June 3, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

ERCOT votes to streamline process for data centers looking to join the power grid

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) voted Tuesday to streamline its process for data centers looking to connect to the power grid. The vote comes as ERCOT is wading through a massive backlog of data centers and other large energy users — such as cryptocurrency miners and industrial facilities — looking to join the grid. In the past, these so-called "large loads" would go to their local utility company and ask to join the power grid. However, with so many data centers looking to connect, that’s no longer feasible. It’s hard to evaluate whether there’s enough transmission equipment — such as power lines and transformers — to connect a data center to the grid in a given area, when other nearby projects are constantly being proposed.

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"That sequential evaluation of projects was growing untenable," said Bryan Clark, a partner at the global energy law firm Bracewell LLP's Dallas office. Now, ERCOT is planning to evaluate data centers in batches, rather than individually. Its board voted to move forward with the first combined study of data centers, known as "Batch Zero," on Tuesday. The new process will now go to the Public Utility Commission of Texas for approval on June 18. "Batch Zero is necessary as ERCOT intends to transition the large load interconnection process from an individual study-based approach to a batch study-based approach that allocates available transmission capacity for studied and committed large loads," ERCOT said in a statement to Houston Public Media. The new process has drawn widespread interest from technology leaders looking to develop in Texas, who have provided hours of public comment to ERCOT.

$8.4B boost did not shield Texas schools from budget cuts, educators say

Nearly $8.4 billion in new state funding was not enough to save Texas public school districts from budget shortfalls and campus closures, school administrators said June 1. During a nearly 10-hour public hearing at the state Capitol, school district leaders spoke of efforts to stretch their budgets amid high inflationary costs as teachers explained their decisions to leave the classroom due to pay cuts and large class sizes. Last year, Texas lawmakers passed House Bill 2, a sweeping school finance bill designed to increase educator salaries, create a new pot of money for fixed costs, provide more training for teachers and boost special education resources. HB 2 sent approximately $8.4 billion to public schools after six years of largely stagnant state funding.

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The measure also included a $55 increase to the base amount of per-student funding schools receive from the state, known as the basic allotment. That increase fell short of what some school leaders requested to keep up with inflation, although many groups lauded the passage of HB 2 as a whole, Community Impact reported. At the time, lawmakers said they hoped HB 2 would help offset growing financial pressures faced by some districts, and help schools recruit and retain experienced educators. Roughly one year later, districts across Community Impact’s coverage areas are cutting staff and closing campuses, citing enrollment declines and budget shortfalls. Austin ISD faces a $181 million shortfall for FY 2026-27 and is closing 10 campuses, while Judson ISD plans to close four schools to reduce its $37 million budget shortfall. Plano ISD recently announced a $44 million shortfall. “We live, figuratively speaking, paycheck to paycheck,” said Alejos Salazar, superintendent of Lasara ISD in South Texas. “We depend on you all to educate our kids.”

Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announces resignation after nearly four years in office

Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced Tuesday that she is resigning effective July 17, closing a nearly four-year tenure as the state’s top election official. “It has been an honor to serve the people of Texas in this role,” Nelson said in a statement. “My time as Secretary came at an important moment for Texas, and I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish as an agency in under four years.” Elected to the position in 2023, Nelson presided over seven statewide elections totaling 27 million ballots cast and oversaw grants to counties aimed at strengthening election integrity, according to a press release. “It has been my goal to ensure that voting in Texas is secure, accessible and fair,” she said in a statement.

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Gov. Greg Abbott praised Nelson’s service and called her a “true champion for the people of Texas” and said, “Texas is better because of it.” A press release also touted record business activity during her tenure, with 3 million active business filers and the launch of Texas Express, an expedited filing service for the state. Prior to serving as Secretary of State, Nelson served three decades in the Texas Senate, where she became the first woman to chair the Senate Finance Committee.

Texas AG Ken Paxton and Sen. Angela Paxton's divorce trial cancelled, officials say

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton – who is running for U.S. Senator against James Talarico in November – and his wife, State Sen. Angela Paxton, have had their divorce trial canceled and taken off the docket, WFAA has learned. The Paxtons filed for divorce in July 2025 amid allegations of Ken Paxton committing adultery, WFAA previously reported. In a statement posted to X at the time, Angela Paxton (R-McKinney) wrote: "I believe marriage is a sacred covenant and I have earnestly pursued reconciliation. But in light of recent discoveries, I do not believe that it honors God or is loving to myself, my children, or Ken to remain in the marriage."

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In December 2025, they unsealed their divorce records, and WFAA reviewed the 50-plus pages of court documents. The divorce documents had little detail about Ken Paxton's infidelity, which played a role in his unsuccessful impeachment trial in Austin in 2023. "Respondent has committed adultery," Angela Paxton's lawyers wrote in her petition for divorce she filed against the AG on July 10. Now, the court has told WFAA that Judge Bob Brotherton had canceled the trial, citing that "the parties are not ready to proceed with trial at this time." In a statement to WFAA, Ken Paxton's lawyers, Laura Roach and Jared Julian, said "the parties have jointly agreed that a trial setting is no longer necessary and the Court has removed the case from the trial docket." "The parties have made substantial progress toward an amicable resolution of all issues and remain engaged in productive discussions. We are optimistic that a final agreement will be reached in the near future," the statement from Ken Paxton's lawyers continued. "Out of respect for the family and the ongoing process, no further comment will be made at this time.” Ken Paxton recently won the Republican primary runoff on May 26 against longtime incumbent John Cornyn. Ken Paxton will square off against Talarico in the November election for Cornyn's U.S. Senate seat. Ken Paxton's term as Texas Attorney General runs until Jan. 1, 2027. Angela Paxton was elected to the Texas State Senate in 2018.

State Stories

Are Texans ready for Talarico’s kind of Christianity?

On a recent Sunday morning at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, Jim Rigby asked his congregation to share what came to mind when he mentioned the Apostle Paul, the major Christian figure to whom 13 books in the Bible are attributed. They cheerfully complied: “Villain!” “Homophobic!” “He’s a jerk.” Paul’s attributed writings include passages seen as encouraging wives to submit to their husbands and instructing them to be quiet in church, and others condemning same-sex sexual behavior as sinful. Mr. Rigby acknowledged the trouble. But in a sermon that also cited the Bhagavad Gita and the Buddha, he nudged his congregation to reconsider the apostle, one of the most important in the early Christian church. “Aristotle and Plato, they were creeps, too, in modern times,” Mr. Rigby said. “But do we want to learn from our ancestors or not?”

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One longtime member of St. Andrew’s was not there, although he had attended the previous weekend: James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate. Mr. Rigby, who has led St. Andrew’s since the 1980s and is a well-known activist locally, has suddenly become a key to understanding Mr. Talarico, a candidate who aims to be the first Democrat to win statewide office in Texas in a generation. In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Talarico described Mr. Rigby and St. Andrew’s, along with his grandfather, who was the pastor of several Baptist churches in South Texas in the late 1960s, as “the biggest influences on me as a Christian, as a human being.” Mr. Rigby baptized Mr. Talarico as a toddler, and married his parents. “He is my pastor in every sense of the word,” Mr. Talarico said of Mr. Rigby. “Not that we agree on everything.” He added: “I think every Christian disagrees with their pastor. And the beautiful thing about Dr. Jim is that he welcomes and encourages that.” At 37, Mr. Talarico has become one of the Democratic Party’s fastest-rising stars in part by talking about his identity as a Christian. Unlike some politicians who forge politically strategic relationships with faith leaders deep into their careers, Mr. Talarico has an authentic lifelong relationship with a local pastor, and speaks easily about his personal faith. Mr. Rigby does not use male pronouns for God, for example, because it is a kind of “violence” to imply to a girl that her brother is more like God than she is, he said in an interview after the service. He does not use the word “Lord,” because it conjures a wealthy, European, male God, he said. For that matter, he added, he does not much care for the word “God.” He uses it on occasion, he said, but he tries to use synonyms, because “it’s going to mean something different to everybody.” In his sermon that morning, he had referred to “the creative impulse of the universe,” which “can be called God, but it doesn’t have to be called God.”

Pressure on Paxton builds after local plea deal

(Editor's note: This piece was originally published online May 16 by The Texas Tribune and has been updated by local editors.) Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is under fire for a plea deal his prosecutors offered in April to a Waco man charged with repeatedly sexually abusing a young boy. The deal in the case, which Paxton’s office took over about three years ago after the McLennan County district attorney recused himself, would have let the man plead guilty to two misdemeanors and serve a total of just one day in jail. Paxton has faced criticism from political opponents who say his office was too lenient toward the man, who admitted that he molested the victim as part of the deal. This comes even as Paxton has built a reputation attacking local district attorneys for being too soft on crime.

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Rep. James Talarico, Paxton's Democratic general election opponent in November, said in a May 27 Facebook post that "Ken Paxton just gave an Epstein-style deal to a pedophile." “Predators who commit these crimes tend to repeat them over and over again, until stopped,” U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Paxton's primary opponent who lost the May 26 runoff election, posted on X last month. “Paxton could have stopped this one, but instead cut him loose to reoffend over and over again, putting more children at risk.” State Rep. Jeff Leach, a Plano Republican who endorsed Cornyn’s reelection, sent a letter to Paxton’s office in May calling the deal “incomprehensible” and demanding answers. Paxton’s office did not respond to emailed questions for this story. A spokesperson pointed to a letter that two of his prosecutors who worked on the case sent to Leach last month, in which they explained that the case went to trial last year but ended in a 7-5 hung jury, and the young victim did not want to testify a second time after the mistrial. “The child emphasized that he preferred to move on with his life and prioritize his mental and emotional health,” wrote the prosecutors, Brenda Cantu and Dorian Cotlar. Beyond Paxton’s immediate political rivals, the deal has attracted criticism from local officials in Waco, including the McLennan County district attorney, a state representative from the area and even the judge presiding over the matter.

Texas court nixes shipper liability in Home Depot/Werner case

Just one day after the Montgomery Supreme Court decision set off speculation that the case could open the doors to shipper liability on top of widening the legal exposure of brokers, a Texas court slowed down that talk in the Lone Star State. The case of Montgomery vs. Caribe Transport II, which widened broker liability in safety-related incidents, came down on May 14. A day later, the Texas Supreme Court said in a case involving Home Depot and tangentially Werner Enterprises, “one who hires an independent contractor is generally not liable for the contractor’s torts.” Home Depot (NYSE: HD) hired Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) to move freight. (Although in trucking terms Werner would not be considered an independent contractor, it is for this case because it was hired by Home Depot to move its freight).

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The crash that launched the case occurred in April 2024 near Houston, on a frontage road of the Katy Freeway, just west of the interstate 610 loop around Houston. Juwan Smith, an employee driver at Werner, was transporting freight for Home Depot. Smith crashed with Natalio Garcia at an intersection along the road after reportedly running a red light. Garcia was killed. Home Depot was not initially named as a defendant in the case but was added later. The various arguments in the case focus on the term “duty,” and what was Home Depot’s “duty” to ensure a safe driver. “An existing duty already applies to the carrier and its employee,” Home Depot argued in an earlier legal filing. “A new duty, or the extension of an existing one involving the shipper’s selection of a carrier, is unwarranted.” In that same argument, Home Depot said “attempts elsewhere to impose liability against the shipper have failed.” “There is an existing remedy available to the injured motorists, and it lies against the driver and his employer, not the person who hired the independent carrier,” Home Depot said. The Texas Supreme Court agreed.

Wylie principal resigns after backlash from Islam event

The principal at Wylie East High School resigned following backlash from a “Why Islam” event that occurred at the school in February. Tiffany Doolan, who had worked for Wylie ISD for 19 years, notified the district of her resignation on May 26. In a statement, the district said Doolan had been a victim of targeted online attacks and public hostility. In February, an outside group called “Why Islam” set up a table at WEHS during lunch. The group was on campus to meet with the Muslim Student Association for World Hijab day. However, school officials said they did not approve the tabling during lunch.

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Following the event, the district placed a staff member on leave who they say did not verify the guest speaker approval process was completed. The event went viral after the president of the WEHS Republican Club, Marco Hunter-Lopez, posted a video to social media, in which he said the group was handing out information about Islam to students. Rep. Chip Roy invited Hunter-Lopez to testify to Congress. In his testimony, he called the event an “ideological promotion under the guise of diversity and inclusion.” WISD said in a statement that the district does not promote religion, politics, or ideology and that assertions that the district intentionally promoted a religion are false. Photos of Doolan wearing a hijab for World Hijab Day in previous years were resurfaced and also received criticism on social media after the “Why Islam” event. The district said the photos circulating were weaponized and taken out of context.

Fort Worth to weigh local data center regulations as residents call for moratorium

Will Fort Worth join cities across Texas and the United States in implementing development standards for new data centers later this year, or perhapsenact a temporary moratorium on the projects? That was the question that Fort Worth City Council members began the process of weighing on June 2, during a long-awaited presentation on data centers from Fort Worth Assistant City Manager Jesica McEachern during the city council’s work session meeting. Data centers have become an increasingly prominent topic at Fort Worth City Council meetings as the developers behind multi-billion dollar projects have come to the city for rezoning requests and tax agreements.

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Meetings on the southeast and southwest edges of Fort Worth have been filled with residents expressing concerns about the environmental and health impacts of data center projects, as leaders in nearby cities struggle to get a seat at the table with developers. The presentation was put together at the request of city council member Michael Crain earlier this year, with the goal of paving a path forward to balance potential economic development with those concerns from residents. The company Edged has been developing a data center near the intersection of Interstate 20 and Chapin School Road, located in Crain’s council district. McEachern outlined the economic impact of data centers before detailing current city regulations that pertain to them, then outlined new proposals for amendments to the local zoning code, noise regulations, water requirements, and a new strategy for economic development proposals for data center developments.

James Talarico's latest response to GOP attacks? Barbecue

After weeks of Republican taunts that he's a vegan, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico sat down Tuesday to a platter piled with brisket, ribs, sausage and brisket boudin. Then he dug in. "It’s so good," Talarico declared at Smokey Joe's BBQ in Dallas, saying it rivals some of the best barbecue back home in Central Texas. The lunch stop at Smokey Joe’s was equal parts meal and message. Talarico's taste in food has become an unlikely campaign issue in his Senate race against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.

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Republicans have mocked him as a vegan and culturally out of step with Texas, an attack that gained traction after Talarico joined former President Barack Obama at Austin's Taco Joint last month. Talarico, a state representative from Austin, ordered two potato, egg and cheese breakfast tacos, which an employee later said was his usual order. "He's a vegan and you can't get elected as a vegan in Texas," President Donald Trump said. Gov. Greg Abbott wrote on X, "Potato egg and cheese? Homi is not beating the vegetarian allegations." Talarico repeatedly has said he is not a vegan, though he has added there’s nothing wrong with that. His campaign has spent days pushing back on the GOP jabs. Tuesday, he offered a highly visible rebuttal at Smokey Joe’s, joined by state Sen. Royce West of Dallas. The large meat platter included Texas Twinkies, bacon-wrapped jalapeño pepper stuffed with cream cheese and chopped smoked brisket. Talarico dismissed the vegan attacks as a distraction. "Ken Paxton doesn't have anything to run on," he said. "He doesn't have solutions to lower people's costs or unrig this economy, so all he's got is name-calling."

Watchdog accuses Brandon Herrera’s congressional campaign of breaking campaign finance law

A watchdog group has filed a regulatory complaint accusing San Antonio congressional candidate Brandon Herrera’s campaign of funneling $2.7 million in contributions into a shell company so it can avoid reporting how it’s actually spending the cash. In a letter filed late last month with the Federal Election Commission, the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center alleged the Republican candidate, his principal committee, his leadership PAC and an authorized joint fundraising committee together skirted rules requiring them to show how they spent cash raised from donors. Campaign officials for Herrera, who’s running to represent Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, were unavailable Tuesday afternoon for immediate comment on the complaint.

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The FEC, as a matter of policy, doesn’t comment on complaints. “The overall goal seems to be concealing their how they’re spending their money in a way that’s not only illegal but fundamentally undermines the transparency voters have a right to,” Campaign Legal Center Director of Federal Campaign Finance Reform Saurav Ghosh told the Current. Indeed, federal filings show 99.4% of Herrera’s 2026 campaign expenditures have gone to Texas Strategy Group, an entity that’s not registered to legally do business anywhere in the United States and doesn’t even have a website, according to the nonprofit’s complaint. During Herrera’s failed 2024 campaign for the same seat, 92% of funds were directed to the shell company, the document also states. Herrera, a YouTube gun influencer who’s never before held public office, landed the Republican nomination this spring after U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales ended his reelection bid. The incumbent for the South Texas district faced mounting pressure from the GOP to drop out over an affair he had with a former staffer who later died by suicide.

Gina Ortiz Jones evades council vote, creates voters task force

When City Council tried to slow Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones’ drive to create a voting commission, she took the decision out of council’s hands by simply calling it into being. Jones said she forged ahead without a City Council vote “to make sure that process doesn’t get in the way of progress.” She relied on a technicality to launch the task force, whose mission is to advise her office on how to boost voter turnout in San Antonio. Municipal boards and commissions, such as the longstanding Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women, must be created by council approving either an ordinance or resolution, according to city code. Not so for task forces, which mayors can create with the stroke of a pen.

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Jones can decide what the task force will explore and who will sit on it without City Council weighing in. Task forces also require far less public access than city commissions — and the group is working out its recommendations to increase voter participation in private, without publicly available agendas or public meetings. Despite the differences, Jones continues to call the group the voting commission, as she’d originally pitched it. Jones put an ordinance creating such a commission to a council vote on April 2, a month after proposing it. But council members tabled it, saying they needed more information and time to consider it. The task force has met twice since May 22 and is under pressure to submit its recommendations in a matter of weeks. The mayor said she set an early July deadline for the group “to help us prepare for the November 2026 election.” Federal, state and county races will be on that midterm ballot, all of which are partisan races. The mayor and City Council are nonpartisan offices.

Southwest Airlines just hinted at its biggest change yet—but it’s still 3 years away

In a nod to shifting consumer demands, Southwest Airlines is considering adding long-haul international flights to its offerings. If implemented, the change would be one of the biggest in the carrier’s 55-year history of flying. During a recent appearance at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, Bob Jordan, the carrier’s CEO, said that significant changes are currently in the works at the company, including the addition of long-distance routes and new destinations. Long-haul flights are typically classified as nonstop flights that last between six and 12 hours. Some major carriers, like American Airlines, define long-haul routes by distance, classifying them as flights over 3,000 miles.

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“We’ll have far more domestic destinations that we can provide for you,” Jordan said at the conference. “We just opened acreage a couple of weeks ago—the Caribbean. We’re continuing to add destinations at a very swift pace here in 2026. And we’ll also offer you access to destinations that we don’t serve today. I think it’s likely that we’ll, over that period of time, delve into long-haul international.” However, the CEO noted that the integration of such longer flights may not start for another three to five years. He emphasized that plans for long-haul routes are in very early stages; no destinations have been finalized. “We don’t have to be Delta, American, and United in terms of that huge, wide, long-haul network,” he noted. “But through the right destinations, we can be highly relevant in our customer base in terms of where they want to go.” Southwest, which considers itself a low-cost carrier, has made significant changes to its business model over the past year, with the introduction of assigned seating and checked bag fees. The company is now looking to invest in more premium features for its guests. In February, Southwest integrated SpaceX’s Starlink Wi-Fi into its flights for seamless connectivity for passengers’ devices when they travel. The new partnership launches this summer and will be available on more than 300 aircraft by the end of 2026. As part of a larger effort to modernize the customer experience and improve financial performance, Southwest has also added extra-legroom seating and new fare bundles.

Will new school district takeovers follow the model—and ‘chaos’—of Houston ISD?

No state has taken over as many local public school districts as Texas. Just since 2020, the state education agency has installed its own hand-picked leaders in eight districts. Four of those came this spring. At least another 10 are at risk of takeover, including, as of last week, the Austin Independent School District (ISD). And to lead some of these districts, Texas is turning to a cadre of officials with ties to Mike Miles, the man the education agency chose in 2023 to oversee the Houston school district, the state’s largest. Miles is also a close ally of Mike Morath, Texas’ powerful education commissioner. Already, at least two of these new district leaders have started to adopt policies similar to the contentious reforms Miles has pursued in Houston. He has touted improved test scores under his charge. Houston ISD had no F-rated campuses and fewer D-rated campuses in the state’s latest ratings compared with previous years.

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But Miles has also sparked widespread protests in response to the district’s rigid adherence to scripted lessons and repetitive testing, the firing of principals and teachers, mass school closures, and the conversion of schools into charters. Miles did not respond to requests for comment from the Texas Observer. Houston ISD officials, in a statement to the Observer, said the district did not achieve better ratings by maintaining the status quo but “made difficult decisions” to improve academic performance, noting the majority of its campuses are now rated A or B. The school districts whose new leaders have connections to Miles should prepare for “upheaval and chaos,” warned an elected Houston school board member. “If anything doesn’t align with improving test scores, it will be taken away,” said Maria Benzon, who was elected in November to the Houston ISD board but is not permitted to serve under the ongoing state takeover. Under Miles, for example, Houston ISD eliminated librarian positions and turned some libraries into what Benzon called “detention centers,” because they are being used, in part, for students with behavioral issues. Morath, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) commissioner, has said the centers are used for more than just punishment.

Grand Prairie residents demand answers after canceled Muslim celebration at Epic Waters

More than a dozen speakers used Tuesday night's Grand Prairie City Council meeting to criticize the city's decision to cancel a private Eid celebration at Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark. Gov. Greg Abbott had threatened to withhold more than $500,000 in state funding after the celebration was announced. The June 1 event was organized by local Muslim families to celebrate Eid al- Adha, one of Islam's holiest holidays. The celebration was canceled in early May after Abbott accused organizers of promoting religious discrimination based on an early promotional flyer that described the gathering as a "Muslims only" event. The governor publicly threatened to pull approximately $530,000 in state funding from the city if the event was not canceled.

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During public comment Tuesday, several residents and community advocates questioned why city leaders reversed course after initially indicating that organizers had followed the park's rental policies. Mohammed Abdullah, one of the event organizers, told council members that the city first stated all procedures had been followed before later canceling the event after what he described as political pressure from Austin. "Tonight we're asking for honesty," Abdullah said. "Grand Prairie proudly speaks about community, diversity, inclusion, respect and being a welcoming city for all people." Abdullah called on the city to provide a public explanation of how the decision was made and whether it was influenced by the governor's office. Other speakers echoed those concerns, arguing the cancellation sent a message that Muslim residents were not welcome in the community. Dr. Angela Lucky, a longtime Grand Prairie resident and community activist, said residents deserve transparency if state officials played a role in the decision. "Decisions affecting community events should be made locally and guided by the needs and values of the people who live here," Lucky told council members. Several speakers urged city officials to meet with Muslim community leaders and work toward hosting a future Eid celebration. Others said the cancellation was especially disappointing for children and families who had planned to attend the event. The controversy began in May when Abbott demanded the city cancel the event, citing concerns about religious discrimination. Organizers said the gathering was intended to create a family-friendly environment centered on modest swimwear and was never intended to exclude people based on faith. City council members did not publicly respond to the comments during the meeting. No action regarding the canceled event appeared on Tuesday night's agenda.

Dallas Stars announce plans for new arena in Plano

A day after the Dallas Mavericks announced their potential new home, the Dallas Stars said they’ve taken a “major step” toward a new arena in Plano. The organization said in a statement Tuesday it’s signed a non-binding letter of intent to build an arena and entertainment district at The Shops at Willow Bend. “This project would present a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our franchise,” Dallas Stars owners Tom Gaglardi said. Plano confirmed in February it had been in "earnest discussions" with the team for the past year regarding the potential move. The Shops at Willow Bend is a 1.4 million-square-foot indoor shopping center located off of the Dallas North Tollway and George Bush Turnpike. The Stars’ letter of intent outlines plans for a mixed-use development including retail and dining spaces in addition to the new arena.

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The letter will go before the Plano City Council next week for consideration. In a statement Plano Mayor John Muns called the Stars an “iconic North Texas organization." “We are encouraged by their interest as conversations move forward,” he said. The Stars’ lease at American Airlines Center ends in 2031. In a statement, Dallas City Council member Adam Bazaldua called the news "disappointing," but said it's not a "setback" for the city. "We have to work with the circumstances before us, and some factors are simply beyond our control," Bazaldua said. The Mavericks were awarded full control of AAC earlier this year in a dispute with the Stars over arena maintenance and improvements. The hockey team's headquarters and practice facility is in Frisco. "I know our City Manager worked diligently to keep the Stars in Dallas," Bazaldua said. "Unfortunately, following their split with the Mavericks, the organization apparently did not believe it could sustain the American Airlines Center on its own." On Monday the Dallas Mavericks announced they’ve chosen the former Valley View Mall site in North Dallas as the team’s potential new home when their lease ends, also in 2031, after ongoing speculation they were considering City Hall as a possible location. In a statement, the Mavericks said the long-vacant mall site "meets most of the criteria established at the outset of our evaluation process" and provides an opportunity to keep the team within Dallas city limits.

Mansfield school trustees investigating residency claim made by board president

The Mansfield school board is looking into questions about whether the board president meets district residency requirements following a Star-Telegram report on Tuesday. In March, board president Jandel Crutchfield signed a non-homestead affidavit saying she does not reside in the Mansfield home she gave as her primary mailing address when she ran for school board in 2024. In the sworn statement, which was filed in Tarrant County, Crutchfield declared she had never lived in the Mansfield home and had no intention of doing so in the future. The affidavit characterized the home as an investment property.

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In the same affidavit, Crutchfield designated a property in Itasca, some 40 miles from Mansfield, as her homestead, or primary residence. According to property tax records, though, Crutchfield does not own that home. Her husband, Johnoson Crutchfield, was the real estate agent who listed the Itasca property for sale. It sold in February. Stu Madison, a lawyer for the Mansfield school district, told the Star-Telegram via email the board had asked an outside attorney to examine the issue. “This matter is being thoroughly investigated by independent legal counsel on behalf of the Mansfield ISD Board of Trustees,” Madison wrote. He added that the board would release a statement once the investigation concludes. Jandel Crutchfield did not respond to a voice message or a text message requesting comment.

National Stories

CBS News fires Scott Pelley of ‘60 Minutes’

CBS News fired Scott Pelley on Tuesday, jettisoning one of the network’s best-known journalists in a clash over the future of “60 Minutes,” the country’s top-rated news program. Mr. Pelley, 68, a “60 Minutes” correspondent and a former anchor of “CBS Evening News,” joined the network in 1989. At a staff meeting on Monday, he accused the network’s editor in chief, Bari Weiss, of “murdering ‘60 Minutes,’” citing the ouster last week of the program’s leadership team and two on-air correspondents. “We have parted ways with Scott Pelley,” Nick Bilton, the tech journalist who was hired last week as the new “60 Minutes” executive producer, wrote in a memo to the show’s staff on Tuesday night.

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CBS News declined to comment. In a formal letter to Mr. Pelley, which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Bilton wrote that the correspondent had been “terminated for cause effective immediately.” Mr. Pelley, in a telephone interview on Tuesday evening shortly after he was fired, said he had devoted decades of his life to “60 Minutes,” which he said he still cared about deeply. “I have been in combat in Afghanistan,” Mr. Pelley said. “I have been in combat in Iraq. I have been in the war zone in Ukraine multiple times, risking my life and the happiness of my family because of my devotion to the broadcast.” The firing of Mr. Pelley is among the most consequential moves of Ms. Weiss’s rocky tenure at CBS. And it is almost certain to spike tensions that have coursed through the network for months. It also raises the stakes of Ms. Weiss’s surprising decision to replace the entire leadership team at “60 Minutes,” CBS News’s most successful franchise, and hire Mr. Bilton, who has no experience in broadcast TV, to oversee the show. The program’s viewership was up 9 percent this past season from a year prior, and the show is routinely among the nation’s highest-rated weekly broadcasts, according to Nielsen.

Takeaways from Tuesday's primaries as Democrats try to make Iowa inroads and defend California

The contours of a premier U.S. Senate race took shape Tuesday night in Iowa, while President Donald Trump’s endorsement streak ran into a roadblock there. Democrats chose a nominee for a U.S. House race in New Jersey that could decide control of the chamber. But much of the focus is on California, home to Hollywood but not a governor’s race packing much star power. Here are takeaways from primary elections in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota. Democrats stunned by how Trump has remade American politics have spent the past decade debating which type of candidate is best positioned to energize voters and win elections, not moral victories. Iowa marked the latest stop in this sometimes agonizing conversation.

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The party’s establishment supported Josh Turek, a state representative who presented a compelling personal biography that included competing for the U.S. in four Paralympics. State Sen. Zach Wahls, meanwhile, offered himself as a more disruptive player, refusing to back Chuck Schumer as Democratic leader if he were elected. Democratic voters united behind Turek, who will face Republican Ashley Hinson in the fall. At this point, many of the party’s most fractious races are behind them. But Turek’s win could be closely watched in Michigan, where one of the last major Democratic primaries will unfold on Aug. 4. Rep. Haley Stevens is emerging as the establishment candidate there vying against state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and progressive Abdul El-Sayed. In just the past month, the power of Trump’s endorsement helped end the political careers of two senators — John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana — and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky. But the president was unable to lift Rep. Randy Feenstra to victory in Iowa’s Republican primary for governor. Trump jumped in with his backing last week but Feenstra narrowly lost to Zach Lahn.

GOP senators balk at Trump’s pick of Pulte to head national intelligence

Republican senators are expressing bewilderment at President Trump’s choice of Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve as the acting director of national intelligence, with some calling him “unqualified” because of his lack of national security and intelligence credentials. Trump’s pick of Pulte, a loyal deputy who has raised allegations of mortgage fraud against some of Trump’s political adversaries, such as New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), to oversee the nation’s intelligence agencies while the nation is embroiled in a conflict with Iran, caught Republican senators by surprise Tuesday. Republican senators say they have no oversight over the president’s choice of people to serve as acting Cabinet-level officials, but they signaled Pulte could have a tough time getting 51 votes to be confirmed as intelligence director for a longer term.

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“The Senate doesn’t have any role to play in terms of confirming acting officials, but I see no evidence of any qualifications for that job,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said of Trump’s pick of Pulte to serve as intelligence director for the foreseeable future. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he doesn’t know much about Pulte but remarked he doesn’t appear to be qualified to serve as the president’s principal adviser on all matters related to national security. “The best I can tell you is he’s not qualified, but I don’t know anything about him other than that,” he said. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also raised questions about Pulte’s qualifications to take charge of the nation’s intelligence agencies in a role overseeing the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency and elements of the FBI. “I was surprised to see the name. I am not familiar whether he has any intelligence background, so obviously I’m going to have to learn a little bit more,” she said.

Greg Abel puts his stamp on Berkshire Hathaway with pair of megadeals

Greg Abel spent the past year trying to reassure investors that Berkshire Hathaway is still the willing and opportunistic dealmaker it had been under his predecessor, Warren Buffett. He said the right things, but a prolonged slump in the company’s stock showed that shareholders wanted action. In one weekend in late May, they got it. Abel, who succeeded Buffett as Berkshire’s chief executive officer in January, agreed over the weekend to pay $6.8 billion for the home builder Taylor Morrison Home

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while also in pursuit of a second multibillion-dollar transaction. On Monday, he delivered his encore: a $10 billion purchase of shares in Alphabet, Google’s parent company. “He’s unbelievably efficient, and that’s probably dramatized by the fact that I’m slow and inefficient,” Buffett said of his successor, in an interview. “Even in my prime, I did not get as much accomplished in a day as Greg does.” The deals rank among the biggest Berkshire has pursued in recent years and reveal how Abel is willing to borrow from Buffett’s successful playbook while putting his own stamp on how to organize Berkshire. “It signals to the market that Greg Abel is—no pun intended—ready, willing and able to allocate capital to deals and not afraid to venture into an out-of-favor industry in keeping with the Berkshire MO,” said Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA Research. Since Buffett announced plans in May 2025 to cede his CEO title at year-end, Abel has been working to persuade Berkshire’s shareholders that he would maintain what has made the company such an unusual fixture among U.S. corporations: a conglomerate of unrelated businesses from railroads to energy to children’s toys, a dominant insurance arm and a sizable portfolio managed by the CEO. The new CEO came into the role as an operational maestro who would bring a critical eye to that vast portfolio of businesses.

Trump aims new tariffs at 59 countries and the European Union

President Trump has proposed tariffs of at least 10 percent on 60 American trading partners, his most aggressive effort yet to enact new import duties after the Supreme Court struck down the administration’s sweeping tariffs. Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, said on Tuesday night that investigations found that the 59 countries, along with the 27-nation European Union, had failed to enact or effectively enforce laws prohibiting imports made with forced labor. The administration, invoking a legal provision known as Section 301, proposed a 12.5 percent duty on imports from countries including China, Brazil, South Korea, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Goods from the European Union, Canada and Mexico would face 10 percent import taxes.

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Mr. Trump has signaled he intends to use Section 301 to rebuild his tariff agenda after the Supreme Court ruled that he exceeded his authority by using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to impose duties without congressional approval. After the court struck down those tariffs, Mr. Trump sought to revive them partially with a global 10 percent duty under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, a never-before-used provision. A trade court ruled in May that the move violated the law. The tariffs were initially scheduled to expire at the end of July. Mr. Greer’s office has also opened an investigation into what the Trump administration has described as “excess manufacturing capacity” among 16 of America’s largest trading partners. “Following the Supreme Court overturning the IEEPA tariffs, a legal basis was needed to rebuild Trump’s tariff wall, and this was a convenient way to do so,” said Steve Okun, chief executive of APAC Advisors, a geopolitical consulting firm. Mr. Okun added: “Tariffs are here to stay under the Trump administration.” Mr. Greer’s office is scheduled to hold hearings on July 7 about the proposed tariffs, which would take effect sometime after that.

DOJ is investigating former congressman George Santos for insider trading on Kalshi

In February, four months after being released from federal prison, former Republican congressman George Santos took to social media to express his enthusiasm about attending President Trump's upcoming State of the Union address. "I'm going to be there for the State of Union in the gallery, guys," Santos said in a video he posted to X a day before the president's remarks. At the time, traders on the prediction market site Kalshi were placing millions of dollars worth of bets on who would attend. Santos' video confirming his presence sent odds soaring. But he didn't show up. "Watching SOTU from an airport tv was not part of the plan! FML," Santos wrote on X, using slang for a more coarse way of saying, "screw my life."

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He posted the message as Trump was speaking, making those same odds in the Kalshi market plummet. What Santos didn't say was that he had already placed bets on Kalshi that he was not going to appear at the State of the Union address, according to three people with direct knowledge of his trades who were not authorized to speak publicly. They say Santos misled the public and turned a profit based on that deception in the tens of thousands of dollars. Kalshi detected Santos' trades, froze his account and referred the case to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Department of Justice, which both opened investigations into Santos, according to two people familiar with Kalshi's investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly. Neither the CFTC nor the Justice Department returned requests for comment. Kalshi declined to comment. Reached by NPR, Santos said, "Well, that's news to me," when asked about the insider trading probe underway into his activity on Kalshi.

‘I thought I had my future wife’: The Florida woman catfishing America’s political class

Rob Field wondered if he had finally met the one. In December 2024, Field — then a top aide to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey — swiped right on the dating app profile of a woman named Leah. When the self-described Florida transplant arrived for a winter date without a coat, Field purchased one for her. The two, who shared an affinity for left-leaning politics, grew closer over homebaked peanut-butter cookies and even talked of weekend trips to out-of-state football games. Over months of texting, Field came to believe that the woman who identified herself as Leah Andrews might be his “forever person.” But just over five months after they first met, surreptitiously recorded videos of their dates and calls were posted online by conservative influencer Steven Crowder.

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Field watched himself on tape — his private observations on fellow Democrats and Republicans suddenly available for public consumption, just days before New Jersey’s contested 2025 primary election for governor. When he heard her voice in those videos it became clear to Field that she had never been who she said she was. She was not Leah Andrews, according to a lawsuit filed this week by Field, but a Florida woman named Alysia Gamble. According to public records and online videos we have reviewed, Gamble — who is married with kids — was a former QAnon organizer. Gamble’s five-month pursuit of Field wasn’t an isolated project: We have identified at least three other instances in which the Florida woman went undercover to court men in an attempt to capture a few moments of viral content later published online by Crowder or conservative activist James O’Keefe. Crowder’s media company, Louder with Crowder, did not respond to a request for comment, and O’Keefe, who is not named in the lawsuit, declined to comment for this article.

Tennesee GOP Rep. Andy Ogles deletes anti-Pride Month tweet

Rep. Andy Ogles made a social media post Tuesday saying “homosexuality has no place in America,” and then deleted it after drawing criticism from at least one fellow House Republican. The tweet from Ogles (R-Tenn.) wished his followers “Happy Nuclear Family Month” in an apparent reference to Pride Month, which began Monday. Rep. Mile Lawler (R-N.Y.) condemned the message as “absolutely idiotic” in a social media post. “Homosexuality exists. In America,” Lawler wrote on X. “In fact Andy, you have family, friends, neighbors, colleagues and constituents who are gay and lesbian. It doesn’t make them less than or somehow unworthy of being an American.”

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Ogles said in a statement later Tuesday that the original post was written by a member of his communications staff and he only learned about it after the fact when he started getting calls about it. “The post was stupid, hurtful and a complete distraction from my America First focus,” he said. “The employee has been reprimanded.” House leadership did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pride Month commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York, which served as a major catalyst for LGBTQ+ rights. Ogles has been called out for his social media posts in the past. Earlier this year, he faced backlash for posting that “Muslims don’t belong in America.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at the time called the Tennessee Republican a “malignant clown and pathological liar who has fabricated his whole life story.”

Copyright June 03, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved