August 16, 2026: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Trump ratings may complicate Texas GOP plan to flip 5 seats in House

Texas Republicans’ controversial move last summer to redraw the state’s congressional maps with the aim of flipping five Democratic seats this fall may be complicated by President Donald Trump’s low approval ratings, experts say. High prices on gas and groceries, along with a nationwide immigration crackdown that has sometimes turned violent, have led pollsters to predict a “blue wave” in November’s midterms. The GOP counted on Texas Latinos, in particular, to maintain the support they showed for Trump in 2024, political scientists said, but may have inadvertently weakened some of their advantages as the president’s approval rating plummets among the demographic. Several South Texas districts, including two that were redrawn to favor Republicans by double digits, now appear to be legitimate toss-ups, experts said.

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The shift could even influence contests in deep-red areas like the newly redrawn Congressional District 9 east of Houston, though the state’s political experts still give Republican Alex Mealer an edge over Democrat Leticia Gutierrez. More than 60% of Latino Texans now have an unfavorable view of the president, according to polling by the Texas Politics Project, one of the highest rates in nearly a decade. Even a few Democratic pickups could determine control of the U.S. House for the last two years of Trump’s term, said Sean Theriault, a political scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. “South Texas districts are going to be more competitive… and I think that as the election gets closer and closer we’ll see them start drifting toward the toss-up category,” he said. “Those districts I think are going to determine who’s the majority (in the House).” While Democrats are growing optimistic about the South Texas races, other redrawn districts now held by Democrats still appear to favor Republicans. Congressional District 32 now lies in staunchly conservative suburbs of Dallas and East Texas, while District 35, in the San Antonio area, also appears to favor the GOP.

Texas GOP lawmaker predicts fallout for his party over Big Bend border work

A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers sent a letter this week to Gov. Greg Abbott asking for his help in stopping the Trump administration from moving forward with border construction projects in Big Bend National Park. Forty Democrats and three Republicans serving in the Texas House of Representatives added their signatures to the letter that went to the governor Thursday. In the opening of the letter, they said they wanted to express their “deep concern and opposition to construction of border barriers in the Big Bend region, particularly in Big Bend National Park.” “We support securing our border and recognize our duty to protect Texans,” the letter from the 43 lawmakers read. “However, it is essential that border security policy be pursued in a manner that is effective, fiscally responsible, and respectful of the communities and landscapes we are sworn to protect.”

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The timing of the letter coincides with protests that happened earlier this week in Big Bend National Park, where people spotted heavy equipment working to clear what looked like paths in the vegetation there. The commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection reiterated the agency does not plan to build a 30-foot-high border wall through the national park, but he said preparations are underway for a broader border infrastructure project that includes new patrol roads, detection technology and vehicle barriers. On its official X page, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused news outlets of “fearmongering” in their reporting about the scope of the project. “What people are seeing is survey and design work — NOT construction of a wall or stadium lighting through Big Bend National Park, Big Bend Ranch State Park, or the Black Wildlife Management Area,” the DHS post on Thursday read. “We are working to preserve the landscape and protect the access visitors and local residents depend on.” However, one of the three Republican lawmakers who signed onto the letter, State Rep. Wes Virdell of Brady, told KXAN on Friday his party could face backlash in the upcoming midterm election for Texas leaders not speaking out more publicly against the project, which he said has faced major bipartisan pushback across the state.

How Taylor Sheridan built a $1B TV empire, without needing Hollywood, A-listers or Emmys

Working for “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan is not for the faint of heart. The man who shepherded huge hits on to our screens is a “frustrated actor” with a “big ego,” according to those who have worked for him. Former A-lister Ed Harris recently griped he was “misled” by a role on Sheridan’s “Dutton Ranch” saying he told his team to “get me the f—k out of here,” off his set, while “Lioness” star Zoe Saldaña said Sheridan gives his stars two choices, “You have one of two choices. You either accept the challenge and make sure that you don’t f— up… or you quit.” But it can’t be denied he’s breathed new life into the careers of stars like Helen Mirren, Harrison Ford, Demi Moore and Michelle Pfeiffer, raking them in multi-million dollar pay days in the process.

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But, while many people swear by Sheridan and say he is fiercely loyal, things don’t always work out. He no longer talks to “Yellowstone” star Kevin Costner after their very public fallout toward the end of the show’s fifth and final season, Page Six is told. And now Sheridan, 56, is now quitting Paramount, the network where his shows found a fanatical audience, for NBCUniversal, in a deal that valued at a billion dollars. Those who know him paint a picture of a wannabe cowboy who keeps a horse trailer at base camp on his show “Landman” and is often seen riding around set. “Here’s the deal about Taylor,” actress Jill Wanger told Decider earlier this month, “He’s not necessarily always nice. He’s fair and if he tells you he’s going to do something, he does it. And that’s rare in the industry.” Wagner co-created the Paramount+ series “Special Ops: Lioness” with her husband David Lemanowicz, and pitched the concept to Sheridan, her former acting coach. She also stars as CIA operative Bobby and serves as an executive producer on the show, while Sheridan plays Sergeant Major Cody Spears.

‘ICE tax’: Valley hardest hit in Texas from mass deportation campaign

The Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign led to a 5% quarterly drop in construction jobs in the Rio Grande Valley during the third quarter of last year — the highest construction jobs decline on record for the region — while the cost of housing and services across the state is rising because of the shrinking workforce. That’s according to a newly released report, “End the Ice Tax,” from America’s Voice, a nonprofit national organization that advocates for the enactment of changes to government policy that “secure freedom and opportunity for immigrants in America.” The report found that nearly one-fifth of ICE arrests in Texas took place in the Valley, where ICE has arrested more than 9,100 people during the surge. In Laredo, monthly arrests of workers and residents jumped from around half a dozen on average to more than 800 due to the mass deportation campaign, the report said.

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“Business is down significantly,” South Texas Builders Association Board President Ronnie Cavazos is quoted as saying. “If we continue on this trajectory, we will see a lot of businesses fail.” Among U.S. states, California, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey and New York rely most heavily on immigrants workers and are experiencing proportionate economic impacts, including higher costs for things like groceries, daycare and home construction, according to the report, which noted that regions of Texas are experiencing the same types of effects. America’s Voice stated that the government’s “mass deportation agenda is contributing to an increase in price and depressing economic activity.” “That decision isn’t theoretical,” the organization said. “It shows up at every kitchen table in the country, including the tables of families who’ve never thought twice about immigration. We call it the ICE tax. It’s the additional cost you pay when your government picks mass deportation over your wallet — higher prices at checkout, jobs that stall out because workers are gone, and Main Street businesses sitting quiet after a raid comes through.”

Republicans worry their chances of keeping Congress are slipping away. Inside the Trump campaign plan to change that

President Donald Trump has finally given the green light to pour millions of dollars from his personal PAC toward boosting vulnerable Republicans in November, two people familiar with the plans told CNN, as some top campaign advisers privately acknowledge that Republicans’ chances of keeping control of both the House and Senate are dwindling. Trump’s political team is still debating what the final dollar figure will be, though one person familiar with the discussions floated $30 million in the first tranche. Another official cautioned that the final amounts have not yet been decided. The long-awaited cash infusion is happening in the coming weeks, two people said, describing it as the first salvo in a stretch-run effort as November looms just three months away. And it comes amid growing GOP concerns that severe headwinds over the Iran war and high gas prices could suppress voter turnout.

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“There is a path where we keep the House and the Senate,” one source told CNN. “I’m not in a place today where I’m prepared to say we’re cautiously optimistic about that.” Trump is also belatedly preparing to ratchet up his own campaigning schedule, with plans to travel at least once a week to hold a spate of rallies in battleground districts, one adviser said. His team first promised this move months ago, and Republicans have long argued it’s a crucial step to energizing MAGA voters critical to the party’s midterm chances. “He loves to travel, but he hates to travel,” said one of his advisers, noting that domestic issues and the Iran war upended early plans to get him on the road more frequently. Trump has recently told his closest aides that he wants to be out more stumping for GOP candidates. But advisers acknowledge his enthusiasm could evaporate just as quickly. “We’ll see how long that lasts,” the adviser said. “Once he’s traveling, he’s like: ‘Why am I doing this? I want to be doing other things.’” Still, there’s widespread angst within the party that Trump has waited too long to get more directly involved.

State Stories

How Republicans embraced Brandon Herrera, a Texas Republican candidate and gun influencer

Standing in a San Antonio barbecue joint, the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, laid out a stark contrast between two congressional candidates in a sprawling West Texas border district. Voters could choose the “common sense” of the G.O.P. nominee, Brandon Herrera, he said, or the “crazy” positions of his Democratic opponent. Until recently, however, establishment Republicans were trying to paint Mr. Herrera as the crazy one. A self-described gun-rights absolutist and YouTuber known for his inflammatory humor, Mr. Herrera, 30, was initially opposed this year by both Mr. Johnson and President Trump as he challenged the district’s Republican incumbent, Tony Gonzales, for a second straight time. Mr. Gonzales and his allies spent millions painting Mr. Herrera as extreme, highlighting old videos in which he made wildly offensive jokes like saying that a Nazi-era submachine gun was “the original ghetto blaster” and “Hitler’s street sweeper.”

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But after a sexual misconduct scandal forced Mr. Gonzales out of the race and then out of Congress this year, top Republicans quickly closed ranks around Mr. Herrera. In an era where candidates’ online pasts are etched into the public record, Mr. Herrera’s rise is testing voters’ tolerance for comments, even those made in jest, that are beyond the pale of public acceptability. It also underscores the anti-establishment energy coursing through both parties. As they wrestle for control of Congress, national leaders have jumped into shotgun marriages with outsider candidates — and those candidates, in turn, are welcoming help from an establishment they once attacked. “After a brutal primary on all sides,” Mr. Herrera told reporters in San Antonio late last month, “the focus has to be bringing the party together.” The district leans Republican — Mr. Trump carried it by 15 percentage points in 2024 — but Democrats believe Mr. Herrera’s polarizing nature could give their nominee, Katy Padilla Stout, a chance.

Jim Foster, who helped Democrats sweep Dallas County, dies at 82

Former Dallas County Judge Jim Foster has died, according to his sister, Charlotte Foster Ross. He was 82. Foster suffered a heart attack on Friday, his sister said, after going into the hospital for gallstones. He died yesterday at Methodist Hospital in Plano, Ross added. “He was a loving, kind brother that was always there for everybody. He was the most soft-spoken human being I’ve ever known,” she continued. Foster was in the security business and ran unsuccessful campaigns for sheriff and constable before launching what looked like a longshot bid for the county’s top office. In 2007, he defeated Republican County Judge Margaret Keliher, as Democrats swept into power in Dallas County.

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“Jim Foster ran for and won Dallas County Judge at a time when other Democrats believed the seat was unwinnable. In his first year, he convened a summit for other newly elected county judges in the metroplex building upon the strong regional relationship that continues to exist today,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins told WFAA on Saturday. But during his one term, Foster tangled publicly with Commissioner John Wiley Price, a fellow Democrat, over the Inland Port in southern Dallas County. “You can't stand for what's right and expect to be the darling of the Democratic Party,” Foster told The Dallas Morning News in 2014. In 2010, Democratic voters replaced Foster with Jenkins. After leaving office, Foster moved to Florida to work in real estate but later returned to Dallas. “He was the most honest man I have ever known,” former Dallas County Commissioner Maurine Dickey posted on Facebook on Saturday. “He loved Dallas County and his family was very involved in the history of northeast Dallas County.” Foster regularly contributed images and insight to the Facebook group called Pioneers of Dallas County.

As John Whitmire turns 77, the ‘spry’ and ‘vigorous’ Houston mayor wants to stay in office into his 80s

Houston Mayor John Whitmire turned 77 years old on Thursday, more than a year before he plans to seek a second four-year term in office. When a Houston Public Media reporter wished Whitmire a happy birthday and asked how he felt about serving another four years on Wednesday, Whitmire said his administration is "actively working." "I'm the first one here in the morning, last one to leave," Whitmire said. "So I love where you’re going, but we have started something special in the city of Houston. We’re not going to finish it ‘til the end of my second term. So I look forward to working with you — such a delight."

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Former President Joe Biden entered office at 78 years old in 2020, making him the oldest president in history at the time. Concerns about his age factored heavily into his decision to drop his reelection bid in 2024, when he was 82. On Wednesday, city controller Chris Hollins — a consistent rival of Whitmire — wished the mayor a happy birthday. "Brother, you're almost old enough to run for president now," Hollins said. Biden's performance as president and on the campaign trail contributed to a surge in negative sentiment about aging officeholders, said Brandon Rottinghaus, political science professor at the University of Houston — but it also highlighted the importance of voter perception. A Pew Research Center survey found 79% of Americans supported maximum age limits for federal elected officials in 2023. But a poll by Gallup in 2024 found 59% of Americans were "very concerned" about Biden's age, compared to just 18% for President Donald Trump, who was three years younger.

Texas child advocates push back against proposed overhaul of federal Head Start

Child advocates from Texas and across the country are voicing strong opposition against proposed changes to Head Start. The nonprofit Children At Risk held a press conference Thursday with child advocates and early childhood stakeholders to discuss the proposed overhaul and its state-by-state impacts. Head Start programs provide free learning and development services to children from low-income families, from birth to age five. Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families announced proposed sweeping changes to the program’s regulations. This includes removing significant federal regulations and shifting standards towards state and local requirements, decreasing allowable administrative costs from 15% to 5%, and emphasizing English-language instruction in most programs.

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It would slim regulation of the 60-year-old anti-poverty program and aim to save money. Advocates worry the changes could undermine the early education program's mission. The federal government said the changes would reduce significant bureaucratic burden on programs and open up new slots for kids. “The rules that we have for Head Start right now are really good — they’ve worked for 60 years,” said Bob Sanborn, CEO of Children at Risk. “We support efforts to reduce unnecessary federal [spending,] but this cannot come at the cost of child care quality, accountability, and safety.” Teresa Granilla, CEO of the San Antonio-based nonprofit AVANCE, said the move to prioritize English-language instruction could hurt the growth of the nearly one-third of children in Head Start who are bilingual learners. “The research in Head Start’s own resources are clear: Supporting a child’s home language helps build the foundation for learning English and for later learning, ” said Granilla. “An English-only approach is not simply a change in curriculum.” Children at Risk reports Texas is home to nearly 465,000 low-income children with working parents. Altogether, Head Start and Early Head Start programs have provided affordable, high-quality childcare for nearly 70,000 of those children as of last year. Advocates in Alabama and Florida also said significantly changing the federal standards for governing Head Start services could lead to state-by-state inequities to high-quality services. “Head Start is a staple in rural communities where there’s no childcare,” said Dawn Owens, the director of the Montgomery Education Foundation. “There are counties where there is no childcare, there is only Head Start, so families rely on that to work.”

DFW Airport drops plans for wash stations for Muslim travelers

DFW International Airport has stopped plans for a proposed project to build wash stations for Muslim travelers in Terminal D after the project sparked public debate this week and Gov. Greg Abbott targeted its funding. Abbott said on social media Friday he had ordered a review of state grants at DFW Airport and referred DFW to the U.S. Department of Transportation for investigation. “Texas will not allow illegal religious discrimination at taxpayer-funded facilities,” Abbott said.

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Similar wash stations like the ones DFW was expected to install are offered at facilities in Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport and Chicago O'Hare International. Abbott targeted the Houston airport also. The airport had been considering a proposal to install Islamic foot wash stations inside some Terminal D restrooms, The Dallas Morning News previously reported. The project consisted of adding ablution stations to existing concourse-level restrooms in Terminal D, one men's ablution station in the existing men's restroom and one women's ablution station in the existing women's restroom, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Wash stations like the ones the project proposed are commonly used to perform Wudu, a ritual purification practice in Islam. DFW Airport already offers wash stations in its Terminal D interfaith chapel. “Like all proposed projects, the airport ultimately considers the operational benefits, customer service impacts, operational risks and costs before approving them,” Heath Montgomery, a spokesperson for the airport, told The News in an email Friday evening. “While that evaluation was planned, the airport accelerated its review due to elevated public interest this week and has determined not to proceed with the project as it would not deliver the originally anticipated operational benefits.” When asked whether existing ablution stations in the interfaith chapel would be affected, Montgomery said via text that “I’m not aware of any additional proposed changes at this time.”

Superintendent: immigration policies impact Dallas school enrollment

Dallas ISD’s enrollment has slipped, and immigration policies may have had a hand in it, Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde said as the district began the new school year Tuesday. "Certainly, some policies regarding immigration have had an impact," Elizalde said at a news conference at Victor H. Hexter Elementary School. "We think this year we're probably going to level off." Elizalde said this school year’s enrollment figures are not yet available. “We are prepared to receive as many students as come through our doors,” Elizalde said. The district’s enrollment has been on a downward trajectory for the last decade, save a small increase in the 2024-25 school year. Last school year, Dallas ISD had over 134,000 students, down 3% from the previous year. Since 2015, Dallas ISD has consistently lost over 1,000 students per year, with a large dip in 2020 due to the pandemic.

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In January 2025, President Donald Trump repealed a Biden-era policy that protected certain spaces — including schools and churches — from immigration enforcement. Dallas ISD, the second-largest district in the state by enrollment, isn’t the only district seeing fewer students. Enrollment in Fort Worth ISD has also dropped significantly in the last decade, and it saw a 4% decrease from 2024 to 2025. Other North Texas school districts, like Richardson ISD and Irving ISD, follow similar trends. Other factors that could influence enrollment are the Texas’ new school choice program, wherein the state subsidizes private school tuition or homeschooling. Over 2,500 students living in Dallas ISD boundaries and 1,500 students in Fort Worth ISD boundaries will participate in the program, though not all of them are necessarily switching from public to private school. Demographic trends, like declining birth rates and fewer children in Texas, could also contribute to lower enrollment in public schools. At the state level, public school enrollment saw a decline of 76,000 students in 2025 — a 1.4% drop — making it the largest enrollment dip in Texas outside of the pandemic, according to the nonpartisan think tank Texas 2036. Elizalde said Tuesday she doesn’t expect a large change in enrollment this year for her district, but hopes new Dallas ISD initiatives, like its universal pre-K program, will draw in more families. Dallas ISD, along with dozens of other area districts, had their first day of school this week. While Fort Worth entered the new school year under state takeover, others, like Dallas and Irving ISD opened new campuses.

Indigenous group sues to stop Big Bend Border Wall on religious grounds

The People of La Junta for Preservation, a nonprofit founded in 2024 that works to preserve Indigenous sites, and two Indigenous worshippers of Lipan Apache lineage are suing the federal government to stop the highly contentious border barrier construction and surveying activities in Big Bend, the Texas Observer has learned. The plaintiffs argue that ongoing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) construction and surveying activities in Big Bend National Park and across far West Texas have cut them off both from specific sacred sites and ecosystems fundamental to their spiritual practices in violation of Religious Freedom Restoration Act and American Indian Religious Freedom Act protections. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in San Antonio, not only seeks an immediate halt to construction activity in Big Bend National Park but across CBP’s Big Bend Sector.

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The lawsuit argues that “the threatened areas include places used by [plaintiff Christina Hernandez] or members of her community for religious observance, ceremony, prayer, gathering, or other traditional religious practices” and “the challenged construction also threatens to substantially burden the exercise of religion by physically altering, restricting access to, or destroying the places at which those practices occur.” Democratic Texas state Senator Roland Gutierrez, who is also a San Antonio-based lawyer, is representing the plaintiffs in the case. His state Senate district includes a portion of Big Bend National Park and Brewster County. The prominent Houston lawyer Dick DeGuerin is also on the case. The lawsuit names the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), CBP, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott, and Big Bend Sector Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Lloyd M. Easterling among the defendants. Hernandez is director of People of La Junta and is also a member of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, which is not currently a federally recognized tribe but has been recognized by the state, and a lead plaintiff in the suit. “We use the river for coming-of-age ceremonies that we are reintroducing into the community, and then we also harvest sacred plant material—willows, cattail pollen—and that all we get specifically from the banks of the river, versus sourcing elsewhere, because we feel like that’s the the closest to our creator,” Hernandez told the Observer. “That water is used in a multitude of ways within ceremony, whether it’s opening up a ceremony at large, or being put in the water to be close to our Creator.”

Restaurant operator with Texas ties mired in bankruptcy

A longtime Texas restaurant operator with prominent ties to Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area is poised to enter a new chapter, thanks to a federal judge and a multimillion-dollar bankruptcy case. Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brenda T. Rhoades confirmed Aug. 6 a reorganization plan for KBI 2015 TX LP, a company managed by restaurateur Kim Forsythe with multiple food-and-entertainment-focused businesses in Texas When the reorganization plan goes through, an unaffiliated investor would contribute at least $250,000 for 100 percent of the company's equity.

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The decision marks another major shrinking of Forsythe's once sprawling restaurant empire, which includes the Sambuca chain of steak, seafood and dancing concepts. The news also coincides with the abrupt closure of Forsythe's other company, 909 Events, Inc., formerly known as Sambuca Catering, Inc., according to public records. 909 was the operator of the Crystal Ballroom at the Rice, a wedding venue inside the Rice Hotel. Chron multimedia reporter Macy Meinhardt reported earlier this week that the company had informed customers its lease had been terminated and that it would be seeking bankruptcy protection, leaving their scheduled deposits and wedding dates up in the air. While KBI, as a company, may emerge still alive after all this, additional companies owned by Forsythe are presently being swallowed up by liquidation, as a bank is accusing them of defaulting on millions of dollars in debt. According to court documents, KBI was identified as the operating company behind The Rayleigh Underground and Kitchen 101, both part of Toyota Music Factory, a sprawling entertainment district in the North Texas city of Irving. The Rayleigh Underground is a 38,000-square-foot, two-story entertainment venue that evokes sights, sounds and tastes of Las Vegas, according to its website. Kitchen 101 is an adjoining fast-casual restaurant with wine and coffee.

United ISD restores Communities in Schools program at 5 campuses

United ISD is bringing back its Communities in Schools (CIS) program this year, but at fewer campuses than before. Trustees approved a plan to restore CIS at five campuses, down from the original 15. The move reduces the district’s cost from $400,000 to $115,000. At the Aug. 12 board meeting, several students spoke to trustees about how CIS affected their lives. Victor Vasquez, with County Court at Law 2, also addressed the board, saying the court has seen positive results from students involved in the program. The decision comes as UISD continues looking for ways to reduce expenses while maintaining supports for at-risk students.

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James Talarico pushes new plan to woo Texas veterans, pledges to ‘fight for them the way they fight for us’

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico is unveiling a veterans and military-specific policy platform Friday aimed at “stopping the new forever war in Iran,” strengthening support for military families and increasing the resources available to veterans for health care, housing and employment. “Texas has more veterans than any other state, and they deserve a senator who will fight for them the way they fight for us,” Talarico said. “That’s why I’m proud to announce my plan to support our brave men and women in uniform and bolster the systems they rely on when they return home.” The plan takes aim at the Trump Administration’s mass layoffs in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), committing to a reversal of terminations of federal veteran employees along with reclassifying VA medical care as “mandatory spending,” which would protect the funding from yearly Congressional budget fights.

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Talarico, a 37-year-old state lawmaker from Austin who taught school in San Antonio before his career in politics also proposed automatically enrolling all eligible veterans in VA health care and opposing efforts to privatize the VA system. Talarico’s policy announcement, which he will unveil officially at a Friday event in Killeen, follows six months of U.S. conflict with Iran that has killed 18 service members, including Texas teenager U.S. Army Pvt. Isabella Gonzales. Talarico pledged support for ending “forever wars,” including in Iran, and reinforcing cooperation with NATO and the European Union. Talarico faces Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the landmark Senate race, and with polls showing the Democrat surging despite Republican dominance statewide, both candidates have been seeking to coax voters to turn out in force in November. Paxton swung through San Antonio on Saturday, appearing with local conservative officials to urge voters to rally their friends and neighbors against sitting out this election. Paxton has not unveiled a veteran-specific platform yet in the Senate race.

How the $6.2 billion Nexstar-Tegna merger could remake Houston TV news

Come September, when viewers of CW39 flip to the channel for the 9 p.m. news, they'll be greeted with the unfamiliar faces of Len Cannon and Mia Gradney, the evening broadcasters on KHOU, Houston's CBS affiliate. The seemingly minor programming switch — CW39 currently leases its nightly broadcast from ABC13 — is among the first shifts in the Houston media market following the proposed merger of broadcasting giants Nexstar and Tegna, which would create one of the largest local television companies in U.S. history. In April, the Federal Communications Commission approved the $6.2 billion merger of the rival television conglomerates, paving the way for Nexstar to own 256 stations across 80% of the country's media markets, including 42 stations in Texas, covering approximately 98.1% of the state's population.

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In Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and 11 other markets, Nexstar is poised to control at least two stations. President Donald Trump has trumpeted the deal, saying it “will help knock out the Fake News because there will be more competition.” But the merger is currently held up in federal court, after a bipartisan coalition of 13 states sued to block the union on antitrust grounds. Texas did not join the suit, and the state’s Attorney General's office did not respond to a request for comment. Tegna didn't respond to requests for comment. Nexstar, which is headquartered in Irving, declined to comment on specifics of the merger, citing the ongoing litigation. Its executives have argued that the merger is essential for the survival of local television journalism, which they say is increasingly eclipsed by YouTube, streaming and other social media platforms. Andy Alford, Nexstar's president of broadcasting, described the programming shift at CW39, which it has owned since 2019, as an "arm's-length relationship between two distinct organizations." Tegna owns KHOU. At the same time, he heralded the pending merger as an opportunity to produce better journalism in Houston by combining the "talent, resources and capabilities" of KHOU and CW39. "We continue to believe that a future integration of our newsrooms is a better outcome that will create even greater opportunities to serve our community while strengthening and preserving local journalism," Alford said in a statement.

National Stories

U.S., Canada race for deal to avert Trump’s threat of 50 percent tariffs

The United States and Canada are inching closer to a deal to avert the imposition of punitive 50 percent tariffs on such Canadian products as hockey sticks, wine and cement, according to industry executives and trade specialists following the talks. Details remain fluid, and recent talks were contentious ahead of an early-Wednesday deadline. But the emerging accord could pair Canadian tariff concessions along with commitments on energy, defense and critical minerals in return for the U.S. agreeing to shelve President Donald Trump’s new Section 338 tariffs and relax levies on steel and aluminum, according to those following the talks, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential deliberations. If a deal is reached, it is expected to provide momentum for the ongoing renegotiation of the North American trade deal reached in the president’s first term. An accord would also spare the administration one more legal battle over the president’s tariff powers.

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“I’m optimistic that there’ll be a resolution in full or in part that will stave off the Section 338 tariffs. That’s the trajectory we’re on,” said Dan Ujczo, a veteran trade attorney in Columbus, Ohio. “Both sides want a deal.” Trump’s Section 338 tariffs would apply to just 5 percent of the $382 billion worth of Canadian goods that the U.S. imported last year. But if they take effect as scheduled at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, they could scupper hopes for preserving a unified North American trade bloc, industry executives said. The imposition of new tariffs, especially at a trade-chilling 50 percent, would exacerbate anti-U.S. sentiment in Canada, which is already raw after Trump’s repeated gibes about turning Canada into the 51st U.S. state. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said “all options are on the table” in terms of retaliation for any new U.S. actions. “You’ve now put the Canadian government, with these 338s, in a position where if we don’t do a comprehensive deal, we may just end up having to politically retaliate and we will be years away from having trade peace,” said Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association in Toronto.

Years of Trump support came undone in 15 minutes in an airport.

Brent Jindra, a tech salesman, voted for President Trump three times, drawn by his aggressive immigration agenda. He never imagined the crackdown would ensnare his own wife. Last month, moments after the couple got off their flight in Burbank, Calif., a young man in a brown hooded sweatshirt stopped Galina Bobreneva. “Congratulations, you’ve been chosen for secondary screening,” he told her, according to the couple’s recollection. The man was a federal agent, and after questioning Ms. Bobreneva for about 15 minutes, he led her away in handcuffs to an unmarked vehicle. “I’m only doing my job,” he said. “Everything will be OK.” So began a 16-day ordeal: a night on the floor of a basement holding cell in downtown Los Angeles; two weeks in a Mojave Desert detention center and a frantic legal effort to win her release.

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Freed on a $35,000 bond with an electronic monitor clamped to her ankle, she is now fighting to stay in the United States against federal charges of overstaying her visa. Ms. Bobreneva, who is from Russia, has a pending green card application, and her lawyer asserts that she was never out of lawful status. Her case represents a new front in President Trump’s mass deportation drive: arrests at airports of people whose visas have expired but who have active immigration cases and no criminal history. Although green-card applicants with expired visas can be detained under federal law, previous administrations did not consider them to be in the country unlawfully. But as the Trump administration seeks to nearly double its daily arrests to 2,000 people, it is detaining and attempting to deport thousands of people who believed they were following the rules. “The allure of the MAGA campaign was around illegal entries of criminals,” said Mr. Jindra, 48. “There was never a mandate for this president to turn the barrel of the gun and start going after people who legally entered.” n response to questions about Ms. Bobreneva’s case, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that she was “an illegal alien” targeted for arrest because “she overstayed her welcome in violation of our nation’s laws.”

The ‘country hicks’ who refused $26 million from an AI data center

The offer arrived out of nowhere just over one year ago. An unknown company was scooping up Kentucky farmland, and few plots were more valuable than those owned by Delsia Bare and her mother, Ida Huddleston. The money would be life-changing. From Bare’s farm, the company wanted 463 acres at $48,000 apiece. From Huddleston’s nearby piece of property, it sought 71 at $60,000 per acre. Together mother and daughter would collect $26.48 million. All they had to do was sign. At first the women agreed. Then they discovered what their farmland—the farmland that their family had cultivated for nearly 200 years—would be used for: a 2.2-gigawatt hyperscale data center. That information turned their answer into an easy one. No. “Kick rocks and don’t come back,” Bare told the representative, after successfully revoking the agreements.

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Since that $26 million refusal, Bare and Huddleston, two self-described “country hicks,” have become polarizing heroes of the rural campaign against the AI technology rewiring geopolitics, the economy—and now hometowns like theirs. If computing power is, as OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman has said, “the currency of the future,” then communities like Maysville (population: 8,700) are being asked to serve as the reserves. The industry’s arrival has brought overnight changes—in some cases, boosted tax bases and multimillion-dollar payouts for landowners, but also fears about costs, water usage, noise and, in Maysville, allowing in an unknown piece of the future. “I never thought I’d be in a battle with a data center,” said Bare. “I thought I was about as far out in the boondocks as you could get.” She and her mother are unlikely Silicon Valley adversaries. Bare, 54 years old, is God-fearing and transgressive, often in the same breath, with domestic trouble in her past. Diabetes has left her nearly blind. She calls cows to breakfast with a holler, extemporizes on the Bible in full paragraphs and keeps a collection of high-vibration crystals. Her mother is an 83-year-old churchgoing widow who walks with a cane. “One of us is blind and the other’s cripple,” said Huddleston.

Stock-picking funds are performing as poorly as ever

Investment pros say AI disruption has created a stock picker’s market. They are still struggling to pick the right ones. Just 27% of actively managed U.S. large-cap equity funds beat their benchmark passive-fund alternatives in the 12 months ended June 30, according to Morningstar data that compares returns after fees. That is actually an improvement over stock-picking funds’ long-term track record. In the decade through June, just 13% of active large-cap funds beat their benchmarks. The fees on actively managed mutual funds have been a cash cow for investment firms for decades, but years of outflows from investors moving to more tax-efficient, and often passive, exchange-traded funds are weighing heavily on the industry.

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“If you look at active equity mutual funds, they’ve had outflows every year consistently since 2015,” said Matthew Bartolini, head of SPDR Americas research at State Street Global Advisors. “That’s a losing trend only compared to the New York Jets.” In recent Wall Street marketing and outlook materials, stock picking is still all the rage. Active managers argue that higher interest rates have ended the cheap-money tide that lifted all boats, just as AI is set to mint huge winners and losers, making security selection crucial. “Conditions have shifted to favor active investing,” T. Rowe Price declared. AI means “active stock selection will be increasingly important,” says Janus Henderson. “Finally, active managers can participate and join the passive moneymakers,” Jefferies CEO Rich Handler said in a recent letter to clients. Those predictions have been correct, to an extent. Stock-market dispersion—or the divergence in performance between individual stocks in the same index—has soared to the highest level in decades this year.

ICE agents are building a DNA database. What about the Constitution?

The Trump administration has spent tens of millions of dollars building out the ability of immigration enforcement agents to collect DNA samples from detainees, a program that has so far collected genetic records from millions of people and deposited them in a federal criminal database. But experts say the effort, which represents legal territory so far uncharted by the courts, raises serious constitutional questions — and some worry it could serve as a preview to a “genetic panopticon” broadening government surveillance powers. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have for years collected DNA samples from people detained as part of their operations. But under the second Trump administration, the number of genetic records taken by federal agents has skyrocketed. According to a July report published by the Georgetown University Law School’s Center on Privacy and Technology, ICE agents captured the DNA of as many as 900,000 people last year.

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Those genetic records, the report said, are entered into a sweeping criminal justice database known as the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS. The repository, run by the FBI, contains genetic profiles contributed by federal, state and local law enforcement. As of December, more than 3 million entries in CODIS were indexed as “detainee” profiles. And it’s not just adults who are subject to DNA collection by immigration authorities. Federal agents took genetic samples from roughly 133,000 children as young as four years old — as well as from hundreds of elderly people, including a 96-year-old. Media reports have also pointed to examples of immigration agents collecting DNA samples from bystanders during immigration operations, including advocates and legal observers. The Homeland Security Department, meanwhile, is further expanding its ability to collect DNA samples from immigration detainees. Government contracting documents published Monday show ICE has spent an additional $10.1 million on “rapid DNA tests,” equipment and services it says will be used during immigration enforcement operations to “verify biological relatives.”

Top US Middle East commander visits deployed aircraft carrier

Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, visited the USS Lincoln in the Arabian Sea during a 10-day tour in the region that concluded on Saturday, U.S. Central Command said. Adm. Cooper visited the USS Lincoln in the Arabian Sea as reports have emerged of mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed aircraft carrier. The Lincoln arrived in the Middle East in January and has been supporting the U.S. war against Iran, including the blockade on Iranian ports. Its deployment has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days. Extended deployments of carriers – which can have more than 5,000 sailors and Marines on board – have raised concerns about the impact not only on the ships but on service members.

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“History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era,” Cooper said of the Lincoln strike group in a statement released Saturday. Cooper also went to Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates to meet with civilian and military leaders, according to the Central Command statement. The U.S. Navy’s blockade was in response to Iran’s asserting control over the Strait of Hormuz after the war started on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes. About one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed through the waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf before then. Talks between the U.S. and Iran have stalled while Iran is in discussions with Oman about how to manage the strait that runs between them and had been considered an international waterway.

California congressman left GOP to try to survive redistricting competition

One thing Anne Smull, a retired feedstore owner, was looking forward to on Election Day was voting for the man who currently represents her in Congress, conservative Rep. Kevin Kiley. Now she can’t. That’s because California Democrats sliced Kiley’s district six ways as payback for Republican redistricting in Texas and elsewhere. The chunk of the district that Smull, who identifies as a conservative, lives in is now grafted onto an overwhelmingly Democratic seat based in the state’s wine country. During a recent lunch at a cafe in Lincoln, a onetime agricultural town that has morphed into a bedroom community on the edge of Sacramento’s exurban sprawl, Smull was heartbroken to hear she can no longer vote for Kiley.

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“He believes in the same things I do,” Smull said. “It feels sneaky and underhanded.” Democratic voters in several other states know how Smull feels. President Donald Trump last year told GOP-controlled states to redraw their maps before this year’s midterm elections to increase the number of winnable seats for Republicans in order to help the party hold onto the U.S. House. The effort was turbocharged by a U.S. Supreme Court decision this spring that neutralized a key provision of the Voting Rights Act and cleared the way for Republicans to redraw more seats across the South that had elected Black Democrats. Democratic-leaning and heavily minority communities from Texas to Tennessee have been split into multiple congressional districts that dilute the Democratic vote by stretching deep into conservative areas. In the future, it is likely that more Republican voters in other states will go through what Smull and other conservatives in Northern California are facing. Democrats in Maryland, New York, Illinois and other strongholds have pledged to retaliate in time for the 2028 elections and split Republican-leaning districts the way their California counterparts did Kiley’s. Democrats have been hindered nationally by stricter rules against partisan line-drawing in their states, but California showed a way around that. California Democrats won voter approval last year to redraw the state’s congressional map, originally made by an independent commission, and formed five new Democratic-leaning seats.

Copyright August 16, 2026, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved