them more vulnerable in an election year. Same thing could happen in the South, where you take these large, Blacks-dominated cities like New Orleans, or rural areas like in South Carolina that are dominated by Blacks, and who are traditionally Democrat voters, and split them up into several different Republican districts and make things more problematic in a swing year. You know, nothing ever plays out exactly in politics as we think it does,” replied Rove, who continued: "And take a look at this, think about this for just a minute. The Democrats think they’re gonna pick up between four and five seats in California and one in Utah, so they’re going to have five-to-six seat pickup because of redistricting. Republicans think in Texas, three-to-five, one in Missouri, one or two in Ohio, one in Louisiana if they go through with the redistricting there, and get rid of this abysmal district that runs from Shreveport to Baton Rouge, and looks like two birds drawing in every Black area they can in the state in order to create a district. Alabama, maybe one district if they get it done. Tennessee, as you talked about, maybe one. South Carolina, maybe, but I think it’s very difficult to do. But that means even if the Republicans pull it off, that means between eight-to-twelve offset by five-to-six. So the Republicans may pick up a net of three, or maybe of six. Now, maybe that’s enough to control the House, but maybe not, because that’d be a very small number of seats that would be lost otherwise. And with the president’s approval rating where it is, and with the normal malaise that we have, it’s hard to believe that the Republican losses are only going to be five or six seats."

Senate Republicans weigh whether to swallow Trump’s $1B push for ballroom security

Key Senate Republicans are signaling a willingness to support up to $1 billion in security upgrades for President Donald Trump’s ballroom renovation project, despite Democratic attacks, as the White House ramps up its lobbying push. But the vote could put some of the Senate’s moderates in a politically difficult position, especially after the president said his ballroom would be funded through private donations. “Obviously, there have been three or four attempts on the president’s life, and that’s extremely serious, and we’re in a heightened era of political violence, but the ballroom itself should be paid for by private donations, as the president had indicated,” Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins said, adding she wanted clarity on what precisely the money would be going toward.

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But Senate Majority Leader John Thune projected confidence Monday that congressional Republicans will back the $1 billion in funding, arguing that the money will be focused on other Secret Service projects beyond the ballroom itself. “It’s to secure the building — and not just the ballroom. I think the entire East Wing, which is something the Secret Service is tasked with protecting when the president is using it,” Thune told reporters. “It’s pretty clear it’s a tool to keep the president safe.” The White House will ratchet up its push for the funding Tuesday with the US Secret Service director expected to join lawmakers at the Senate GOP lunch. The issue is becoming the latest political flashpoint that Republicans must navigate as they attempt to get funding for federal immigration enforcement across the finish line on a party-line vote in Congress. The push for as much as $1 billion in ballroom security funding – as part of a broader package that will include the immigration enforcement funding – was announced as lawmakers were away from Washington on a pre-scheduled recess and took some Republicans by surprise.

State Stories

Netflix sued by Texas for allegedly spying on children, addicting users

Netflix was sued on Monday by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who accused the streaming company of spying on children and other consumers by collecting their data without consent, and designing its platform to be addictive. Texas said Netflix has for years falsely represented to consumers that it did not collect or share user data, when it actually tracked viewing habits and preferences and sold the data to commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies, making billions of dollars a year. The complaint quoted former Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings as saying in 2020 "we don't collect anything," as he sought to distinguish Netflix from Amazon.com, Facebook, Google with regard to data collection. "When you watch Netflix, Netflix watches you," according to the complaint filed in a state court in Collin County, near Dallas. Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Barrientes Vela and Reyna bring different backgrounds to HD125 Dem Runoff Election

The two runoff candidates for the Democratic nomination for Texas House District 125 presented two very different views on public service and how they can help the residents of their Bexar County area. Speaking on TPR’s "The Source" on Monday Adrian Reyna leaned into his experience as a teacher in the San Antonio Independent School District while Michelle Barrientes Vela pointed to her tenure in law enforcement as evidence of her commitment to public service. Reyna said he is grounded in traditional Democratic values which include public education and working class issues. “ “It’s pretty clear right now which party is speaking to the people that I serve in schools and I also work alongside. So, I want to make sure that we have somebody up in Austin who's fighting for the policies that are going to reflect and strengthen the communities that we come from,” Reyna said.

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Barrientes Vela said her time as an elected Bexar County constable has prepared her to be a state representative for HD 125. “I believe my experience is very important, my law enforcement background, as well as being an elected official as a constable,” she said. However, Barrientes Vela’s time as the Precinct 2 Constable was unintentionally cut short. In September 2019 she announced her candidacy for Bexar County Sheriff. That announcement triggered the Texas Constitution’s resign-to-run rule because she still had more than 13 months left in her constable term in office. Barrientes Vela sued Bexar County to prevent her being replaced as a constable, but that suit was unsuccessful. Barrientes Vela said her many controversies in office were the result of county politics. “I was targeted and eventually there was a crime created and made up by some elected officials here in this county,” she said. On Jan. 23, 2020, Barrientes Vela was arrested and charged with aggravated perjury, two counts of tampering with evidence, and three counts of official oppression. A Bexar County jury convicted her on two felony counts of tampering with records related to Rodriguez Park security-payment logs. She was sentenced to five years’ probation. However, on Oct. 3, 2024: The Eighth Court of Appeals overturned the convictions and rendered a judgment of acquittal.

750,000 flights: American Airlines gears up for record-shattering summer operation

The summer travel season is fast approaching, and Fort Worth-based American Airlines says it will fly more customers than any previous one before. The airline, which operates its central hub at DFW International Airport, said it will transport 75 million travelers across 750,000 flights between May 21 and Sept. 8, breaking a previous record it set in 2019. That means five flights and 500 customers will be departing every minute, American said. American’s summer travel period begins Memorial Day weekend, when it expects more than 4.2 million customers across more than 40,000 flights scheduled from May 21 through May 26. The busiest day of travel for that weekend will be Friday, May 22, according to American.

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In a letter to employees, which was shared with The Dallas Morning News, American’s Chief Operating Officer David Seymour touted some of the airline’s recent operations initiatives he said are paying off as it ramps up for a busy summer. Since American adjusted its bank structure at DFW Airport, on-time arrivals have increased by nearly 10 percentage points and on-time departures are up by nearly 2 percentage points. Missed connections at DFW are down by 44%, according to Seymour. He added that a similar scheduling adjustment at the airline’s Philadelphia International Airport hub has also led to an increase in on-time arrivals and departures. This summer, American is also focused on its “Flagship reliability,” Seymour said, referring to its most premium business product onboard the airline’s widebody aircraft, like the 787-9 Dreamliner, and its new Airbus A321 XLRs. He emphasized the importance of the product for the airline’s customer experience and revenue performance.

Voter says cease-and-desist letter won’t silence her criticism of Kendall County Judge candidate’s past

A Kendall County woman, who created a meme calling one of the candidates in the county judge runoff a “wifebeater” and “child support dodger,” said she will not be intimidated by a cease-and-desist letter sent by the candidate’s attorney. Challenger Ricky Gleason’s past has become a flashpoint in the bruising May 26 Republican runoff against incumbent Kendall County Judge Shane Stolarczyk. Toni Lott created the meme this spring after court records circulated in the community described Gleason’s 2006 arrest for misdemeanor family violence in Bexar County and a five-figure child support judgment issued against him by a district judge in the Texas Panhandle several years ago.

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Lott said she altered a political ad for Gleason by changing the information contained in its bullet points and adding the name of a made up political action committee: Citizens Against Grifters. Lott messaged the meme to three people, who shared it with other people before it eventually made its way to Gleason. In late March, Lott and one of the original recipients of the meme received cease-and-desist letters from an attorney representing Gleason. The letter accuses Lott and the meme recipients of defaming Gleason and publishing materially false information about a public figure. “It was pretty obvious to me that he was trying to intimidate me,” said Lott, who claims she never posted the meme publicly. The author of the cease-and-desist letter, attorney Dennis Postiglione, told KSAT Investigates in a phone interview that publication is defined as anything communicated to a third party. The letter formally demands that Lott and the other resident retract, correct and clarify the graphic. “It feels like power and control versus what he’s running on, which is character and being open and honest, transparent,” said Lott.

Dallas Morning News Editorial: 'Reformers' ousted Michael Morris. But they have no vision to replace him

A lawsuit, accusations, political scheming and a dubious ouster: Here’s a lesson in how not to run a regional planning agency that funnels billions of dollars into transportation projects throughout North Texas. Late last month, the North Central Texas Council of Governments terminated its long-time transportation director, Michael Morris. More specifically, Executive Director Todd Little sent him packing. After that, the Regional Transportation Council joined Denton County in a lawsuit against the COG and its executive board. Then, a judge temporarily blocked Morris’ termination. He has been reinstated, at least for now. The heart of the issue is who has the authority to fire Morris. With us so far?

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Our newsroom covered these events in depth. Near as we can tell, Morris’ detractors ousted him for political reasons, removing one of the most consequential figures in shaping North Texas. There are many potential problems here. The first is that those who pushed Morris out have articulated no clear vision for who could replace him or his experience. That is no easy question. Whatever one thinks of Morris' successes and shortcomings, he has delivered the funds to keep this region growing time after time and he has been a fair arbiter for every segment. Some who wanted Morris gone have aired grievances against his policies: the number of tolled lanes of highway developed under his leadership, for instance.

Secretary of State Nelson and Bexar County leaders spar over timeline to integrate registered voters

The Texas secretary of state and some Bexar County leaders are sparring over the timeline to integrate registered voters in the county. Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson said a timeline set by the county to integrate voter registration records from the county's new voter system for the November elections is "unrealistic" and "unworkable." In a return letter to County Judge Peter Sakai, who questioned whether timely data migration would occur, Nelson said her staff will respond with a schedule to connect the county's VR System to the state's TEAM System that is "timely" and "feasible." The state uses an elections management vendor named Civix.

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It's the second time the county has called on the state to quickly integrate such a system. The first occurred before the November elections. The county's vendor then—Votech—suddenly went out of business. Nelson said last November that quick action cost the state more than $100,000 and affected the functionality of the core system for counties statewide. County officials have said TEAM is slow and has caused backlogs of registered voters and other glitches. Precinct 4 Commissioner Tommy Calvert has been among the most outspoken. Calvert said that there are "counties big and small are raising the alarms about the voter registration system backlogs caused by TEAM and the glitches causing the potential multiple mail ballots to go to voters rather than a single mail ballot they requested." "These errors could put Civix and the SOS in legal battles and cause unnecessary and unforced error into the confidence in the 2026 mid-term election," Calvert added. Alicia Pierce, assistant secretary of state for communications, defended TEAM from the county's criticisms. "The state has had five successful elections using the new TEAM system. Our staff has been working day and night to address any issues as they arise. We will be working with Bexar County on a reasonable schedule," she said.

‘The tech market is the story’: Economist says tech layoffs continue to weigh on Austin housing

Tech layoffs continue to weigh on the Austin housing market as prices dropped to their lowest March level since 2021. Across the first quarter, prices are down 3.4% to a median sales price of $415,300, according to the Austin Board of Realtors.

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Texas housing economist Amy Nixon said tech layoffs have an outsized impact on cities like Austin where a disproportionate number of workers are employed by tech. So far in 2026, tech companies have laid off nearly 103,000 workers, according to layoffs.fyi. As a result, there are fewer people with good incomes who are able to purchase homes as they come onto the market. "I think that part of the reason is property taxes; they’re obviously high in Texas. When your median home price is $200,000 or $300,000, like it was in the major metros for most of the 2010s, that’s not so much of a burden. But when you get to this price point where suddenly median homes are more like $500,000, that starts to be a little bit more of a factor. When the overall tax burden starts to increase, specifically when you’re looking at that property tax component, it starts to offset the no income tax or some of the other tax benefits that you get from living in the state," Nixon said.

Tesla avoids trial in lawsuit tied to Austin mass shooting suspect

Tesla Inc. has successfully fended off a public trial over a Gigafactory Texas assault case tied to the former employee suspected in a mass shooting in March on West Sixth Street. The Austin company was granted a motion for arbitration, avoiding a trial the alleged victim said she hoped would shed light on Tesla’s missed opportunities to stop the assault that left three people dead and 15 injured. The case was filed after employee Lillian Brady sued the automaker in the aftermath of the shooting at Buford’s Backyard Beer Garden, alleging she had been assaulted in December at the factory by former co-worker and shooting suspect Ndiaga Diagne.

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In her lawsuit, Brady argued that the automaker failed to provide a safe work environment and know the backgrounds of its employees. She also accused Tesla of withholding Diagne’s name after the alleged assault Dec. 4. In an earlier interview, she said she only learned his identity when Diagne was identified as the suspect in the shooting. Tesla fired him in January without notifying Brady. On March 1, police say he went on a shooting spree in downtown Austin before being fatally shot by officers. The FBI investigated the shooting as a possible act of terrorism. Last week, investigators said they found no evidence that Diagne was directed by a foreign terrorist organization. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment about the complaint being moved to arbitration. During an April hearing in state District Court in Austin, Tesla attorney Joshua Romero cited the company’s “broad” arbitration agreement, which says “any and all disputes arising from or related to your employment go to arbitration.”

New book peers into the abyss that is Alex Jones and Infowars

Years ago, when I was still at the Chronicle news desk, I got a phone call from Mike Hanson, who at the time was Alex Jones’ main “producer,” sidekick, and chief personal promoter. I’m not sure of the year, but it was before the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre. At the time, the Jones bullhorn was devoted primarily to proclaiming “9/11 was an inside job.” Hanson wasn’t calling about that; this was sort of a chest-beating marketing call. Jones was about to launch a weekly newspaper in Austin, and Hanson wanted to let me know that Infowars was coming specifically for the Chronicle. “You’ll be out of business in six months,” Hanson warned me. Indeed, over the next few weeks, vending boxes with the new publication appeared around Downtown. They disappeared just about as quickly.

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My amateur Google searches now fail to provide evidence that Jones’ newsweekly ever existed. Meanwhile, the Chronicle – like every print publication, somewhat diminished by something called the “World Wide Web” – soldiers on. Hanson no longer works for Jones, and in his new book – The Madness of Believing: A Memoir From Inside Alex Jones’s Conspiracy Machine – former Infowars video editor and field producer Josh Owens suggests the two men are semi-estranged. Nevertheless, Hanson apparently still devotes time and energy to documenting his Jones-related history. Somebody has to do it, I guess. In a much better world, Jones’ entire history would instead disappear into oblivion. At the moment, he’s in the news again, for a couple of headline reasons. Like a handful of other right-wing grifters (Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens [no relation to Josh], Marjorie Taylor Greene), he’s suddenly lost his enthusiasm for Donald Trump (primarily over the war on Iran), and Trump has responded nastily in kind. More importantly, it appears that a modicum of justice has finally arrived for the Newtown, Connecticut families that Jones viciously vilified and harassed in the aftermath of their children’s murders at the Sandy Hook elementary school. The families eventually sued, and Jones repeatedly lost in court, but Jones’ lawyers managed to win endless delays.

Republican officials urge unity, voter mobilization in Tarrant ahead of primary runoffs

With a little more than a week until early voting opens for the primary runoffs, Tarrant County Republicans and GOP candidates at the top of the ballot urged party unity ahead of the November midterm elections. Through party unity, prayer and mass mobilization of conservative voters, the local GOP can not only maintain control of the county’s highest elected offices but also drive a spiritual revival, speakers said at a May 9 “night of action” event hosted at Mercy Culture Church in Fort Worth. “You can win if you just mobilize the people who think like you to get out and vote,” said Bo French, former chairman of the Tarrant County GOP. He faces incumbent Texas Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright in a runoff for the GOP nomination for a seat on the commission that oversees the state’s oil and gas industry.

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French took the stage Saturday afternoon with other candidates slated to appear on the May 26 runoff ballot: Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for U.S. senator, and Texas Sen. Mayes Middleton, who is running for attorney general. The March 3 primaries determined Republican and Democratic nominees for county, state and federal offices before the November midterms. In races where no candidate drew more than 50% of votes, the top two vote-getters face off again May 26. Early voting opens May 18. Hosted by Mercy Culture’s political wing, For Liberty & Justice, the event’s lineup of speakers also included outgoing state Rep. Nate Schatzline, a founder of the host group; Nate Sheets, GOP nominee for Texas agriculture commissioner; Kambree Nelson, a Christian activist and influencer; and Kyle Rittenhouse, a conservative gun rights activist who gained fame after being acquitted for killing two people during a 2020 racial justice protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

New Braunfels city attorney fired following mayoral election conflict

Following an hours-long discussion, the New Braunfels City Council voted to terminate Valeria Acevedo from her role as city attorney in a four to three vote on Monday, May 11. Councilmembers Toni Carter, Mary Ann Labowski and April Ryan were opposed. The item was intended to be discussed during the closed, executive session, but Acevedo requested the item be taken up in public prior to the start of the regular city council meeting. “I believe this level of transparency is necessary so that everyone can hear this discussion, as it may help dispel some of the confusion created by last week,” Acevedo said. “ … There is one thing that I want to address … and that is the fact that every vote counted. That is the fact that the election was carried out as it has been for years on our behalf by the county.”

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The firing comes as a result of the discovery of a conflict between the city charter and the Texas State Constitution that led to mountains of controversy and discourse over the past week. Charles Zech formerly served as New Braunfels city attorney from 2001 to 2006 and is currently a contract attorney for the city, and said he was the one to bring the conflict to the city attorney’s office’s attention. Zech said he has spent his career analyzing city charters and is regularly contracted to assist cities in creating and amending charters. Zech said he saw a Facebook post stating that the New Braunfels mayoral race was to be decided by a plurality. He then checked the charter for accuracy and found that it was in conflict with the state constitution, which requires a majority vote – or more than 50% – for any office with a term of more than three years. Zech said he then contacted the City Attorney’s Office directly to inform them of the situation. Additionally, he clarified that he is not friends with Mayor Linnartz, nor did he go to school with him at any level.

Quarterback who led Dallas Cowboys to their first Super Bowl dies at 83

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Craig Morton, one of only four QBs to start for two franchises in a Super Bowl, died Saturday in Mill Valley, California, at age 83. The Cowboys and Denver Broncos — the two teams he led to the Super Bowl — confirmed his death. Morton threw the first touchdown pass by a Cowboy in a Super Bowl in Dallas’ 16-13 loss to Baltimore in Super Bowl 5 in January 1971. After losing his job to Roger Staubach the next season, Morton eventually took over in Denver and led the Broncos to Super Bowl 12 — where they lost to Staubach and the Cowboys 27-10 in January 1978. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner are the only other quarterbacks to start for two franchises in Super Bowls.

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“We are saddened to learn of Craig’s passing,” the Cowboys said on social media. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and loved ones during this difficult time.” The Cowboys selected Morton with the No. 5 overall pick in the 1965 NFL draft out of California, and he backed up Don Meredith for his first four seasons. After Meredith retired, Morton took over as the starter in 1969 over the rookie Staubach and led Dallas to a 10-2-1 record before losing to Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs. In 1970, Morton started the vast majority of the season, leading the Cowboys to a 10-4 record. They earned defensive-minded playoff victories over Detroit (5-0) and San Francisco (17-10) before losing to the Colts in the Super Bowl. The competition between Morton and Staubach came to a head in 1971 after both started games and even alternated snaps at one point. Staubach ultimately won the job, and the Cowboys claimed the first Super Bowl title in franchise history, beating Miami 24-3 in Super Bowl 6. Morton got one last season as Dallas’ starter when Staubach suffered an injury in the preseason in 1972. The Cowboys went 10-4, but Staubach relieved Morton in the divisional playoffs and rallied Dallas to a 30-28 victory over San Francisco.

'Really difficult conversations': Fort Worth stares down nearly $50 million budget shortfall

Fort Worth City Council and staff are facing a $49.3 million gap in the city's 2027 budget as property and sales tax income lag behind previous years. In a budget worksession held on May 5, Fort Worth staff presented an initial overview of the budget as it stands now, which includes a $49.3 million budget shortfall. Both increased expenses and lagging revenue are to blame for the gap, city leaders said. Council and staff have several more months to balance the budget before it goes up for a vote, but council members warned some cuts will be painful. "We're going to have really difficult conversations as we go forward, especially about public safety," Charlie Lauersdorf, who represents District 4, said.

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The city has faced falling revenue as property values have stopped growing at historic rates, and the Tarrant County Appraisal District has made significant changes to its appraisal process. The shortfall is also thanks in part to growing expenses that are not easily shed from the budget, including an increase for the city's vehicle and equipment fund, costs of operating facilities funded by the 2022 bond, pay increases for city employees, and increases related to the city's newly adopted EMS service. Last year, the city initially faced a budget shortfall of $11 million, which they closed by the time the budget passed with a property tax rate reduction for taxpayers. City leadership accomplished that task in part by asking city departments to submit their budgets with a 1% reduction in expenditures. This year, city leaders have asked departments to make 1% cuts again and submit a budget with a 3% reduction in expenditures. With a 1% reduction, the city would save about $7.8 million; with a 3% reduction, it would save about $14 million. The salaries of sworn officers are excluded from the cuts.

City Stories

San Antonio's Barn Door and Meat Market waitress gets $2,800-plus farewell tip from regulars served over 3 decades

Every Wednesday morning for the past 35 years, Maria Davila entered the History Room at the Barn Door Restaurant & Meat Market and served breakfast to a gathering of 30 or more guests. She poured their coffee, brought their tea and greeted each one by name: the billionaire, the banker, the developers and CEOs, power brokers of the business community known as The Civic Leaders Club. Davila knew the detailed preferences of each member: Red McCombs, the late billionaire, wanted five creamers and two Sweet’N Lows with his coffee. Pat Frost, the banker, liked hot tea. Marty Wender, the developer, drank Diet Coke. Most club members preferred their bacon extra crispy.

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On May 6, Davila served her last breakfast for the group. When it ended, Wender thanked Davila for her service, collected $100 bills from each person and presented them to her as a final gratuity. “I wanted to cry,” Davila said. “They gave me $2,800. It’s the biggest tip I ever got.” The gratuity was partial. What Davila does not realize is that more money is coming. Members unable to attend are going to mail her checks. “When it’s all said and done, she’s going to get between $4,000 and $5,000,” Wender said. “She’s a very special lady. Everybody loves her.” Attention to detail is one hallmark of Davila’s work at the Barn Door, which closes on Sunday after 72 years. Warmth and kindness are others, which she uses to bring next level service to each table. Then there’s her story. She was born in Peru and came to the U.S. at 15 to visit an uncle in Georgia. She remained in the country after her mother, Violeta Martinez Rodriguez, arrived and then moved with her to San Antonio in 1980. Davila’s father, Juan Rodriguez, came the following year.

National Stories

One in five HealthCare.gov enrollees dropped insurance coverage this year

The numbers are bearing out what many lawmakers feared: Many Americans can’t afford health insurance through the federal marketplaces without boosted subsidies. More than one in five people who enrolled in health insurance through HealthCare.gov during open enrollment and in the weeks immediately following were dropped from coverage for failing to pay their first month’s premium, according to internal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, documents obtained by NOTUS that haven’t been made public. The roughly 21% decline in enrollment in the 30 states using the federal marketplace is significantly higher than the rate of last year, when 12% of enrollees dropped off over the same time frame.

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The numbers support widespread fears that the end of extra, pandemic-era subsidies, which congressional Republicans declined to extend in December, would leave Affordable Care Act plans unaffordable for some Americans. Faced with such a stark drop in enrollment, leadership at CMS, which is led by Administrator Mehmet Oz, is seeking to attribute a majority of the enrollment declines to rooting out fraud rather than people not paying their premiums, according to three CMS sources. The sources said it’s unlikely fraud is behind most of the cancellations. While marketplace fraud has been a problem in recent years, partly because insurance agents and brokers exploited Biden administration policies allowing year-round sign-ups, it’s more likely that a majority of the cancellations are among customers who were automatically reenrolled in their plans from last year and just never paid the premiums. That happens every year, but this year’s rate of cancellations is significantly higher. This year also saw fewer sign-ups to begin with, leaving total ACA enrollment at around 19 million people, around 3 million fewer than one year ago, according to CMS documents.

Trump says Iran ceasefire is on 'life support' after rejecting latest proposal

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that the ceasefire is on “life support” after he rejected Iran’s latest proposal to end the war over its lack of satisfactory nuclear concessions. The stalled diplomacy follows recent exchanges of fire between the two countries, while Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remain in place. Trump also said Monday that he would indefinitely suspend the federal gas tax, though Congress needs to approve the move. The war continues to send fuel prices skyrocketing and rattle world markets. After Trump’s comment on the weakness of the ceasefire, the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil climbed 2.9% to $104.18. Trump will travel to Beijing this week for a rescheduled summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

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But Beijing’s deep economic ties to Iran, as well as trade tensions over tariff threats stretching back to Trump’s first term, could crimp the meeting, even though the Republican president has for years effusively praised Xi. Democrats on Monday filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to halt a Virginia ruling invalidating a ballot measure that would have given their party an additional four winnable U.S. House seats. The ballot measure, narrowly passed by voters, was struck down by the Virginia Supreme Court last week.

Virginia Democrats ask US Supreme Court to let them use new congressional map

Democratic officials in Virginia asked the US Supreme Court on Monday to reinstate a congressional map that would benefit their party ahead of this year’s midterm elections, the latest map drawing appeal to reach the high court amid a flurry of mid-decade redistricting. The emergency appeal follows a decision from the state Supreme Court last week that voided Democrats’ attempt to redraw Virginia’s US House map via an April referendum in a way that would help Democrats pick up four additional seates. The Democrats are asking the US Supreme Court to effectively put that order on hold for this year’s midterm election. The decision, the officials said, was “deeply mistaken” and had “profound practical importance to the nation.”

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The US Supreme Court is already deeply enmeshed in a flood of redistricting taking place in states across the country as both parties seek to eke an advantage out of House boundaries in the fall election. Several southern states have moved to redraw their maps following a blockbuster decision in late April that severely weakened the scope of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Virginia case will be handled, at least initially, by Chief Justice John Roberts, who oversees emergency appeals from Virginia and other states covered by the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals. Roberts asked for a response in the case by Thursday evening. Though it was not based on the Voting Rights Act decision, Virginia’s redistricting was nevertheless seen by Democrats as a way to offset the advantage Republicans have picked up from that effort. But the state’s highest court ruled that the process state officials used to create the referendum violated the state constitution. “The irreparable harm resulting from the Supreme Court of Virginia’s decision is profound and immediate,” Democrats told the US Supreme Court on Monday. “By forcing the commonwealth to conduct its congressional elections using districts different from those adopted by the General Assembly pursuant to a constitutional amendment the people just ratified, the Supreme Court of Virginia has deprived voters, candidates, and the commonwealth of their right to the lawfully enacted congressional districts.”

In bid to flip Senate, Democrats push deep into Trump territory

Former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown lost his seat in a 2024 MAGA wave that put Republicans back in control of the Senate. Now, the onetime three-term Ohio senator is seeking a comeback in a very different political environment, with an unpopular war and high prices denting President Trump’s poll numbers and alarming Republican strategists. Standing on a recent weekday with about 30 United Steelworkers union members and supporters outside a closed paper mill, Brown talked all about the economy. The professorial Brown, 73 years old, blasted his opponent, Republican Sen. Jon Husted, 58, who was appointed when JD Vance became vice president. “He’s been on the side of billionaires, not on the side of steelworkers…or people that are struggling in this neighborhood,” Brown said.

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Republicans are playing defense in Ohio and a growing number of other red states, where Democrats are counting on voter backlash to power them to victory this fall in their long-shot battle to retake the Senate. Brown gave similar stump speeches in 2024, when he lost to Republican Bernie Moreno, a staunch Trump ally, by about 3.5 percentage points. But uncertainty about the economy, gas prices, the Iran war and other issues since have frustrated the electorate. Husted, the former Ohio lieutenant governor, brushed off the idea that Trump’s sinking approval ratings could drag him down. Recent polls show Husted holding a slight lead. “I’m not talking about President Trump, in the sense that he’s not on the ballot,” Husted said. At the same time, he said that if Trump was on the ballot, it would make his election easier: “He’s won Ohio three times.” Republicans began this election cycle favored to keep the Senate: Democrats would need to defend all their seats and then notch wins in solidly Trump states to take the majority. Republicans were far more worried about losing the House, where dozens of seats are in play. But the states that Democrats see as truly competitive have gradually expanded beyond North Carolina, which Trump won narrowly in 2024, and Maine, where he lost. More states once considered solidly Republican are in the mix, including Alaska, Iowa, Texas and Ohio. GOP hopes for flipping a Democratic seat in Georgia have faded, although Republicans think they have a chance to pick up a seat in Michigan.

Supreme Court clears way for a Republican-friendly Alabama map

Alabama can revert to a congressional map with only a single majority-Black district, the Supreme Court ruled Monday. The decision, based on the high court’s recent ruling on the Voting Rights Act, opens a path for Republicans to pick up an additional U.S. House seat. Alabama officials had urged the high court to allow the state to use a 2023 map that cuts two majority-Black congressional districts down to one, part of a move by several states across the South to redraw maps since the Supreme Court struck down part of the federal law protecting minority districts. The state had previously been barred from changing its congressional and state legislative maps until 2030. The court’s ruling comes a week before Alabama’s primaries are set to take place.

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“Alabama’s case mirrors Louisiana’s, and they should end the same way: with this year’s elections run with districts based on lawful policy goals, not race,” state officials said in one of a series of emergency requests to the Supreme Court. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, writing that Monday’s ruling “unceremoniously discards the district court’s meticulously documented and supported discriminatory-intent finding and careful remedial order without any sound basis for doing so and without regard for the confusion that will surely ensure.” The ruling did not contain any opinions nor explanations from the court’s majority for lifting the lower court order. Alabama’s current congressional map was drawn to the standards of the Voting Rights Act before last month’s decision, and has two districts with a majority of Black voters represented by Democratic Reps. Shomari Figures and Terri Sewell. Figures flipped a GOP seat in 2024, and his election marked the first time Alabama had two Black representatives in Congress.

Trump nominates a former Navy SEAL he fired from FEMA to run FEMA

President Donald Trump nominated ex-Federal Emergency Management Agency leader Cameron Hamilton on Monday to direct the organization once again, just over a year after he was ousted from the post. Hamilton served as the acting head of the agency from January to May 2025. The former Navy SEAL was fired just one day after publicly breaking with Trump’s efforts to dismantle the agency. “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency,” Hamilton told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security in March 2025, though he added that he believed FEMA had “evolved into an overextended federal bureaucracy, attempting to manage every type of emergency no matter how minor.”

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Hamilton at the time was appearing before the subcommittee to discuss FEMA’s 2026 budget requests and distribution of aid. His comments were widely interpreted as a rebuke of Trump’s efforts to pare back the agency. Trump in June 2025 announced plans to abolish FEMA after the hurricane season, but his administration quietly backed off of this promise when catastrophic flooding devastated parts of Texas. The president initially sought to transfer more relief responsibility to state governments, a move that concerned many lawmakers from disaster-prone areas. In order for Hamilton to reassume his post, his appointment must be confirmed by the Senate — a process he avoided last year while he served as the acting head of FEMA. Hamilton has worked in the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, but he only led FEMA for 5 months. This relative lack of executive experience could expose Hamilton’s nomination to Senate scrutiny during the confirmation process. Since being removed from his role leading FEMA, Hamilton has been working with private “disaster response and recovery operations,” according to his LinkedIn.

Trump’s complaints about Iran war leaks prompt aggressive DOJ investigations

President Trump privately complained to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche about media leaks in the wake of the Iran war last month, according to administration officials familiar with the matter, prompting an aggressive push at the Justice Department to pursue those investigations. Blanche vowed to secure subpoenas specifically targeting the records of reporters who have worked on sensitive national security stories, one official said. In one meeting, Trump passed a stack of news articles he and other senior officials thought threatened national security to Blanche with a sticky note on it that said “treason,” another administration official said. Senior Justice Department officials have met with counterparts from the Pentagon to discuss the investigations, according to officials familiar with the meetings. In particular, Trump has focused his ire on articles that provided details on how he arrived at his decision to launch the war, and what his advisers had told him as he deliberated, officials said.

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Launched 10 weeks ago, the conflict is now stuck in a shaky cease-fire. “In all circumstances, the Department of Justice follows the facts and applies the law to identify those committing crimes against the United States,” a department spokeswoman said. A White House official referred a request for comment to the Justice Department. Trump’s recent push to pursue the leak investigations comes as the Justice Department had already stepped up investigations into sensitive reporting about the lead up to the Iran war. The Wall Street Journal received grand jury subpoenas dated March 4 for records of Journal reporters. The request related to a Feb. 23 article that reported that Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and others at the Pentagon warned the president about the risks of an extended military campaign against Iran. Other news outlets, including Axios and the Washington Post, published similar stories that day. Trump launched the war five days later, on Feb. 28.

Copyright May 12, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved