Lead Stories

Texans' top concerns: Southern border, economy and health services, poll finds

Lawmakers who this week returned to Austin to kick off the 2025 legislative session should focus on helping further secure the Southern border and on growing the economy, and they should allocate more money to programs protecting Texans' physical and mental health, according to a new poll of registered voters. The poll by the Texas Politics Project, an arm of the University of Texas, released Wednesday also found that Texans give generally positive marks to most of the best-known statewide officeholders. The Politics Project conducted the survey after the dust had settled from the November elections and before the holiday season gobbled up the public's attention in the weeks before the start of the legislative session. Jim Henson, director of the Politics Project, said border security has become something of a perennial top concern for Texans in the polls he has overseen.

That and the state of the Texas economy were among the dominant issues in the 2024 election cycle, in which all 150 seats in the Texas House and about half of those in the 31-member state Senate were on the ballot. However, two of the other issues pressed in many of the contested races — abortion for the Democrats and school vouchers on the Republican side — ranked comparatively low on the interest scale, the poll found. Henson said both issues motivate campaign donors and partisan activists, but not necessarily ordinary Texans. "These are not top-of-mind issues for most voters," Henson told the American-Statesman. "It's not to say they are not important to voters, but those concerns tend to get swamped by economic concerns." While the poll of 1,200 self-identified registered voters found wide gaps between Democrats and Republicans on border security — four times as many Republicans said it was the top issue than Democrats did — the difference became much narrower when it came to the importance of education/vouchers and abortion.

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Biden won't enforce TikTok ban, official says, leaving fate of app to Trump

President Joe Biden won’t enforce a ban on the social media app TikTok that is set to take effect a day before he leaves office on Monday, a U.S. official said Thursday, leaving its fate in the hands of President-elect Donald Trump. Congress last year, in a law signed by Biden, required that TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance divest the company by Jan. 19, a day before the presidential inauguration. The official said the outgoing administration was leaving the implementation of the law — and the potential enforcement of the ban — to Trump. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal Biden administration thinking.

Trump, who once called to ban the app, has since pledged to keep it available in the U.S., though his transition team has not said how they intend to accomplish that. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration and be granted a prime seating location on the dais as the president-elect’s national security adviser signals that the incoming administration may take steps to “keep TikTok from going dark.” Incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz on Thursday told Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” that the federal law that could ban TikTok by Sunday also “allows for an extension as long as a viable deal is on the table.” The push to save TikTok, much like the move to ban it in the U.S., has crossed partisan lines. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he spoke with Biden on Thursday to advocate for extending the deadline to ban TikTok.

Read this article at Associated Press - Subscribers Only

California fires show states’ ‘last resort’ insurance plans could be overwhelmed

In the months before thousands of Los Angeles homes went up in flames, property insurance companies dropped coverage in many neighborhoods of the city, citing the growing wildfire risks caused by climate change. As a result, a fast-growing number of California residents have switched to a state-backed “last resort” insurance plan. That plan has taken on policies covering billions of dollars in some of the neighborhoods hardest hit by the fires, which have engulfed more than 12,000 structures and prompted staggering loss projections. Some experts think the plan’s reserves won’t be enough to cover the damage. “They’re not going to have enough money to pay these claims,” said Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders, a nonprofit that advocates for insurance customers. If that happens, it will trigger an assessment on every home insurance policyholder in the state to cover the outstanding claims. It’s a mechanism available under some state-backed insurance plans — one that’s known in Florida as the “hurricane tax.” Now, for the first time, Californians may be hit with the “wildfire tax.”

Some experts fear it’s just the beginning of a vicious cycle in states across the country. As climate change increases the frequency and severity of disasters, experts predict, insurance companies will stop offering coverage to vast swaths of the country. State-backed “last resort” plans will take on an ever-growing number of the highest risk properties. And homeowners everywhere will get stuck with the bill when disaster strikes. “We’re all going to be paying for the insurance industry’s unwillingness to serve in those communities,” said Doug Heller, director of insurance with the Consumer Federation of America, a research and advocacy nonprofit. “The private companies are getting all the best risk [policies] and the public holds the bag for the worst risk.” Insurance companies have lobbied state regulators for more flexibility in setting rates and faster approvals of rate hikes. They say the market needs to keep up with the ever-growing risks caused by climate change for their business to be viable. The American Property Casualty Insurance Association did not grant an interview request by publication time. State-backed insurance plans, known as FAIR Plans or Citizens Plans, were set up starting in the 1960s to provide coverage for homeowners who couldn’t find policies on the private market. The plans are managed by state governments, but backed financially by a pool of the private insurers doing business in that state. Today, 35 states and the District of Columbia offer FAIR Plan policies to high-risk property owners. In many cases, those plans — often designed to cover a handful of outlier properties — are insuring hundreds of thousands of homes valued at billions of dollars. California, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts and North Carolina all have more than 100,000 policies insured by their state plans. Nationwide, these state-backed plans cover nearly 3 million properties — California’s alone provides nearly half a million policies — with an exposure exceeding $1 trillion. Those numbers are only likely to grow.

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American ‘oligarchy’ decried by Biden gained $1.5 trillion in his term

The very richest Americans are among the biggest winners from President Joe Biden’s time in office, despite his farewell address warning of an “oligarchy” and a “tech industrial complex” that threaten US democracy. The 100 wealthiest Americans got more than $1.5 trillion richer over the last four years, with tech tycoons including Elon Musk, Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg leading the way, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The top 0.1% gained more than $6 trillion, Federal Reserve estimates through September show. Biden warned of “a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra wealthy people,” in his speech from the White House on Wednesday. “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”

During his term, the super-rich grabbed a bigger share of a growing pie. Stock and housing markets boomed during a post-pandemic rebound that outpaced US peers. It left all the income and wealth groups measured by the Fed at least a little better-off – and American households overall some $36 trillion richer, as of September, than when Biden took office. Measured in straight dollars, that increase was slightly bigger than the one recorded under Biden’s predecessor and soon-to-be successor, Donald Trump. But inflation complicates the picture. The spike in prices over the last few years means that wealth rose faster during Trump’s term in real, purchasing-power terms, as did the median household income.Under both presidents, the top US billionaires did far better than almost everyone else. The richest 100 Americans saw their collective net worth surge 63% under Biden, according an analysis that covers the four years between his 2020 win and Trump’s re-election last November, and excludes another 8% jump since then. The 100 largest fortunes combined now exceed $4 trillion — more than the collective net worth of the poorest half of Americans, spread over 66.5 million households. The share of US wealth owned by the top 0.1%, at nearly 14%, is now at its highest point in Fed estimates dating back to the 1980s.

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State Stories

The Feds found sexual abuse of kids in Texas’ Juvenile Justice Department. Will the Legislature act?

As disturbing as it was to read, an August report by the civil protection unit under President Joe Biden offered Texas’ criminal-justice reform community a sliver of hope. It confirmed some advocates’ pressing concerns. The Texas Juvenile Justice Department “uses excessive force on children” and “fails to prevent staff from sexually abusing children,” the 73-page assessment from the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division said. “Body-worn camera video reportedly showed one of the staff slamming a child’s head into a brick pillar, knocking him unconscious,” said one section. “Our review of hundreds of investigation reports from the Office of Inspector General shows a pervasive atmosphere of sexual abuse, grooming, and lack of staff accountability and training” at the department, where around 800 children from the ages of 10 to 18 are housed in Texas, added another. In August, the weight of the federal government loomed large. A lawsuit against the state was possible, should Texas refuse to address the “very severe and significant violations,” Kristen Clarke, the Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said at the time.

Then, the election happened. As President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration nears, advocates are waiting to see if his administration will pressure TJJD to correct the failings found in the report. And have turned their sights to another avenue of potential reform: the freshly convened 89th Texas Legislature. The federal report was the culmination of a three-year deep dive into TJJD’s five facilities and was launched after two advocacy groups lodged complaints about the conditions within the lockups. The department’s governing board has since largely dismissed the findings. “I’m going to tell you — just from my personal experience — I don’t think it’s completely accurate,” former TJJD board chairman Scott Matthew said three weeks after the report was released, according to an archived video of the meeting. “I’ll leave it at that.” The threats of violence, another department official insisted, come from the children. “To provide some contrast, most of the investigations we do in (the office of the inspector general) are actually juvenile offenders assaulting our staff to varying degrees of injury and severity,” TJJD OIG Chief Daniel Guajardo told the board. “I don’t have any examples or evidence to present to the board that youth are experiencing any beatings while they’re confined at TJJD at this time.”

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Border business leaders show unity amid threats of tariffs, trade pact review

Business leaders from both sides of the border met Wednesday in El Paso. It was a show of unity as a new U.S. president threatens tariffs and a vital trade pact faces review in little more than a year. “This is very opportune because of the moment we are living in,” Juarez Mayor Cruz Perez Cuellar said. “We want to send a clear message that we want to continue working as a team, that the interests of both countries are totally compatible.” Added El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson: “We are going as a group to dispel any myths, any rumors about this region […] We are going to show not only the United States but the world how important El Paso and Juarez are.”

Donald Trump takes office on Monday following a presidential campaign in which he vowed to rein in illegal immigration. He wants Mexico to stop letting through millions of migrants who arrive at the U.S. border every year or else slap a 25 percent tariff on Mexican exports. The problem is many of those exports come from U.S. companies with assembly operations in Mexico. And thousands of trucking, warehousing, logistics and customs broker jobs in the United States depend on those exports. “The rest of the country needs to know this (El Paso-Juarez) corridor is the second largest in Texas,” said El Paso County Commissioner Sergio Coronado. “It is very important we keep this trade collaboration and make it possible for both sides to have the goods go back and forth. […] Half the products that come through here go east of Texas. So, it’s not just Texas and border communities that benefit; it’s the entire country.”

Read this article at Border Report - Subscribers Only

Texas missionaries bring food, hope to migrants in Mexican border towns

The well-worn white van owned by West Side Baptist Church has made dozens of trips to South Texas and across the border to Mexico over the past few years. On Wednesday, it was filled with red upholstered chairs, donated clothes and toys to be given to migrant shelters and for a children’s ministry that missionaries from that church are starting in the Mexican border town of Reynosa. Pastor Jim Howard, who has been coming to the border for 35 years, brought three parishioners on the 12-hour drive from his church in Atlanta, Texas, to do missionary work south of the border this week. For years he has brushed off criticisms about why he helps the asylum-seekers, but admits that lately the outcries are getting louder and louder. “Some of them think they’re taking their jobs up here,” Howard said as he stopped at the McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge to talk with Border Report before crossing into Reynosa.

“They just can’t understand anyone who would want to come from up there down here to help people down here, especially if they’re migrants and from other countries. So I do get pushback. And of course, you know, I tell them this, I’m am a man of the Lord, and I’m going to do what He tells me to,” he said. “And I’m going to keep coming.” He says he is worried for the asylum-seekers as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office on Jan. 20 with a promise of mass deportations from the United States. He says those waiting south of the border are uncertain whether they’ll get an opportunity to claim asylum in the U.S., and whether the CBP One app, which allows them to make asylum appointments, will even be operational. “They’re afraid,” Howard said. “Donald Trump has guaranteed that some of them are going back across the border. So they’re very concerned. They don’t know what’s going to happen, so they’re concerned about it. We try to stabilize them and say, ‘Look, you just have to trust the Lord. He’s going to end you up somewhere. So just, just be calm and trust Him.'”

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Jasmine Crockett, John Cornyn launch bid to name Dallas VA after Eddie Bernice Johnson

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, are teaming up in a bipartisan effort to name the Dallas VA Medical Center after former U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, who died at the end of 2023. After receiving her nursing certificate, Johnson was hired sight unseen at Dallas’ VA hospital. She later recounted the overt racism she experienced at the hospital, where officials were shocked to discover she was Black. The discrimination almost drove her to quit, but she stuck with it and worked her way up to chief psychiatric nurse, the first African American to hold that position at the hospital. Johnson was the first registered nurse elected to Congress and the first Black woman to chair the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.

Crockett, with Johnson’s endorsement, was elected in 2022 to the Dallas-based seat Johnson represented for 30 years. “Throughout her 30 years of service to the people of North Texas, Congresswoman Johnson was guided by her service-driven heart and compassion for Texans in need — the same qualities that fueled her work as Chief Psychiatric Nurse at the Dallas Veterans Administration Hospital for nearly two decades,” Crockett said in a news release. “Congresswoman Johnson never forgot the servicemen and women she treated there.” In the release, Cornyn described Johnson as a trailblazer and longtime advocate for veterans. “This legislation to rename the VA Medical Center in Dallas in Congresswoman Johnson’s honor — nearly 70 years after she was hired as a nurse at this very hospital — would ensure her legacy of service is forever preserved,” Cornyn said. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also supports the renaming, along with U.S. Reps. Al Green, D-Houston; Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio; Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo; Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston; Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso; and Lance Gooden, R-Terrell.

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Mavs midseason report card: Injuries, illness, inconsistency plague first half of season

The Dallas Mavericks have limped their way to the halfway point of the regular season. If there’s any word to describe the first 41 games for the defending Western Conference champions, it’s wounded. None of the team’s key players have been exempt from injury, including Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington Jr., Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford. A season defined by injury, illness and inconsistent lineups has the Mavericks seventh in the Western Conference with a 22-19 record following Wednesday’s controversial loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. The play-in window is disappointing positioning for the Mavericks, who entered the season with championship expectations following an NBA Finals loss to the Boston Celtics. The midway point of the season offers an opportunity to reflect on performances and distribute assessments of the roster and coaching staff. Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie was asked about the state of the team following Wednesday’s loss.

“You can’t really give us a grade,” Dinwiddie said. “I know fans are probably up and down every game right now. But at the end of the day, we have lofty goals when healthy. ... It’s an incomplete grade until you get healthy and figure out which nine [players], what role are they going to have and string 20 games together. Then you know what you have.” Spencer Dinwiddie: B-. Dinwiddie signed with the Mavericks with the understanding that there could be nights when he doesn’t play, but there would also be games when the team needs his veteran leadership at the point guard spot. The latter has been the case this season as the Mavericks have relied on him probably more than they anticipated due to injuries. Dinwiddie ranks fourth on the team in total minutes behind Washington, Irving and Thompson. He’s averaging 9.9 points per game as the lead guard off the bench, but he’s also started 10 games in place of Irving or Doncic. His field goal efficiency at 38% is his lowest since the 2020-21 season and there are times where he’s guilty of falling in love with the step back 3 in end-of-shot-clock situations, which he refers to as “grenades,” but Dinwiddie has proven that he can set the table for others and finish at the rim. Luka Doncic: A-. There were lofty expectations for Doncic to pick up where he left off after coming off the best season of his career. A left calf injury took him out of training camp and preseason, delaying the chemistry-building process with his new teammates. He had a slow start by his own standards, especially from beyond the arc, but he resumed his MVP-caliber play following a 10-day sabbatical to rest a wrist injury. However, another injury to the same calf on Christmas day took Doncic out of the lineup indefinitely, ruining his chances for MVP and snapping his streak of five consecutive appearances on the All-NBA First Team. It’s been an uphill battle for the Mavericks without him over the last three weeks. When Doncic is healthy, the Mavericks are a force to be reckoned with and can compete with the league’s best.

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Why doesn’t Texas have high-speed rail? Will we ever?

If Texas is anything, it’s big. Drive around the state, like most of us do, and it takes forever to get anywhere — it’s even become a point of pride. We laugh at East Coasters who complain about three and four-hour drives, which are a lunch trip for us. But, despite our bravado, the fact is that it’s 2025, and we’re still mostly driving around in cars, just like our parents and grandparents did. While we may look hungrily at countries like Japan and China, with their futuristic bullet trains, the question remains: Why doesn’t Texas have something like that? Or something even in the same galaxy? In November, Texas state Rep. John Bucy, a Democrat from Austin, proposed legislation to develop a high-speed rail line connecting Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio along the Interstate 35 corridor. Bucy introduced two bills: one requiring the Texas Department of Transportation to establish partnerships for planning the rail and another enabling state highway funds for transit projects.

But with all due respect to Bucy, his bill is probably going nowhere. (Such is the life of Democratic bills in Texas, and such has been the case for all other high-speed rail legislation in our state history.) The answer to why Texas doesn’t have high-speed rail is complicated — a confluence of political, economic, and cultural factors. Entrenched lobbying interests, high costs, and a deeply ingrained car culture have stymied efforts to develop rail infrastructure. But as Texas continues to grow, the demand for sustainable and efficient transportation solutions will only grow. Of course, high-speed rail would also affect competitors in the transportation industry, so interested parties have made their positions pretty clear — both through public arguments and through lobbying. In the 1990s, Southwest Airlines actively opposed the development of a high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston, which would have been expanded to Austin and San Antonio, Chron.com reported. The airline feared losing passengers to the proposed rail system, which targeted the same short-haul market that Southwest relied on. The rail system, Texas TGV, planned to use trains capable of travelling 200 miles per hour but failed due to financing challenges and opposition from influential figures, many of whom were moved by Southwest’s lobbying. Southwest argued publicly that its concern was about preventing taxpayer-funded bailouts for the project. However, industry analyses suggested the airline’s motivation was protecting its market share. Predictions indicated the rail system could divert 60% of local air passengers, potentially forcing Southwest to increase fares or cut routes. “In the past in Texas, when high speed rail has come up as a possibility, airlines have pushed back against this, fearing competition,” Chandra Bhat, a University of Texas professor of engineering, told The Barbed Wire. “And, with their clout, they have successfully thwarted high speed rail possibilities by using their lobbying influence in the state legislature.”

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Steven Tu and Domenic Canonico: Texas law protects religious services. That includes sacred trees.

(Steven Tu is a law student in Notre Dame Law School’s Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic. Domenic Canonico is an attorney in the clinic. The Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of Texas on behalf of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers and Carol Logan, in support of the appellants, Gary Perez and Matilde Torres.) Five years ago this winter, the COVID-19 pandemic upended the world, and governments responded by restricting large swaths of public life. Since then, Americans have grappled with that experience, working to decide how we should respond to similar situations in the future. For their part, Texans have already given a partial answer: in 2021, they amended the Texas Constitution to stop the government from “prohibit[ing] or limit[ing] religious services.” The Supreme Court of Texas is currently considering a case that tests whether that promise will ring true for people of all faiths, or only for some. For millennia, local Indigenous peoples have regarded a bend in the San Antonio River (known as Yanaguana) as sacred ground. The river bend mirrors the constellation Eridanus, symbolizing a bridge between the physical and spiritual worlds. The surrounding trees are home to cormorants, creatures central to the Coahuiltecan creation story, which tells of a cormorant spirit whose flight brought life to the San Antonio region. The site’s spiritual ecology makes it irreplaceable for believers. Today, the sacred site lies within San Antonio’s Brackenridge Park.

And it’s threatened by a construction project the City of San Antonio is pursuing. To renovate a retaining wall next to the river, the City wants to remove nearly 70 of the area’s 83 sacred trees and is preventing cormorants from nesting there. Once completed, these actions will make it impossible for Native Americans to worship there. Yet City officials never considered less destructive alternatives, refusing to reconsider their design because it “would take time and money.” Unfortunately, the City’s dismissive attitude is another episode in our nation’s long history of disregard for Native American sacred sites. Despite our nation’s commitment to religious freedom, Indigenous spiritual practices often haven’t received equal respect. For instance, in Arizona, the Apache sacred site Oak Flat is at risk of being obliterated by a government-enabled mining operation that would transform the land into a massive crater. Similarly, the Karankawa, once a prominent tribe in Texas, have been driven to near extinction, leaving their sacred sites vulnerable to government-backed development. This case is more of the same. But two members of the Lipan-Apache Native American Church are working to protect their rights. They’ve sued the City to stop it from needlessly destroying the sacred site. The case, Perez v. City of San Antonio, is now before the Supreme Court of Texas, and the survival of their spiritual practices may depend on how the court interprets the constitutional amendment ratified in the wake of the pandemic.

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Controversial gender policy approved by Cy-Fair ISD trustees without discussion

Despite heavy opposition at Thursday’s board meeting, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD trustees voted 5-1 to approve the first reading of a policy that would force staff to “out” transgender or nonbinary students if they request to use a different name or pronoun at school. The policy passed with only comments from the lone dissenting trustee, Julie Hinaman, who brought up myriad concerns about the policy and asked for changes. The other five trustees did not share thoughts on the policy at Thursday’s meeting, despite over 30 public speakers asking for clarity and urging trustees to vote against it. Board President Scott Henry was absent. “To listen to all of those impassioned students, current and former teachers, educators, parents in this district, their concerns about the parents' rights and responsibility policy, and then listen to trustee Hinaman’s impassioned analysis of the shortcomings of that policy, and then immediately turn around and pass it without further discussion ... It's cold,” said parent Christian Kimbell.

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HISD school board enacts stricter limits on Miles’ changes to magnet programs

Houston ISD’s Board of Managers voted Thursday to finalize stricter limits on when Superintendent Mike Miles can make major changes to the district’s magnet programs. The updated constraint states Miles can not make significant changes to specialized school programs without conducting a research-based analysis of the results of stakeholder engagement and related studies. He also must share the projected impact of any potential changes to student outcome goals, student enrollment and the budget with the school board and community. The revised policy expands the language in one of the initial constraints that board members had placed on Miles in November 2023. The other two constraints say he cannot allow the number of multi-year D- or F-rated campuses to increase or oversee negative impacts to the implementation of Individual Education Plans for students.

The board added a new definition of “significant changes,” clarifying that the constraint would apply to any program change that affects more than 30% of students in a magnet program or school. It would also include changes that apply to more than 10% of students in any grade level, or any other group that the board and superintendent agree is significant. “The real reason that we came to these conclusions was we did some actual testing amongst ourselves,” HISD board president Audrey Momanaee said. “‘Well, would this change actually trigger a reporting obligation on the administration? Do we want that? Is that appropriate? And we thought collectively that these numbers work.” It also defines “specialized programming” as a combined set of courses or experiences that include enrichment and advancement opportunities for students and are different from other programs at traditional neighborhood schools, such as language and cultural programs or college and career advancement programs. In a separate vote, the board approved a separate policy change that would allow Miles to make “minor” modifications to magnet programs in New Education System schools without having to conduct a research-based analysis.

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Bombshells from Turkey Leg Hut owner Nakia Holmes' interview with Essence

Nakia Holmes broke her silence in an interview with Essence magazine after her restaurant Turkey Leg Hut closed, following a split with her husband Lyndell Price, a failed health inspection and a bankruptcy filing. Holmes detailed the start of her relationship and the business, all the way to the end and what the future could hold for her. Here are five things we learned from the interview. Holmes said her divorce should be finalized this month. In the interview, she said she had been “checked out of the relationship” years before actually filing for divorce. She first announced her split from Price in an Instagram post in November 2023. As a self-described introvert, she said this was difficult for her to do. She said she fired him from the business shortly after.

Holmes, who married Price in 2015, alleged that Price was “guilty of cruelty” toward her in their marriage, according to court records reviewed by the Chronicle. Holmes made an array of allegations in an affidavit seeking a temporary restraining order in June 2023. She alleged that Price had recently "committed family violence," and taken her car keys and cash from the Turkey Leg Hut, according to court records. When asked why she didn't leave him sooner, she said she was wired to stick through tough times. Her parents had been married for more than 47 years and her grandparents 60 years. She told the magazine Price was the funny guy making people laugh at the hair salon. He asked the hair salon owner to pass her his number. Holmes didn't think anything of it but then they kept seeing each other around Almeda. He approached her at a bar, and his "charm was impossible to ignore," she said. In 2015, Holmes and Price created a hit selling turkey legs outside the Houston rodeo. In December of 2016, Price went to federal prison for his role in an IRS fraud scheme, just months before they were supposed to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

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Driver in Texas migrant smuggling run where 53 people died pleads guilty

A Texas truck driver charged in the deaths of 53 migrants who rode in a sweltering tractor-trailer with no air conditioning pleaded guilty Thursday over the 2022 tragedy that became the nation’s deadliest smuggling attempt across the U.S.-Mexico border. Homero Zamorano Jr. pleaded guilty in federal court in San Antonio to one count of conspiracy to transport aliens resulting in death, causing serious bodily injury, and placing lives in jeopardy; one count of transportation of aliens resulting in death; and one count of transportation of aliens resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy. The 48-year-old could face a maximum sentence of life in prison, the Justice Department announced. Zamorano is scheduled to be sentenced on April 24.

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Keller ISD residents tell board they oppose district split

Residents in the Keller school district who spoke at a special school board meeting Jan. 16 overwhelmingly opposed a proposal to split the district in two. Concerns from some of the 121 who signed up to speak included questions over how the district’s buildings, resources, funding and student body would be divided. Many also expressed anger at a lack of transparency on the part of the board in the process. Many described the split as a move to cut out students who “live on the wrong side of the tracks,” referring to the rail line along Denton Highway that serves as the border between Keller and Fort Worth, saying the board intended to racially segregate schools in the district. They also said they were “blindsided” by how the idea was made public.

Two school board trustees said on social media on Jan. 9 that they did not know about the plan until it was discussed during a closed session by three of the colleagues at a Dec. 19 meeting. Fort Worth city council member Charles Lauersdorf told the Star-Telegram last week that he spoke to a school board member who said members didn’t want to disclose the plan publicly because they didn’t want to create a public outcry before discussing it. The lack of transparency was the source of anger for many who came to speak. “Stop the secrecy,” said Tamara Masters, a Fort Worth resident, retired Keller ISD teacher and regional director of the United Educators Association. “I come before you today with a simple letter to request please stop all this drama. Start valuing the very people who make the district work for teachers, your staff, and the students they serve. It’s deeply alarming that you’re moving forward with a plan to abolish a significant portion of the district.”

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County Stories

Collin County deputy election administrator tapped to lead office

Collin County’s election commission on Thursday appointed the next administrator. Kaleb Breaux has been Collin County’s deputy elections administrator since January 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile. He also worked at the county’s election office as a voter registration coordinator from February 2020 to December 2022. Breaux will fill the position left by Bruce Sherbet, who retired late last year after nine years leading the county’s election office and more than 40 years of experience in election administration. “I’m super thankful and happy to be part of what’s going on in Collin County,” Breaux said after the elections commission announced his appointment.

Collin County’s election commission interviewed four candidates Thursday, including Troy Havard, who has been an assistant election administrator for Tarrant County. The election commission also interviewed Chris O’Reilly, who has experience in the restaurant industry, and Stephani Reazor, a nurse who has experience as a poll watcher and canvassed in previous elections. Collin County’s election commission is responsible for appointing the administrator and consists of the county judge, the county’s tax assessor-collector, the county clerk and the chairs of the county’s Republican and Democratic parties. Following the interviews, which were conducted behind closed doors in executive session, Shelby Williams, chair of the Collin County Republican Party, made the motion to appoint Breaux.

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City Stories

HISD ends policy that charged late parents $1 a minute at north Houston elementary school

Houston ISD said it had taken "corrective action" to end a policy that charged fees to families for late student pick up at Herrera Elementary School. In forms given to the Chronicle, the north Houston elementary school appeared to charge parents up to $62 for picking up students more than 30 minutes late. The school, which dismisses at 3 p.m., said it charged families $1 per minute after 3:30 p.m., citing its handbook. Failure to pay could affect students' ability to participate in field trips and "school-wide special events," according to the form.

Hector Mireles, who serves as president of Texas Support Personnel Employees Local 1, said he learned about the measure while eating at a restaurant, where the owner said his employee had to leave early because of Herrera's policy. At first Mireles did not believe it, but another customer corroborated the claim. Mireles said he tried to call the district, but they did not return a call. "And you got to understand, this is a Title I school that serves underprivileged students," Mireles said, referring to the school receiving resources to serve a high concentration of low-income families. "So this creates a financial hardship for the struggling families to choose if they want to pay cash fine for their school, or keep the lights on at home, or put food on their table."

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National Stories

Trump picks a jet-setting pal of Elon Musk to go get Greenland

Ken Howery is a quiet, unassuming tech investor who prioritizes discretion. And yet, he has ended up in the middle of two of the noisiest story lines of the incoming Trump administration. One is the expanding ambition of Elon Musk, Mr. Howery’s close friend and fellow party-scene fixture since the two helped run PayPal 25 years ago. The other is the expansionist ambition of Mr. Musk’s boss, President-elect Donald J. Trump, who has set his sights on buying Greenland, the world’s largest island. As Mr. Trump’s pick for ambassador to Denmark, Mr. Howery is expected to be central to what Mr. Trump hopes will be a real-estate deal of epic proportions. The only hitch is that Denmark, which counts Greenland as its autonomous territory, says the island is not for sale. Whether he likes it or not, Mr. Howery, a globe-trotter known for his taste for adventure and elaborate party planning, is likely to find himself in the middle of a geopolitical tempest.

Mr. Trump has been explicit about his expectations for his new ambassador filling a once-sleepy post. When he announced Mr. Howery for the role, which requires Senate confirmation, he reiterated his designs on Greenland for the first time since winning the presidency. “For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social late last year. “Ken will do a wonderful job in representing the interests of the United States.” Thanking Mr. Trump on X, Mr. Howery mentioned not just the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen but also the U.S. Consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, saying he was eager to “deepen the bonds between our countries.” On cue, Mr. Musk chimed in: “Congrats! Help America gain Greenland.” Mr. Howery’s mission is an example of what awaits the crop of Silicon Valley donors who swarmed to Mr. Trump during the campaign and now intend to follow him into public office. While many are seasoned deal-makers, their private sector experience may only go so far in serving the unpredictable Mr. Trump. Mr. Howery did not respond to requests for comment. In private conversations, friends say he holds traditional conservative views and is hardly a Trump die-hard. He is drawn to diplomatic roles not out of ideology but for the overseas experience, they said. He is expected to be in Washington this week, hosting a rooftop cocktail reception opening the inauguration weekend on Friday, according to a copy of the invitation.

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Biden sets record for most pardons and commutations with new round of clemency for nonviolent drug offenders

US President Joe Biden speaks to the press before participating in a briefing regarding the ongoing wildfire season response and Federal efforts to reduce wildfire risk, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on September 17, 2024. President Joe Biden said Friday he is commuting the sentences of more than 2,000 people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses, cementing his legacy as the president who has issued the most individual pardons and commutations in U.S. history. Biden said in a statement that commuting the nearly 2,500 sentences would help “equalize” sentencing disparities. “Today’s clemency action provides relief for individuals who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, as well as outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes,” he said.

“This action is an important step toward righting historic wrongs, correcting sentencing disparities, and providing deserving individuals the opportunity to return to their families and communities after spending far too much time behind bars,” he added. “With this action, I have now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in U.S. history,” Biden said. Almost two dozen congressional Democrats last month urged Biden to commute the sentences of people affected by the sentencing disparities, arguing that harsher penalties for crack “caused disproportionate harm to communities of color.” Two laws dramatically shifted sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine offenses over the past 15 years. The Fair Sentencing Act, which was signed into law in 2010, lowered the statutory penalties for crack cocaine and tossed out the mandatory minimum sentence for possessing it. The First Step Act, which became law in 2018, made it possible to apply the reduced penalties to sentences for crack offenses that predated the 2010 law.

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Kash Patel has vowed retribution. As FBI director, he could do it.

If Kash Patel has his way, he has written, the FBI’s top ranks will be fired. The bureau’s headquarters in downtown Washington will be emptied out and shuttered, and its authority will be “dramatically limited and refocused,” he wrote in his 2023 book. President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Patel to lead the FBI has set off spasms of alarm among many national security veterans, law enforcement officials and others who have worked with him. The former prosecutor and national security aide appears to have secured the support of at least some key Republican senators, but critics say Patel lacks the record and temperament needed to run the country’s premier law enforcement agency. They point to his lack of experience as well as his history of remarks attacking Trump opponents and threatening to punish perceived foes. “The idea that he is going to become the FBI director is appalling,” said Charles Kupperman, who was deputy national security adviser in the previous Trump White House while Patel worked as an aide to the National Security Council. “His legal career is modest at best. His ideas are ludicrous.”

Patel’s record is light on managing a large workforce and heavy on bombastic rhetoric and fervent loyalty to Trump, according to a review of his published writing and interviews with more than 20 people who have worked with him over the years. He also has at times overstated his achievements. His detractors, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss information they were not authorized to disclose, said they fear Patel would weaponize an agency with sweeping powers and misuse sensitive intelligence. Some Republicans have hailed the pick, however, saying that if confirmed Patel would bring needed changes to an agency they think has become too politicized. Trump, for one, called him “the most qualified” person ever tapped to lead the FBI. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) said: “If you’re going to clean up the FBI … Kash is the perfect person.” Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for attorney general, has also backed Patel for the FBI job. During the first day of Bondi’s confirmation hearing Wednesday on Capitol Hill, Democratic senators repeatedly grilled her about the FBI nominee. “I have known Kash, and I believe that Kash is the right person at this time for this job,” Bondi said. She also highlighted the chain of command. “Mr. Patel would fall under me and the Department of Justice,” Bondi said, adding that she would make sure “all laws are followed, and so will he.” Robert O’Brien, Trump’s last national security adviser, said in an interview that Patel had laudable accomplishments — including working to win the release of Americans held hostage overseas — “but never made a big deal about it.”

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Zeldin, HUD pick Eric Scott Turner testify as part of a busy day of confirmation hearings

Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, who is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, told senators Thursday that climate change is real but that other nations are not doing enough to cut their carbon emissions. Mr. Zeldin, a Republican from New York, acknowledged concerns about heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide and methane, and rising sea levels. He said emissions have decreased in the U.S. in recent decades and other superpowers should make an effort, an allusion to nations such as China and India. “I believe that climate change is real,” Mr. Zeldin told Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent, during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

But he defended his future boss, Mr. Trump, saying the president-elect’s comments about climate change being a hoax were related to policy solutions that were unfair to the U.S. “I think that he’s concerned about the economic costs of some policies,” Mr. Zeldin said. More broadly, Mr. Zeldin said it would be possible to protect the environment without stifling economic opportunity. “We can and we must protect our precious environment without suffocating the economy,” he said. Senators focused on the climate and parochial matters in their states during the hearing, without the type of bitter exchanges about personal character that other nominees faced. The congenial tone signaled Mr. Zeldin has a solid path toward confirmation in the GOP-controlled Senate. Eric Scott Turner appeared before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee for his nomination as leader of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Turner, a 52-year-old who also served in the first Trump administration, is a former player in the NFL and a professional mentor, pastor and former Texas House member. HUD is charged with addressing the nation’s housing needs and fair housing laws, and oversees housing for the poorest Americans. Sen. Bernie Moreno, Ohio Republican, asked how the number of unauthorized immigrants has affected housing affordability. Mr. Turner called it “a great burden” on HUD as an agency, especially as a homelessness issue.

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David Lynch, who directed off-kilter classics, dies at 78

Director David Lynch has died. His sinister, surreal vision of America made him a leading counterculture auteur in the 1980s and 1990s, with movies such as Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart and Mulholland Drive, as well as the groundbreaking television series he co-created with Mark Frost, Twin Peaks. Lynch's family shared the news of his death on Thursday in a Facebook post. He announced in 2024 he would no longer leave his home after a diagnosis of emphysema from a lifetime of smoking, and concerns about catching COVID-19. Born in Missoula, Mont., in 1946, Lynch spent much of his childhood in Boise, Idaho. For the rest of his life, Lynch looked as if he had stepped out of the 1950s, with a messy pompadour of silver hair and simple outfits of slacks and white dress shirts, buttoned all the way to the top.

In his 2018 memoir, Room to Dream, Lynch said he grew up in "a super happy household" with tremendous freedom. But he recalled a haunting memory about riding bikes at night with his brother on a small, quiet street, when a naked woman emerged out of nowhere with a bloodied mouth. She walked toward the boys in a daze and sat down on the curb. That image could come straight from one of Lynch's movies. Over the course of his life, he created dozens of works ranging from full-length films to television series to short animation to commercials for luxury perfumes. His first feature, from 1977, was a black-and-white surreal horror movie. Eraserhead centers on a stressed-out man who finds himself thrust into fatherhood, with a sickly newborn who barely resembles a human child. Lynch started making it while in his mid-20s, as a student at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. The film initially got mixed reviews but became a stealth hit in late-night movie houses.

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Fact-check: Did California Gov. Gavin Newsom cut $100 million in fire prevention?

As wildfires caused at least two dozen deaths and billions of dollars in damages, some social media users accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom of slashing money to prevent fires. Many posts including by Fox News stated Newsom cut about $100 million in fire prevention from the state’s budget months before the Los Angeles fires. Some of the posts drew information from a Jan. 10 Newsweek article that said Newsom signed a budget in June that cut funding for wildfire and forest resilience by $101 million. California Assembly Republicans made similar statements about fire prevention cuts citing information from the state budget. President-elect Donald Trump posted an article by Breitbart that repeated the $100 million claim, citing Newsweek.

Newsom said it was a "ridiculous lie" that he cut $100 million, a retort he included on his new website, California Fire Facts. But the website didn’t dissect the $100 million; it focused on the big picture of the budget during his tenure, asserting that the budget had grown for California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Cal Fire. Newsom is right that the budget increased. But it’s not a lie that money (actually more than $100 million) was cut. In 2021 and 2022, California had a budget surplus. The state dedicated an additional $16.3 billion to address issues ranging from droughts and sustainable agriculture to wildfires and extreme heat, said Gokce Sencan, a research associate at the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan think tank. As part of that increase, the state allocated $2.8 billion toward wildfires and improving forest health. However, after 2023 and 2024 budget deficits, the state shaved that amount by $191 million ($47 million in 2023, $144 million in 2024). The budget deficit was tens of billions of dollars. Cal Fire, which oversees about 31 million acres, responds to hazards and disasters, including fires. The department in 2024-25 has about a $4.2 billion budget. (Most of the money comes from state funds, but it also includes reimbursements from local departments and the federal government.)

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Lead Stories

In farewell speech, Biden warns an 'oligarchy' in America is threatening democracy

President Joe Biden's farewell address Wednesday came with a series of warnings for the future of the country, among them that a rising “oligarchy taking shape” threatens American democracy. "Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead," Biden said. Biden’s comments, delivered from the Oval Office, seemed clearly aimed at billionaire Elon Musk, who has been at the side of President-elect Donald Trump since his election win, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Biden recalled former President Dwight Eisenhower's warning against a "military-industrial complex" in which he used his 1961 farewell address to caution against "the potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power."

"Six decades later, I'm equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex," Biden said. "It could pose real dangers for our country as well." Biden also launched into a sharp criticism of social media platforms, arguing they are neglecting to fact-check. "Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit," he said, appearing to refer to Meta’s ending its fact-checking program. Biden warned of the potential perils of artificial intelligence while calling it "the most consequential technology of our time." "Nothing offers more profound possibilities and risks for our economy and our security, our society," he said. Biden continued, arguing that without safeguards, AI could "spawn new threats to our rights, our way of life, to our privacy, how we work and how we protect our nation." Biden also seemed to swipe at his successor in arguing that the Constitution must be amended to "make clear that no president" is "immune from the crimes that he or she commits while in office." A constitutional amendment would require deep support and bipartisanship at both the federal and state levels, making it unlikely in the near term.

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Former Austin developer Nate Paul pleads guilty to federal financial crime

Austin real estate investor Nate Paul on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a charge of making false statements to a financial institution as part of a deal with prosecutors, ending a six-year legal saga. All other counts against Paul will be dropped under the terms of the agreement. He faces up to six months in prison. Paul will be sentenced in the coming weeks, after a federal presentencing investigation. The deal ends a case that first drew public attention in 2019 when federal officials raided former developer Paul's home and the offices of his World Class Holdings in downtown Austin. Just two years before that, Paul had been featured in a Forbes article with the headline, "The 30-year-old Texas tycoon who is building a real estate empire."

Paul decried the raids as improper, and he later turned to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for help. Paxton's relationship with Paul — and whether the attorney general abused his office to help him — became the center of allegations that led to 2023 impeachment effort against Paxton in the Legislature. Paul was charged with a dozen federal financial crimes in 2023, with an eight-count indictment landing in June and another four-count indictment in November. Federal investigators accused Paul of making false statements to financial institutions in Ireland, New York, Connecticut and Texas by underreporting his total liabilities and overreporting his cash. His deceit, they say, influenced mortgage lenders' decisions to give Paul loans to buy commercial properties. His lawyers have repeatedly argued that federal prosecutors improperly obtained evidence during the raids that they planned to use against their client at trial, including documents that should be protected under attorney-client privilege.

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Biden-Trump teamwork advanced Gaza ceasefire, says outgoing US ambassador to Israel

Significant progress was made on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal once the administrations of Joe Biden and Donald Trump began working hand in hand to make the case for urgency, outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew told Reuters. Lew's 15 months as President Biden's envoy overlapped with a war that began on Oct. 7, 2023, with a Palestinian Hamas attack on Israel followed by an Israeli assault on Gaza. He spoke on Tuesday before a deal was reached. Lew, 69, will hand over the ambassador's role to Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor, when Trump returns to the White House on Monday. He gave Reuters interviews in December and on Tuesday to mark the end of his tenure.

A Washington veteran and a Democrat, Lew said the bipartisan U.S. cooperation began right after the Republican Trump's election as president two months ago. Lew said U.S. national interests were best served by what he called a "warm handoff" and a constructive transition. "I think a lot of progress has been made. The fact that you have an outgoing and an incoming administration that have worked hand in hand to make the case for urgency, I think, has been noticed by all parties," Lew said. Lew credited Biden's significant time commitment to the deal as his term neared an end and welcomed the engagement of Trump, who had said there would be "hell to pay" unless Hamas freed the hostages before he takes over from Biden on Jan. 20. "The fact that he (Biden) and the president-elect use different language in this case may create constructive tension because they have the same goal, and he (Trump) has used language that makes people say, 'What's going to happen next?' If we were working at cross-purposes, it would be perhaps a different situation. But we're not. There's no daylight between what we're trying to accomplish," Lew said.

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Justice Department could investigate Texas GLO's handling of Harvey recovery funds

A complaint stemming from the Texas General Land Office’s allocation of Harvey disaster recovery funds, which originally awarded no money to Houston or Harris County from a $1 billion distribution, has been escalated to the Civil Rights division of the Department of Justice. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development asked the Justice Department on Wednesday to take action against the GLO after finding that it had violated the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against Black and Hispanic residents when it designed a competition to allocate the relief money. HUD’s review of the GLO’s funding process revealed that the state agency had engaged in a pattern of “discriminatory actions based on race and national origin,” wrote Ayelet Weiss, assistant general counsel for HUD’s Office of Fair Housing Enforcement, in a letter to the Justice Department.

In a separate letter sent to state officials, HUD told the GLO that it knowingly denied communities critical funding, and “compounded the harm” that residents suffered from Hurricane Harvey. The new correspondence affirmed HUD's previous finding of descrimination in 2022 against the GLO. At that time, the Justice Department said it would defer consideration of the matter until HUD wrapped up its fair housing investigation. In a statement, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said "political activists" embedded in HUD by the Biden administration have made false discrimination claims against the GLO for years. "Last time HUD sent this political stunt to the DOJ, the fake claims were rejected for lacking substance – in less than 48 hours," Buckingham said. "The fact is, the HUD-approved plan overwhelmingly benefited minorities and there simply was no discrimination. No other state has performed as efficiently and effectively as Texas in providing disaster recovery and mitigation funding to communities and residents. Our only goal is to serve those we are supposed to serve and do it well." Former mayor and now U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner said Wednesday that while he was glad the findings were being sent to the Justice Department, he was frustrated by the amount of time it took to hold the GLO accountable. Houston residents whose lives were devastated by Harvey should have received federal aid years ago, Turner said, and instead the GLO diverted those funds to communities in lesser need.

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State Stories

Border bills welcome 89th Texas Legislature

Before the Texas’s 89th Legislature began Tuesday, state representatives and senators had already filed some 2,300 bills, including several relating to immigration, border security and citizenship. Below is a list of bills filed pertaining to immigration and the Texas border: The Dangerous Aliens Act, filed Tuesday by Texas state Rep. Stan Gerdes, R-Smithville, would increase punishment for migrants who illegally cross the Texas border if authorities can prove “that the defendant has been previously convicted of an offense. This includes crimes in other states or countries. Defendants face a third-degree felony charge, punishable by up to two to 10 years if the crime involved drugs or against another person, or the defendant was convicted of multiple misdemeanors. Undocumented immigrants face a second-degree felony charge if they committed or were convicted of three or more misdemeanors. They could serve two to 20 years, if convicted.

Allows for sharing law enforcement intelligence on illegal activity occurring at the border with Mexico with compacting states. And “sharing state resources in order to build a physical barrier, a comprehensive technological surveillance system, or both, on state land to deter or detect illegal activity occurring at the border with Mexico,” according to HB 176 filed by State Rep. Ryan Guillen, a Republican from the border city of Rio Grande City, and former Democrat. A similar measure, SB 136, was filed by state Sen. Bob Hall. This bill allows the Texas governor the authority for agreements and engagement with Mexican authorities “to protect and defend its citizens,” according to the legislation, filed by Guillen. The governor may appoint individuals to meet with Mexican officials. This bill would grant a tax exemption to private land in Texas where border security infrastructure is built. This includes a border wall, barrier, fence, wire, road, trench, technology or any “apparatus or an improvement designed or adapted to surveil or impede the movement of persons or objects crossing the Texas-Mexico border outside of land ports of entry,” according to the bill filed by Guillen.

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Mayor John Whitmire rescinds Houston policy allowing employees to work hybrid schedules

Mayor John Whitmire’s administration has rescinded a city policy that allowed Houston’s municipal workers to work a hybrid schedule, coming into the office on some days and working remotely at home on others. The policy allowed for the creation of the city’s hybrid telework program in 2022 during the pandemic. What started out as a pilot program with seven eligible city departments eventually spanned into all of them. Around 1,600 city employees who participated in the program will now have to return full-time to the office starting Feb. 1, according to a news release. City employees will now only be able to do telework if they have a “formally approved exception” or an existing accommodation.

"We are all public servants, and each employee plays a vital role in ensuring our municipal government operates efficiently and prioritizes the needs of our constituents,” Whitmire said in a statement. “The best way to serve the public is to work together in the office, enhancing collaboration and making the city of Houston more effective as we tackle significant challenges.”

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Department of Transportation sues Dallas-based Southwest Airlines for 'chronically delayed' flights

The U.S. Department of Transportation filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines Wednesday alleging the company engaged in deceptive practices by offering flights it knew it could not make on time, according to federal court documents filed in the Northern District of California. The lawsuits characterized the flights as "chronically delayed" — a term defined by the Code of Federal Regulations as any domestic flight that is operated at least 10 times per month and is at least 30 minutes late more than 50% of the time — and alleged that certain flights, such as one route flown by Southwest between Chicago, Illinois, and Oakland, California, arrived late nearly 80% of the time. "When an airline knows that a particular flight is consistently late, it is essential that the airline adjusts its schedule," the lawsuit reads. "But on many occasions, Southwest has chosen not to make such adjustments, and instead has continued to market its flights using unrealistic schedules. By doing so, Southwest has caused significant harm to its customers."

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North Texas HOA charged with discrimination for trying to kick out low-income renters

Federal officials accused a North Texas homeowners association of discrimination for trying to kick out residents who receive government assistance to pay rent. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development charged the Providence Village Homeowners Association, a small community in Denton County, with discriminating against Black residents. Court documents obtained by The Dallas Morning News detail the alleged discrimination and harassment that Black residents faced as the homeowners association sought to ban renters who paid with government subsidies, formerly known as Section 8 vouchers. Racist and threatening posts flooded the neighborhood’s unofficial social media pages, according to court documents. One post said, “Hide Your kids cause section 8 is on the loose!!!” In another, a resident called housing voucher recipients “wild animals.”

On two separate occasions, a white supremacist organization protested outside the development, handing out flyers that said voucher recipients were bringing “unimaginable violence.” They also delivered flyers to people’s homes that said, “Blacks bring crime and violence.” Both the homeowners association board and property management company, FirstService, knew of the various threats but did little to address them, court documents say. Representatives for the HOA and FirstService did not respond to emails or phone calls seeking comment Wednesday. Previously, the homeowners association board told The Dallas Morning News the policy aimed to address the “unprecedented uptick in egregious crimes in our community,” for which it blamed voucher recipients. Michael Daniel, a Dallas-based attorney who represents some of the former renters, said the homeowners association forced desperate families to scramble for new housing, upending children’s lives. “The harassment has been horrific,” Daniel said. “Residents feared for their lives.”

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Meadows Foundation CEO to retire after 6 years and nearly $200M in donations

Peter M. Miller, the president and CEO of The Meadows Foundation, is set to retire in late 2025 after six years at the helm, the organization announced on Wednesday. Founded by oil tycoon and philanthropist Algur Meadows and his wife, Virginia, the 76-year-old “Texas-only” foundation has doled out over $1.4 billion to a range of causes and charitable activities — in all 254 counties of the Lone Star State. Miller is a relative of the organization’s founder, and the fourth member of the Meadows clan to head the organization. During Miller’s tenure, the organization distributed $185.5 million to various causes across Texas, focusing on key areas that include postsecondary education, water conservation, depression and homelessness.

One of Miller’s crowning achievements as CEO was the revitalization of Downtown Dallas’ Wilson Historic District, which created an infrastructure for 35 nonprofits to operate rent-free. His funding priorities were helpful to human trafficking survivors seeking employment, as well as the homeless, disabled adults and at-risk youth. “Leading The Meadows Foundation has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved together, from addressing homelessness to transforming mental health care and advancing education,” Miller said in a statement. “As I prepare to step down from this role, I know the Foundation will remain committed to Al and Virginia’s mission to improve the lives of all Texans now and forever,” he added. In a 2023 interview with The Dallas Morning News, Miller broke down how around 40% of the Meadows Foundation’s funding priorities have been concentrated in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. At the time, the philanthropy had given over $500 million to around 1,000 different organizations.

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Keller ISD-area lawmakers weigh in on district’s proposed split

Some North Texas lawmakers are reserving opinions on the Keller school district’s proposed split until more information is known. Rep. Nate Schatzline, whose House district includes much of the district, said he hasn’t seen the district’s proposal, which will be discussed at a Thursday, Jan. 16 meeting. Ultimately, Schatzline, a Fort Worth Republican, said his loyalties are to House District 93 and that he’ll stand with whichever option gives the House district the best educational outcomes. Schatzline is interested in learning more about where district boundaries will be drawn, how it affects property values and how it impacts school ratings, he said.

Every district school in Keller, Colleyville and Southlake received an “A” rating from the state in 2022, the highest score. Three Fort Worth campuses earned an “A” rating. “I will probably have a better understanding once I see the proposal,” he said. “If it’s a great thing for Texas House District 93, I’ll support it. If it’s a bad thing, I won’t. So, I’m going to be listening to a lot of constituents on this, how they feel about it.” Parents have said the district will be split at the Union Pacific Railroad line along Denton Highway, the border between Fort Worth and Keller, but board members haven’t said what they’re proposing. Schatzline said he’d like to see the official boundary plans before commenting on the lines. His district includes all of Blue Mound and parts of Fort Worth and Saginaw. Newly sworn in Rep. David Lowe, a North Richland Hills Republican, also represents a portion of the Keller school district. The House district, House District 91, spans Haltom City, North Richland Hills, Richland Hills, Watauga and part of Fort Worth. Lowe said he’s planning on sending a letter to the school board seeking more information about the proposal. Taxpayers should have a say in any split, he said.

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Coach Prime to the Dallas Cowboys? A potential reunion has the NFL buzzing

Do I want to see Deion Sanders coach the Dallas Cowboys? Come on. Don’t ask a desperate sports columnist this question. This is like asking if I want a big raise and a free margarita. The nation’s most charismatic college football coach returning to Dallas to co-conspire with that other famous shrinking violet, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones? A collision of two larger-than-life characters, running America’s most polarizing, attention-seeking team? Yes, please! I’m in just for the introductory press conference. You could charge $59.99 on pay-per-view. Or sell the rights to Netflix. (Jerry: if you wind up charging $59.99 for the Coach Prime press conference, or go to Netflix, I get a cut.)

Is it a good fit? Who cares? Prime and Jerry would be headline heaven, a reality show inside a reality show, a throwback to Cowboy glory days. Sanders won a Super Bowl with Dallas in the 1995 season, back when Jones was Peak Jones, having brought in Barry Switzer to replace two-time Super Bowl winner Jimmy Johnson. Sanders confirmed an early dialogue. No formal interview appears to be set, but it hasn’t stopped a stampede of enthusiasm. Television yappers are all but standing on their desks waving silver and blue pompoms, begging for it to happen. I’ll stand on my desk and wave silver and blue pompoms, too! Not because it’s good for the Cowboys or the NFL. I don’t care if it’s good for the Cowboys or the NFL. It’s good for me. I just want the content. How’s that for naked honesty from the big, bad, untrusted mainstream media? I want the sweet, delicious Prime & Jerry content. And so does everyone else in this business. Coach Prime already has a job, of course. He’s head coach at the University of Colorado, where he’s done nice work restoring luster to a suffering program. He went 4-8 in Year One and improved to 9-4 in Year Two, with a bowl invite and a Heisman Trophy winner, Travis Hunter.

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SpaceX launching Starship test flight from Texas this week with dummy satellites

SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket is slated to launch for the seventh time on Thursday in a crucial test of its ability to carry and place satellites into orbit. The company planned on launching from its Boca Chica, Texas manufacturing facility on Wednesday but announced a 24-hour delay due to weather conditions. The 403-foot-tall (123-meter) rocket will try to deploy 10 dummy satellites, designed to mimic the size, shape and weight of the upgraded Starlink satellites that Starship will be launching in the future.

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Bridget Grumet: Abortion pills by mail surge despite Texas' bans. How long can it last?

The large cardboard box in Debra Lynch’s living room contained enough pills for 162 medication abortions. Last summer, such a shipment would last a month. Then, she needed to reorder every two weeks. Now she goes through a box like this every week. “We’re mailing a lot to Texas,” said Jay Lynch, who handles most of the packaging and postage for Her Safe Harbor, an abortion-drug-by-mail service spearheaded by his wife. Debra Lynch, a nurse practitioner, prescribes the pills via telehealth under Delaware law. Her husband drops the medications into white, bubble-padded envelopes that will cross state lines and defy state bans to reach the hands of anxious women.

From the kitchen table in the couple’s split-level suburban home, Jay Lynch thumbed through the shipping labels for the next two dozen orders: Alabama. Indiana. Georgia. Several in Florida. And plenty in Texas: Tomball. Houston. Beaumont. Fulshear. “Everybody – Aid Access, ourselves, some of these other small groups – we are all shipping to Texas,” Debra Lynch said. The orders kept coming in – “I just got one from El Paso,” Jay Lynch told me later that afternoon, after his laptop and cellphone chimed – underscoring the inescapable fact that Texas’ bans have not erased Texans’ demand for abortion. Scores of telehealth abortion providers have cropped up since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in 2022 allowed states to prohibit the procedure. Some telehealth providers serve patients only in states that allow abortion. But some – including major players Aid Access and the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, as well as smaller startups like Her Safe Harbor – are designed to serve patients anywhere. In short order, these providers have had a seismic impact. Not long ago, in April 2022, about 1 in 25 abortions in America were from pills prescribed via telehealth. By June 2024, it was 1 in 5, according to the latest #WeCount report from the Society of Family Planning. Nearly half of those prescriptions went to patients in states with abortion bans or restrictions on telehealth abortion.

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Terri Burke: Texas is a leader in medical research. Lawmakers should reject RFK Jr.

(Terri Burke is the executive director of The Immunization Partnership.) As the 89th Texas Legislative Session begins, lawmakers in Austin must acknowledge and accept the state’s unique leadership role on the national stage. Texas has long been a bellwether for the country — sometimes leading with groundbreaking innovation and economic prowess, sometimes as a cautionary tale of ideology eclipsing good governance. Now, more than ever, Texas must step up as a counterweight to national leadership, particularly in the realm of public health. The new administration in Washington is already making waves with its personnel choices, raising serious concerns about the competence of those entrusted with safeguarding the nation’s health. Among the alarming potential appointments is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a man whose lack of executive experience is as troubling as his well-documented history of undermining public health initiatives. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which he is being considered to lead, oversees critical programs that directly affect millions of Texans.

Medicare, which provides essential healthcare coverage to approximately 4.2 million Texans, requires sound, experienced management. Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), though still not covering enough Texans, serve another 4 million people in our state. Mismanagement and/or funding cuts at HHS would ripple through Texas, affecting some of our most vulnerable populations and placing additional strain on state and local resources. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), another key agency under HHS, plays a central role in setting vaccine recommendations — a critical public health function that affects Texas’ roughly 7.5 million children. Any deviation from science-based policy in this area would have real health and economic consequences for the state, as we have already seen the dangers of declining childhood vaccination rates in the resurgence of diseases once considered eradicated. Perhaps nowhere is the federal government's role more crucial to Texas than in medical research. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the country’s foremost agency for biomedical and behavioral research, and Texas institutions receive nearly $2 billion annually in NIH grants. These funds fuel groundbreaking medical advances at institutions like MD Anderson Cancer Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine, reinforcing Texas' status as a global hub for healthcare and innovation. If the NIH’s scientific mission is undermined by political ideology, it would deal a direct blow to Texas' medical community, economy and reputation. The stakes could not be higher. While Texas has often positioned itself as resistant to federal overreach, now is the time for the Legislature to lean in and ensure that national policies do not undermine the health and well-being of our citizens. That means reinforcing public health infrastructure, ensuring state agencies are equipped to fill any gaps left by federal mismanagement, and standing firm against the spread of disinformation that threatens the integrity of science-based policymaking, including any weakening of vaccination requirements for public school entry.

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The Dallas company that could end an $8 billion Johnson & Johnson talc powder lawsuit

This fall, pharmaceutical and medical technology company Johnson & Johnson announced that a newly created Dallas subsidiary filed a voluntary prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to resolve more than 58,000 ovarian cancer lawsuits connected to the company’s talc product. Court documents have revealed that J&J was aware that its talc powder contained asbestos going back to the 1950s, but did not report the findings to the FDA or consumers. In 2009, a plaintiff filed the first talk powder lawsuit against the company, alleging that the product caused ovarian cancer. In the following years, J&J suffered numerous defeats in court, with a $72 million verdict in 2016. In 2018, a jury ordered the company to pay $4.69 billion to the thousands of plaintiffs suffering from ovarian cancer after using the talc powder. Now, J&J seeks to resolve more than 99 percent of the talc lawsuits via a process called the Texas Two-Step.

The move is not unique to Texas, but most states don’t have a provision that allows a company to split itself into two entities, with one company taking on the liabilities and the other retaining the valuable assets. Called a divisional merger, the new firm with the liabilities next declares bankruptcy, shielding the original company from future lawsuits. J&J created Red River Talc, with a downtown Dallas address, for such a purpose. But this time, the move has the approval of 83 percent of the plaintiffs, clearing the federal requirement of 75 percent. Many of the claimants initially resisted the plan, but J&J increased the settlement amount by $1.1 billion, making the total settlement $8 billion. The settlement also includes $650 million for legal fees and expenses for the multi-district litigation and will be paid over the next 25 years. Importantly, J&J doesn’t admit to any guilt or wrongdoing. “The Company reiterates that none of the talc-related claims against it have merit. The claims are premised on allegations that have been rejected by independent experts, as well as governmental and regulatory bodies, for decades,” the company wrote via release.

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Will George Bush Airport’s construction chaos ever end?

Airports always feel like madness, but they’ve been even more frustrating in Houston with the ongoing construction at George Bush Intercontinental Airport over the years. If you’ve traveled internationally any time since the start of 2022, you know all too well the cramped chaotic nightmare it’s been to wait for your ride home. In December 2024, Jim Szczesniak, director of aviation for the Houston Airport System (HAS), called the temporary Terminal E arrivals curb the “bane of our existence” (glad he’s with us on that one). Thankfully, IAH is well on its way to completion. At the end of last year, the airport officially announced the opening of the new international arrivals curb. The renovations are part of IAH’s nearly $1.5 billion terminal redevelopment program, which is the largest expansion project in the airport’s history. With the new arrivals curb, there are now eight dedicated pickup lanes—six opened in December and two are opening this month.

The curb will also have HAS landside agents and law enforcement onsite to help direct drivers, and lanes will have dedicated sections for private cars, taxis, and rideshares. HAS states these lanes will expand capacity and prioritize safety and efficiency. During his State of the Airports address in 2024, Szczesniak gave an update on what passengers should expect this year. Along with the eight new lanes, a second phase will be unveiled for 11 upper lanes that will be used for passenger drop-offs and commercial vehicles such as hotel shuttles, rental car shuttles, taxis, and rideshares. Upon completion, an estimated 40,000 vehicles will pass through the new international terminal every day—or about 28 cars per minute. How insane is that? The opening of the lanes coincides with the new international central processor (ICP) facility, which will feature consolidated ticketing, security lines, and baggage claim. As part of the first phase, United Airlines will be permanently moving into the new international building by the end of February and will begin using the new ICP for its Terminal E check-in operations. This will help alleviate traffic in Terminal C’s lobby, security lines, and drop-off curbs. This summer, the second phase will officially open with the unveiling of a 17-lane TSA checkpoint—HAS notes that once completed, it will be one of the largest security checkpoints in the country.

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Landry Distillery wins court showdown with Tilman Fertitta and Landry's Inc.

A Harris County jury on Monday found that Landry Distilling, an Austin whiskey distillery, can keep using its name despite its similarity to the trademark of Landry’s Inc., the Houston-based company owned by Tilman Fertitta. The decision by the 12-member panel came after a three-day trial last week in Harris County’s 190th Civil District Court, which weighed whether consumers would be likely to confuse the two brands—and whether Fertitta's mark is famous across the state. The distillery is owned by Zach Landry, who began selling small-batch bourbon under the label Landry Stakes in 2021. Landry’s Inc. sued the new company in 2023, claiming that its name would create confusion among consumers familiar with the larger company's restaurants and hotels, ultimately diluting the value of Fertitta's brand. Landry’s Inc. owns hundreds of restaurants, casinos, hotels and amusement parks.

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County Stories

Man suspected in fatal shooting of Brazoria County sheriff's deputy killed in shootout with police

A Brazoria County Sheriff's Office deputy was killed Wednesday while trying to arrest a man as part of the U.S. Marshal's Violent Offenders Task Force. The suspected shooter was later found hiding in a nearby dumpster and shot and killed by police, Houston Police Department confirmed. The violent end came hours after Deputy Jesus "Jesse" Vargas, a 17-year-veteran of the office, approached a man at a strip mall in in southwest Houston with a partner and was shot, Sheriff Bo Stallman said. He was taken to a hospital in Houston where he later died. The man, later identified as 56-year-old Robert Lee Davis, also known as Sean Christopher Davis, then fled the scene, leading officers from multiple agencies to blanket the scene searching for him, authorities said.

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Dallas County DA’s office creates unit to investigate, prosecute human trafficking

The Dallas County district attorney’s office announced Tuesday the creation of a new, grant-funded unit to investigate and prosecute human trafficking. The three-person team — a prosecutor, investigator and victim advocate — will work with local and federal authorities to “improve the prosecution” of trafficking crimes and support survivors, a news release said. The team is being funded by a grant of more than $207,000 from the governor’s office, according to the news release. “Human trafficking is one of the most heinous crimes in our society, and Dallas County remains a hot spot for these cases,” District Attorney John Creuzot said in a statement. “This new unit strengthens our ability to prosecute traffickers and provide trauma-informed support to survivors.”

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National Stories

Windy, flame-fanning weather eases up as progress made on LA-area fires

The windy, flame-fanning weather that put the nation’s second most-populous metropolitan region on edge eased up Wednesday as firefighters made significant gains against the two massive wildfires burning around Los Angeles. A “Particularly Dangerous Situation” red-flag warning expired without causing explosive fire growth as feared, though forecasters said gusty winds could linger into early Thursday, mostly in the mountains. Temperatures were predicted to drop, and a deep marine layer was expected to move in over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service in Los Angeles. Those improved conditions should help fire crews make even more headway and allow residents to return to their neighborhoods to begin rebuilding. But Santa Ana winds could return early next week.

“Good news: We are expecting a much-needed break from the fire weather concerns to close this week,” the weather service posted on social media Wednesday afternoon. “Bad News: Next week is a concern. While confident that we will NOT see a repeat of last week, dangerous fire weather conditions are expected.” Still, firefighters and police faced new challenges. Since the beginning of the outbreak last week, authorities have arrested about half a dozen people accused of setting new, small fires that were quickly knocked down. One suspect admitted starting a fire in a tree “because he liked the smell of burning leaves,” Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell said. Another said “she enjoyed causing chaos and destruction,” the chief said Wednesday. Video released Tuesday by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office shows looting suspects in a home in the Mandeville Canyon section of Los Angeles and an arson suspect under arrest in Azusa.

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Maternal death reviews get political as state officials intrude

Every state has a committee of medical and public health experts tasked with investigating deaths that occur during and after pregnancy. But as data paints a clearer picture of the impact that state policies such as abortion bans and Medicaid expansion can have on maternal health, leaders in some states are rushing to limit their review committee’s work — or halt it altogether. In November, Georgia officials dismissed all 32 members of the state’s maternal mortality review committee after investigative reporters used internal committee documents to link the deaths of two women to the state’s six-week abortion ban. In September, Texas announced its committee would not review 2022 and 2023 maternal deaths — the two years immediately following its near-total abortion ban. And two years ago, Idaho effectively disbanded its committee when conservative groups went after members for calling on the state to extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum women.

In March, Arkansas Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders created her own maternal health advisory group after Arkansas’ maternal mortality review committee, like Idaho’s, recommended extending the amount of time that low-income postpartum women can qualify for Medicaid coverage — something Sanders has staunchly opposed. The maternal mortality rate for U.S. women is far higher than in any other high-income country, and Black women are more than twice as likely to die during pregnancy or after birth than the national average. Research has shown most of these maternal deaths are preventable. State officials have given varying reasons for their decisions. Sanders has called an extension of postpartum Medicaid “duplicative” because Arkansas has other insurance options. The maternal mortality review committee chair in Texas said the panel would skip a full review of the 2022 and 2023 deaths in order to offer analysis and recommendations based on the most recently available data. And Georgia’s state health officer said she dismissed committee members because they violated state law by sharing confidential information. Georgia plans to replace them with new appointees.

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John Ratcliffe, Trump's CIA pick, warns officers to 'find a new line of work' if not committed

Former Texas congressman John Ratcliffe told senators on Wednesday that if confirmed to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, officers should "find a new line of work" if they're not committed to the agency's mission of intelligence gathering and conducting covert action "at the direction of the president." The statement, made during a confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, comes as President-elect Donald Trump and other Republicans have criticized the CIA as politically biased and too focused on ensuring greater diversity among the ranks. "We must be the ultimate meritocracy," said Ratcliffe, one of three Texans nominated to serve in Trump's cabinet, and the first to face a confirmation hearing the U.S. Senate.

"I will unapologetically empower the most talented, hardest working, and most courageous risk-takers and innovators to protect the American people and advance America’s interest, and I will not tolerate anything or anyone that distracts from our mission." Republicans' focus on so-called social justice issues stems from a recent push by the CIA to broaden recruitment beyond white males following a 2015 report by the Obama administration that the "absence of diversity at the senior levels of the CIA is itself an obstacle to the advancement of talented and experienced intelligence officers." And it's fueled by a larger skepticism around the objectivity of the CIA expressed by both parties in recent years. On Wednesday, Democrats questioned whether Trump's attacks on CIA officers and pledge to overhaul the U.S. intelligence agencies was aimed at installing loyalists. "Negative comments by leaders has a negative impact on recruitment," said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., vice chairman of the senate intelligence committee. "Today is your opportunity to reassure the men and women of the CIA they do not fear reprisal for speaking truth to power." Ratcliffe pledged he would. But some Democrats questioned whether his commitment to the president came first, pointing to his decision in 2020 to divulge a classified inquiry into whether presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had approved plans to try and tie Trump to a Russian hack of the Democratic National Committee ahead of the 2016 election.

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Trump is considering a plan to save TikTok

President-elect Donald Trump is weighing a plan that could delay America’s TikTok ban, giving the new administration more time to potentially cut a deal with a US buyer to save the super-popular video app, sources familiar with the plans told CNN. The potential executive order, which was first reported by The Washington Post, would strive to allow TikTok’s 170 million American users to continue to use the app for a certain period of time as the administration sorts out who could potentially buy it. Trump, who supported a TikTok ban as president, has recently said he wants to keep the app alive – even posting a TikTok video in June in which he said he wanted to “save TikTok.” Last month, he asked the Supreme Court to stay the law so his incoming administration could work out a deal to keep TikTok available to Americans.

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Trump nominee for Interior backs full-throttle drilling on federal lands

President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of the interior, Doug Burgum, will tell lawmakers during his nomination hearing on Thursday that he will vigorously pursue Trump’s goals of maximizing energy production from America’s public lands and waters, calling it key to national security. The comments signal a coming sharp turn in policy after President Joe Biden attempted for years to restrict oil and gas drilling by reducing federal lease auctions and banning future development in vast areas of federal offshore waters as part of a strategy to fight climate change.

"Today, America produces energy cleaner, smarter and safer than anywhere in the world. When energy production is restricted in America, it doesn’t reduce demand, it just shifts production to countries like Russia, Venezuela, and Iran – whose autocratic leaders don’t care about the environment," Burgum will tell lawmakers, according to his prepared remarks. He will say maximizing energy output can lower consumer prices, and can be done while ensuring clean air and water.

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Israel delays cabinet vote on Gaza truce saying Hamas has reneged on parts of deal

Israel has delayed a cabinet vote on the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, blaming Hamas for reneging on parts of the agreement. The group said it is “committed” to the truce. • The deal to pause the war in Gaza, and release Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, was made on Wednesday. Here’s what we know about it. • Just hours after it was reached, Israeli bombardment killed at least 45 people in Gaza City, according to the Gaza Civil Defense. • The three-phase deal is set to begin Sunday, but many of its details and the timeline remain unclear. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he won’t comment until all details are finalized. • International aid agencies welcomed the deal and vowed to scale up their work in Gaza. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees called for “rapid, unhindered and uninterrupted humanitarian access” to the strip to relieve the suffering caused by war.

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Rubio details what Trump’s ‘America First’ foreign policy will entail

The United States under a second Trump administration will stay committed to core allies such as Israel and Taiwan, pursue a more aggressive strategy to counter China, and take a more “realistic” approach to dealing with Ukraine, humanitarian aid and other global crises if they don’t “advance U.S. interests,” the president-elect’s pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, told senators Wednesday. Rubio, 53, the long-serving Republican senator from Florida who is widely expected to win Senate confirmation, used his hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to explain the incoming administration’s vision for an “America First” foreign policy. The hearing was noteworthy for its depth of policy discussion — a sharp contrast with the contentious exchanges over sex and alcohol that characterized Tuesday’s confirmation hearing for Trump’s defense secretary pick — and it offered a glimpse into Donald Trump’s international priorities.

More typically, the president-elect is prone to sharing such views with little context or detail over social media or in impromptu remarks to reporters. China is “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted,” Rubio said, making clear that countering Beijing will be a key focus of the incoming administration — and echoing a belief expressed by the Biden administration, which was to a certain degree diverted by the conflicts and crises in Ukraine and Gaza. China dominates critical global supply chains. It is a competitor in science and technology, in global markets, and in political and military influence, Rubio said. It is wholly unlike the Soviet Union and other adversaries the United States has faced. “When they write the book about the 21st century, there’s going to be some chapters in there about [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. There’s going to be some chapters in there about some of these other places,” Rubio said. “But the bulk of that book about the 21st century will be not just about China but about the relationship between China and the United States, and what direction it went.”

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Lead Stories

In contentious vote, Texas House chooses Dustin Burrows as speaker

Rep. Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock Republican, was elected speaker of the Texas House as the 89th session of the Texas Legislature kicked off Tuesday, defeating the preferred candidate of grassroots Republicans and requiring help from Democrats to prevail. The hotly contested race for leader of the House divided Texas Republicans and produced threats of political retribution against those who supported Burrows over Rep. David Cook, a Mansfield Republican starting his third two-year term. Burrows defeated Cook 85-55, with nine Democrats listed as present but not voting and one Democrat declining to cast a ballot. Speaking to the House afterward, Burrows vowed to put the institution first, lead with an open door to his colleagues, ensure every member’s voice is heard and offer transparent timelines for moving priority bills.

He also offered an olive branch. “This work can be complex, difficult and even divisive, but history shows us that we can obtain an outcome — and outcomes — that are just sensible and affordable,” Burrows said. “That is what this chamber does. The House is at its best when we’re tackling problems that are seemingly insurmountable.” Before the vote, the Texas Republican Party weighed taking actions against Republicans who failed to support Cook, who was chosen as the party’s nominee in December under House GOP rules but could not muster enough support from members of his party. Abraham George, chair of the state GOP and a Cook supporter, said he was disappointed by the outcome and said party leaders will meet to plan their next steps. “I consider [Burrows] as a Democrat speaker at this point, and we’ll see how this is going to play out with the rest of the party,” George said.

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Biden races to cement his legacy through a series of actions

In the final days of his term, President Biden has issued a series of policy decisions intended to cement his agenda and, in some cases, make it harder for President-elect Donald J. Trump to put in place his own. The 11th-hour decisions, many of them executive actions, include measures on environmental justice, prison reform, immigration and foreign relations. Some are intended to preserve Mr. Biden’s legacy, while others are last-ditch efforts to expand his approach. Many are likely to be undone after Mr. Trump takes office next week. The actions have gotten the attention of Mr. Trump, who said on social media earlier this month that Mr. Biden was “doing everything possible” to make the transition process “as difficult as possible.” “Fear not, these ‘orders’ will be terminated shortly,” Mr. Trump added. White House officials said Mr. Biden had directed his administration to ensure a smooth transition of power. Mr. Biden last week announced a ban on new oil and gas drilling across more than 625 million acres of U.S. coastal waters as part of an effort to protect the environment and ensure public health. Mr. Trump has called the move “ridiculous” and promised to revoke the ban.

Mr. Biden created two national monuments in California this month that together will prevent mining and drilling — as well as wind, solar and other energy development — across more than 848,000 acres of desert and mountainous land in the state. The Biden administration announced on Tuesday that it would remove Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism and ease economic penalties on the nation as a part of a deal that was expected to free protesters jailed by the Communist government. Mauricio Claver-Carone, who was recently named as Mr. Trump’s envoy for Latin America, said the announcement favored “authoritarian anti-American regimes.” Mr. Biden last month commuted the sentences of nearly all prisoners on federal death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The president blocked the $14 billion takeover of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel of Japan earlier this month on grounds that the sale posed a threat to national security. Mr. Trump has also said U.S. Steel should be American-owned.

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Takeaways from Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing

The confirmation process for President-elect Donald Trump’s unorthodox and often-controversial Cabinet picks kicked off Tuesday, with the Senate Armed Services Committee holding a hearing for one of the most embattled ones, defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth. Trump has already been forced to replace his initial selection for attorney general, former congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), when even some Republicans balked. Hegseth is among the uncertain remaining picks, given his messy personal life and the serious allegations against him. The most memorable part of the hearing on Tuesday is likely to be a tense exchange between Hegseth and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia).

Kaine was the first senator to ask tough questions about parts of Hegseth’s past that have dogged him, including affairs and allegations of sexual assault, alcohol abuse and financial mismanagement. Kaine wound up laying some gloves on Hegseth, who strained to talk around the subjects the senator was broaching. Kaine started by asking Hegseth whether he was still married to his second wife when he had a 2017 sexual encounter that the woman claimed was assault. Hegseth said only, “I believe so,” despite the timeline being clear and Hegseth having acknowledged the encounter. (He says it did occur but was consensual.) At another point, Hegseth struggled to respond when Kaine asked him to restate that the encounter was consensual, clearly not wanting to talk about it. The two engaged in a long dance in which Kaine focused mostly on Hegseth’s infidelity — Hegseth has also previously acknowledged cheating on his first wife and fathered a child in 2017 from another affair — but Hegseth repeatedly concentrated on denying the assault allegations. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) later downplayed the relevance of Hegseth’s extramarital affairs. “You guys make sure you make a big show and point out the hypocrisy, because a man’s made a mistake,” Mullin said. “And you want to sit there and say that he’s not qualified. Give me a [break]. It is so ridiculous that you guys hold yourself as this higher standard. You forget you got a big plank in your eye.” A major subplot of Hegseth’s confirmation process is his shifting position on women in combat roles in the U.S. military.

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Gov. Greg Abbott takes shot at Houston judges as Texas legislative session kicks off

It did not take long on the first day of the Legislature’s session for Gov. Greg Abbott to resume hostilities against the state’s largest city. Just under 5 minutes into a speech kicking off the 140-day session, Abbott pointed to Houston as an example where people are not following the laws and need to be reined in. “The reality is there is a failure across this state to follow the constitutional laws of the United States and of this state,” Abbott said. Then he referenced state Sens. Joan Huffman and Paul Bettencourt, both Houston Republicans, and told the crowd they are from a city where murderers are being let out on bail to commit other murders. “We have a problem with judges not adhering to the law,” Abbott said. “It is going to be up to us in the Senate and the House and me working with you to make sure we do something about that so we stop criminals from killing other innocent people in our state.”

The shot — Abbott didn’t single out any other cities — was unexpected for Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, a Democrat and the chief civil lawyer for the county, who was in the audience in Austin as Abbott spoke. He said he was there mostly to try to show his willingness to work collaboratively with Republicans and Democrats in Austin and avoid some of the animosity that has dominated the relationship with the state over the last few years. “It was disheartening to hear the governor take a warning shot at Harris County like that,” Menefee said. “But I’m going to keep trying to partner with people.” Over the years, Abbott and the Texas Legislature have taken aim at Houston and Harris County over a host of issues, including election laws, taxes, the response to COVID-19, bail reform and even trying to ban them from regulating businesses like tow truck companies and music festivals. Already this year, the Legislature has threatened to pass more laws to stop Harris from pursuing a guaranteed income program to help the poor like they did last year, which has been blocked by the courts after a lawsuit from Attorney General Ken Paxton. For Abbott, a former judge and a Republican, bail reform has long been an unfulfilled priority in the Texas Legislature. For years, he’s pushed for the Legislature to pass laws to end what he's called “easy bail policies” in places like Houston. “We must shut and lock that revolving door by passing laws that keep dangerous criminals behind bars,” Abbott said in 2023 at the start of the last regular session of the Legislature imploring them to pass tougher laws on the issue. But Abbott has faced a constitutional problem. The Texas Constitution specifically states that all defendants are eligible for bail unless charged with a capital crime. To change it, Abbott would need both Republicans and Democrats to vote in favor of his reforms. Criminal justice reform groups have long expressed frustration that too many defendants — many who may be innocent — languish behind bars because they cannot afford to pay cash bail.

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State Stories

Gov. Greg Abbott threatens to force out Texas A&M president over alleged DEI ban violation

Gov. Greg Abbott is threatening to force out Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh III over the university's apparent attempt to send students to a conference the governor said flouted the state's new diversity, equity and inclusion ban. University emails posted online by a conservative activist, which were not sent by Welsh, ask for staff and PhD students willing to represent the university in a recruiting trip to a conference run by the PhD Project and that limits participation to those who are Black, Hispanic or Native American. The conference is billed as being "designed for historically underrepresented individuals considering business doctoral studies." "Hell no," Abbott wrote on X when another user asked if he approved of the invitation. "It’s against Texas law and violates the US Constitution. It will be fixed immediately or the president will soon be gone."

Abbott cannot directly fire Welsh, but the governor appoints the university regents whom Welsh answers to. Abbott in 2023 signed a law banning diversity hiring programs, DEI training and DEI offices in public higher education. The screenshot of the A&M email, however, says the university's general counsel deemed participating in The PhD Project permissible under recruitment exemptions in the law. From the Texas Tribune: The email shared on Monday was sent by Michael C. Withers, associate dean for research and scholarship professor at Mays Business School, who invited A&M faculty and PhD students to participate in an annual conference put together by The PhD Project, an organization that seeks to increase diversity in classrooms and corporations. Withers wrote that the university typically sends three people to the conference, scheduled this year for March 20-21 in Chicago, and that lawyers for the university had found participating was permissible under SB 17’s recruitment exemptions. According to the law, the ban does not apply to instruction, research, the activity of a student organization, guest speakers or performers, data collection and student recruitment. The PhD Project previously listed on its website at least eight other Texas public universities that have participated in the conference — Texas Tech University, University of Houston, University of North Texas, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Texas at El Paso, University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley and University of Texas at San Antonio — but most were removed sometime Tuesday afternoon. The UT System said it did not receive a directive from the governor to withdraw from the conference, but recommended its institutions to do so. UNT and Texas Tech also said Tuesday they would no longer participate.

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Texas porn site age verification law goes before the Supreme Court. Here’s what’s at stake

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in a case over a Texas law requiring pornography websites to verify users’ ages. House Bill 1181, which the state Legislature passed in 2023, requires companies that distribute “sexual material harmful to minors” to confirm visitors are over 18. Texas was among several GOP-led states that passed similar legislation, including Arkansas, Mississippi, Utah and Louisiana, and the high court’s decision could affect all of them. The adult entertainment industry and other critics have said the law violates their free speech rights. But the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in November ruled in the state’s favor, finding it has a legitimate interest in preventing minors from accessing pornography.

The Free Speech Coalition, a trade association of the adult entertainment industry, argues the law is “triply flawed.” First, it argues, the law applies to any website with more than one-third content that is inappropriate for minors and therefore restricts adults’ access to speech that is not sexual and “not even arguably obscene for minors.” It also fails to target search engines and social media sites that make available the same type of content, the coalition says. The group argues that Texas should adopt less restrictive and more effective alternatives to age verification, such as content-filtering software that blocks access to certain internet content that’s been used in homes, schools and libraries. The Texas law calls on sites to verify users’ government-issued identification or use another commercially available system that uses public or private age-related data. The sites are not allowed under the law to keep the data it collects. The state argues that without the law children have easier access porn on the internet. In the same way that the government can require a brick-and-mortar bookstore to check a customer’s age before selling them pornography, the state wrote in its brief, the government should be able to regulate access “to nearly inexhaustible amounts of obscenity to any child with a smartphone.”

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Are flying taxis in Arlington by 2026 realistic? Mayor Jim Ross says yes, experts aren't so sure

It would be 11 years later than predicted in Back to the Future Part II, but Arlington’s mayor feels certain flying taxis are coming to the city before international soccer fans flock to North Texas for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Mayor Jim Ross announced with dramatic flair during his State of the City address in October that the city will take commercial transit to the skies by 2026. Experts told KERA News that might be a stretch, but it’s not implausible. The air taxis would be based out of Arlington's airport, according to the city. The most likely scenario is that Arlington has the equipment and infrastructure for special demonstrations during the World Cup, according to Ernest Huffman, aviation planning and education program manager at North Central Texas Council of Governments.

Huffman said getting flying taxis to Arlington won’t depend as much on determination or hard work by city leaders as regulations and technology. “There’s a few things that we’re going to need in place,” Huffman said. “We’re not looking to have flying taxis as a viable transportation mode for the World Cup games. All we’re looking to do is demonstrate the technology for the World Cup games.” Legally, Huffman said he doesn’t think flying taxis will be viable for public use until 2027. At that point, he said the price and availability will seriously limit its use and prevent it from being a widely used service. It’s not stopping Ross from pushing for the taxis by 2026, though. “We expect it to be done in time for the World Cup,” Ross said. "Theoretically, when it's all done and we expect it to be done for the World Cup in 2026, you can be flying these air taxis right into the Entertainment District." He wants those flying taxis to be an “oh, wow,” factor when visitors from across the globe arrive in Arlington for the nine World Cup matches the city will be hosting. The concept of flying taxis isn’t new, even outside science fiction. The Federal Aviation Administration told KERA News in an emailed statement that it’s been working to get regulations ready for flying taxis. The agency has already made progress, finalizing rules for flying taxi pilot and instructor qualifications. Most of them are expected to be electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL.

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Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson sides with voters on controversial charter amendments

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson believes voters “for the most part” made the right call when approving a slate of charter updates in November, including a controversial new mandate forcing the city to spend half of yearly excess revenue on police-related expenses. Johnson, during an address to the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, didn’t agree with the method of changing the charter to force more police spending, but he felt “we wouldn’t have gotten to the point to have this blunt instrument thrust upon us if we had been doing what we were supposed to be doing in the first place.” “When the majority decides to do something, that is the right answer, that’s the process,” Johnson said. “I don’t care if it’s a former mayor telling you. I don’t care who it is telling you. The voters didn’t get anything wrong — the voters did what the voters wanted to do.”

Headed into Election Day last fall, Johnson was among dozens of current and former elected officials urging voters to reject propositions S, T and U or endorsing campaigns against them. The charter amendments made it onto the ballot through a petition campaign led by the nonprofit Dallas Hero, with more than 20,000 voter signatures on each proposal. Two of the measures passed: Proposition S requires Dallas to waive its governmental immunity and allow any resident to sue to allege the city isn’t complying with the charter, local ordinances or state law, and Proposition U mandates the city spend half of its excess revenue each year on boosting the police and fire pension, maintaining a police force of at least 4,000 — an increase of around 900 officers — and increasing police starting pay and benefits. The city’s largest police and fire associations were among the groups opposing the proposals. Opponents said the Dallas Hero amendments would undermine the authority of elected officials and harm nearly every city service in the name of boosting public safety. Supporters said the amendments were necessary to improve police recruitment, address delays in emergency response times and further empower residents to hold public officials accountable. The approval of those two amendments shocked many officials. Some called it a wake-up call for City Hall and a clear indication that voters may not fully align with their Dallas elected leaders.

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Steven Kean: Texas' future depends on water. Here's what the Legislature must do.

(Steve Kean is president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership.) Texas is an economic powerhouse, attracting businesses and people from around the world. With this rapid growth, the demand for water and the need to improve our water infrastructure have never been greater. State leaders now have a generational opportunity to secure Texas' economic future by making foundational investments into water supply and infrastructure to safeguard the Texas economic miracle. As the 2025 legislative session gavels in this week, state leaders should continue to prioritize the significant investments in infrastructure that powers our economy. Specifically for water infrastructure, state leaders should continue their momentum by investing more funding into the Texas Water Fund through a dedicated revenue stream. I’m the president and CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, which represents the interests of businesses across the 12-county Houston region and works every day to attract companies to our region and help those that are here expand.

A recent report from the nonpartisan group Texas 2036 paints a sobering picture of what lies ahead. It projects that Texas must invest $154 billion in new water supplies, fixing deteriorating water systems and addressing broken wastewater systems over the next 50 years to meet the demands of our growing population and expanding industries. According to Texas’ 2022 State Water Plan, failure to act could result in disastrous economic consequences, including the potential loss of 1 million jobs and a staggering annual income loss of $153 billion by 2070. These statistics are a stark reminder that our water systems are not just vital for everyday life — they are fundamental to the continued economic prosperity of Texas and its residents. The urgency is further highlighted by the rise in boil water notices across Texas, a symptom of failing infrastructure. Since 2019, an average of 2,883 boil water notices has been issued each year, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The potential impacts of boil water notices for the City of Houston are staggering, as the city provides the treated water not just for Houstonians, but for customers across seven counties. These customers include other municipalities, water districts and facilities such as the hospitals in the Texas Medical Center. In addition to the devastating impact a boil water notice can have on individuals and the economy, a boil water emergency in the fourth largest city in America would significantly set back our ability to attract new companies to our region.

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Princeton City Council extends housing moratorium

New residential housing development projects are still on hold in the city of Princeton after the city council voted unanimously to extend the city’s housing moratorium. Princeton, which is about ten miles east of McKinney, is the third-fastest-growing city in the nation according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The population in 2010 was 6,807. In June 2023, Princeton’s population was 28,027. Current estimates put the population at over 37,000 residents, according to the city. The city first issued the temporary moratorium in September, citing stress on infrastructure and city services due to rapid population growth. It was set to expire Jan. 21, but the city council voted to extend the moratorium for 180 days at Monday's meeting.

Princeton city manager Michael Mashburn said at Monday's council meeting that pausing housing development will create sensible growth and help city staff plan ahead during the extension. “We're lacking just some very basic amenities in Princeton, and those are going to come with a 40,000 person city,” Mashburn said. “So I think we start with that baseline, then we build up from there.” The city council could extend the moratorium again in the future. The moratorium only applies to new residential developments, not commercial projects. And housing projects that were approved before the moratorium can still go forward. Princeton resident Teresa McGuinness told the city council there shouldn't be exceptions. “If you’re gonna do a moratorium, then do it,” she said. “If you’re going to stop residential building until everything catches up, then do it.”

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Bill banning trans girls, women from school sports passes U.S. House with two Texas Democrats joining Republicans

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a floor vote to ban trans and intersex girls and women from participating in sports at federally funded schools and universities. A similar bill is also currently before the U.S. Senate. While the 216-206 vote fell mostly along party lines, Texas Democrats Vicente Gonzalez of District 34 (located in the furthest south point of the state and including Corpus Christi) and Henry Cuellar of District 29 (which runs along the Texas/Mexico border at Laredo and stretches north to San Antonio) voted in favor of the bill. Democrat Don Davis of North Carolina voted “present.” The vote drew quick and widespread condemnation from LGBTQ advocates.

Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, executive director of Advocates for Trans Equality, released a statement saying, “This discriminatory bill is an unconscionable attack on transgender girls and women across the country. Every child deserves a quality education, including the ability to participate in athletic programs. This bill is not motivated out of concern for women and girls in athletics, but animus toward a small group of vulnerable students.” Heng-Lehtinen continued, “We know that school policy, whether made at the local, state or national level, has profound impacts on bullying and harassment of LGBTQI+ students. “If this bill is signed into law, it makes every school less safe for transgender students and their peers. The American people have a laundry list of urgent matters impacting our families every day and our ability to put food on our tables and roofs over our heads, and these anti-trans politicians are ignoring the people’s business to take up the hateful agenda of right-wing extremists and target youth who just want to play sports with their friends. “It is not the government’s role to replace parents and intervene in the lives of our young people. They should be instead focused on ensuring that every student, no matter who they are or where they live, can be safe and respected at school,” Heng-Lehtinen said. “This is an attack on Title IX. Extremist lawmakers emboldened by the incoming administration plan to systematically weaken civil rights protections for all Americans, and they are starting right now.”

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State Rep. Venton Jones proposes

On the opening day of Texas’ 89th Legislative Session, state Rep. Venton Jones of House District 100 in Dallas, kicked the session off with a “deeply personal and historic gesture” when he proposed to his partner, Gregory Scott Jr., in the Texas State Capitol, according to a press release from Jones’ office. Surrounded by family, friends, colleagues and supporters Jones, who was recently elected both as Texas House Democratic Caucus whip and vice-chair of the Texas LGBTQ Caucus, got down on one knee and asked Scott to marry him, “marking a joyous start to his second term in office,” the press release noted, adding that the proposal “was met with cheers and a resounding ‘YES’ from Mr. Scott.”

Jones said, “Today, I took a renewed oath to serve my community with courage, conviction and love. I made a promise to the person who has stood beside me through every step of this journey. In a time when our love and our very existence are challenged, often in the halls of this very building, this moment is a reminder that love conquers all. “Gregory and I stand as proof that progress is unstoppable, and no amount of hate can erase the truth of who we are,” Jones said.

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University of St. Thomas faculty group throws support behind interim president, potential reforms

More than 80 current and former faculty at the University of St. Thomas have signed a letter of support for Interim President Fr. Dempsey Rosales-Acosta, countering a “suspicion” that some of their colleagues aim to undermine the authority of the new leader as he tries to clean up the private Catholic school in Houston. The signees said that their concerns stemmed from an emergency Faculty Senate meeting on Dec. 30, where present members passed resolutions related to job security during the search for a permanent president. The critics questioned the timing of the meeting, which many people couldn’t attend because of the holiday. “Although the resolutions were ultimately passed, the signees below question the appropriateness of those outcomes and believe the actions taken in that Faculty meeting are not congruent with the Faculty Senate's role,” they said in the Dec. 31 letter to the university’s board of directors. “We are hopeful that the leadership of Fr. Dempsey and his team will bring the necessary changes and stability to UST, particularly if they are allowed to exercise the full authority that their positions require.”

The professors who signed the letter outnumbered the 55 people who voted for the faculty senate resolutions for "stability in university governance." The move of others to come out and back Rosales-Acosta signals a division in the faculty ranks – one of those factions vocally stating a desire for reforms and the other seeking protections during anticipated changes under the interim president. Rosales-Acosta did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. The board of directors last month appointed the clergyman and theology professor to take over from Richard Ludwick, who resigned after seven years as president of the university. The shakeup followed several others in the administration in 2024 – including the exits of the vice president of academic affairs, chief legal counsel and chief of staff – and years of budget deficits that have threatened the financial health of UST. Ludwick's administration had also faced criticisms from a group called UST Concerned Students, which released a series of YouTube videos alleging that they didn't receive proper recourse after raising concerns about course availability, academic quality and safety on campus.

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Billionaire Bill Ackman bids to take over Howard Hughes and turn it into a firm like Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway

Billionaire Bill Ackman is offering to take over Howard Hughes Holdings, with the goal of turning the Houston real estate firm into a holding company akin to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management is seeking to own as much as 69% of Howard Hughes Holdings, up from the 38% that Pershing currently owns, for $85 a share. In a letter to the Howard Hughes board Monday, Ackman said long-term shareholders have been “displeased” with the company’s stock performance, even though he has a “high regard” for Howard Hughes’ leadership and current employees. Ackman in August pitched the idea of taking Howard Hughes private. The company formed a special committee at the time to evaluate the proposal. Now, Ackman wants to use the Howard Hughes name and ticker to create a diversified holding company that would invest in new companies.

“With apologies to Mr. Buffett, HHH would become a modern-day Berkshire Hathaway that would acquire controlling interests in operating companies,” Ackman said in a letter. Howard Hughes, which still has to approve the deal, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ackman was chairman of Howard Hughes from 2010, when the company was spun off from General Growth Properties, until he stepped down in April. Under the deal, Howard Hughes’ current employees would be retained, Ackman said. Pershing Square executives would assume leadership roles at Howard Hughes Holdings, but not at its real estate subsidiary. That division would be managed by Howard Hughes' current CEO, David O’Reilly.

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Sylvia Garcia: Mass deportation would be a moral catastrophe — and an economic one

President-elect Donald Trump has made it clear that he intends to wield the full power of the executive branch and the Republican-controlled Congress to deliver on his promise of mass deportations. This plan is not just a logistical nightmare — it’s an economic and moral catastrophe in the making. As someone who once served as the city controller of Houston, managing the finances of the nation’s fourth-largest city, I understand the numbers behind such a massive undertaking. And simply put, the math doesn't add up. The American Immigration Council estimates that to deport one million undocumented immigrants a year would cost more than $88 billion annually, totaling close to $1 trillion over more than a decade. And these costs only account for the expenses related to arrests, deportations, processing, and removals, leaving out the very real costs to family dependents, employers and taxpayers.

To put this into perspective, this funding could build more than 40,000 new elementary schools, construct nearly 3 million homes to tackle the housing crisis, or fund the Head Start program for almost 80 years. Instead, President-elect Trump’s plan would funnel taxpayer funds into forcibly removing millions of immigrants who contribute immensely to our communities every day. They are our neighbors, our friends and our coworkers. They sit next to us at church and restaurants, and their children are friends with yours at school. In contrast, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that about $7 trillion could be added to the GDP over the next year, due mostly to an increase in net immigration and its effect on the labor market. Deporting millions of workers would create shortages in critical industries, driving up prices for goods and housing, and costing billions in lost tax revenue. This would harm programs like Social Security and Medicare — programs undocumented immigrants pay into but cannot benefit from. In 2022, undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in taxes, including $25.7 billion for Social Security and $6.4 billion for Medicare. Mass deportations would rip a hole in our economy and jeopardize these programs. In my home state of Texas, nearly 2 million undocumented immigrants contributed roughly $4.9 billion in state and local taxes, the second-highest total in the nation. According to the Migration Policy Institute, immigrants living in the Houston area without legal status made up about 10% of the workforce in 2019. Their contributions are even more significant in certain industries, such as the agriculture and construction sectors.

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Texas AG accuses Allstate, Arity of using tracking software to raise insurance rates

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a lawsuit Monday accusing Allstate and Arity of collecting more than 45 million consumers’ driving data nationwide without their knowledge, according to a news release from the attorney general’s office. Paxton claims Allstate and Arity embedded “secret” software on consumers’ cellphones as a way to “justify raising Texans’ insurance rates.” Arity, Allstate’s subsidiary data analytics company, paid app developers “to incorporate its software to track consumers’ driving data,” the release said. KXAN has reached out to Allstate for a statement. We will update this if one is received.

Paxton said Allstate collected “trillions of miles worth of data” from consumers nationwide. The lawsuit claims when consumers requested a quote or to renew their coverage, Allstate and other insurers allegedly used their data to increase their car insurance premiums. “The personal data of millions of Americans was sold to insurance companies without their knowledge or consent in violation of the law. Texans deserve better and we will hold all these companies accountable,” he said in the release. This lawsuit comes after Paxton’s lawsuit against General Motors, as well has his ongoing investigations into “several car manufacturers for secretly collecting and selling drivers’ highly detailed driving data,” per the release. Paxton said the actions by Allstate and Arity violated the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA), which requires the company to give “clear notice and informed consent” with how it plans to use consumers’ “sensitive data.”

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BBB reports Texans lost $10M in fraudulent report in 2024

The Better Business Bureau reported on Monday it analyzed over 6,000 “BBB scam tracker” reports by Texans throughout 2024, according to a BBB press release. The analysis revealed Texans reported losing over $10 million to fraud, setting an all-time high since the “BBB scam tracker” was created in 2014. The BBB said that one-third of reports included an average loss of $150, a slightly higher average loss than in 2023.

Consumers between 45 years old and 54 years old were among those that reported the highest total losses at 2.8 million. Right behind that age group were consumers between 55 years old and 64 years old at 2.7 million lost, according to the press release. “Over the past few years, our data is showing a sharp increase in scam activity resulting in millions of dollars being lost,” said Heather Massey, vice president of communications and community relations at Better Business Bureau serving the Heart of Texas. “In just two years, scam reports have doubled, and losses have increased by more than 430 percent.” The BBB revealed the top five fraudulent reports that impacted Texans in 2024. Investment and cryptocurrency fraudulent reports were the costliest for Texans in 2024, the total loss was $3.1 million, according to the nonprofit organization.

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Violence erupts during Tarrant County Commissioners Court

Tensions erupted Tuesday, Jan. 14, at the year’s first session of the Tarrant County Commissioners Court. Sheriff’s Office court deputies detained three people for breaking decorum before and during a briefing by Sheriff Bill Waybourn and other county officials on deaths in the county jail. Tensions ran high from the session’s start, when Mansfield resident Charlie Hermes shouted the words of the national pledge of allegiance as the rest of the courtroom recited. When the pledge was finished, Hermes continued to shout “including Mason Yancy.” Yancy, 31, died Dec. 27 after suffering a medical emergency. He was an open carry protester who often appeared at Arlington City Council meetings. After reciting the pledge to the Texas flag, County Judge Tim O’Hare warned that any other outbursts would be cause for removal.

Later, during a proclamation to honor the 175th anniversary of the founding of Tarrant County, Hermes spoke up from the audience after the commissioners voted to approve the declaration without hearing from a person who had signed up for public comment but was not present at the time. When the person who had signed up to speak on the proclamation was found to be absent, O’Hare asked County Administrator Chandler Merritt if there were more people in an overflow room. Chandler said there was, and O’Hare said the speaker would be given the chance to speak if he showed up later. But Hermes spoke from his seat in the audience, asking how commissioners could vote without hearing public comment. Having issued a warning, O’Hare ordered his removal. Later, during a briefing from Zelia Baugh, executive vice-president of behavior health at John Peter Smith Hospital, a commotion could be heard in the lobby outside the court. A crowd soon gathered to watch as C.J. Grisham, a civil rights and criminal defense lawyer from Temple, argued with a court bailiff about his right to carry a firearm in the building. It was unclear what started the argument, but Grisham could be heard saying that he had a right to bring his weapon into the county administration building because of his status as an Army veteran. During that argument, self-described law enforcement watchdog Manuel Mata, of Fort Worth, came to the lobby to confront court deputies. He filmed them as he demanded their names and badge numbers. Mata was detained and taken away. His arrest was confirmed on the county’s inmate lookup system. A court deputy told the Star-Telegram that Grisham was allowed to show his license to carry a firearm as a veteran and was released.

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National Stories

Dire fire warning for LA area pushed back as winds ease

Easing winds delivered a brief but much-needed reprieve to firefighters Tuesday as they battled two massive blazes burning in the Los Angeles area, and the National Weather Service pushed back its unusually dire warning of critical fire weather until early the following day. Forecasters said the winds were below danger levels in the evening, but they were expected to strengthen overnight with potentially fire-fueling gusts. Red flag warnings remained in effect from Central California to the Mexican border until late afternoon Wednesday. Winds increased Tuesday but not to the near-hurricane-force levels that were predicted to happen earlier in the day. Still the danger was not over, officials said. “Key message: We are not out of the woods yet,” the National Weather Service in Los Angeles said in a post on social media. “The winds underperformed today, but one more enhancement could happen tonight-tomorrow.”

AP correspondent Ty O’Neil reports firefighters continue to battle Los Angeles wildfires as the return of strong winds threaten their fight. This round of Santa Ana winds was not expected to be as mighty as last week, but they could carry fire-sparking embers for miles and stoke new outbreaks in a region where at least 25 people have already been killed. Firefighters made more progress on the Palisades Fire, the largest and most stubborn blaze. CalFire Operations Section Chief Christian Litz said he took a helicopter ride around the perimeter and saw no active flames, though it was far from over. Nearly 90,000 households lost electricity as utilities shut off power to prevent their lines from sparking new blazes.

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Trump nominees Pam Bondi, Marco Rubio and more face Senate grilling today

Trump CIA pick John Ratcliffe, Transportation Secretary nominee Sean Duffy, Energy Secretary nominee Chris Wright and OMB Director nominee Russell Vought will also testify to the Senate on Wednesday, beginning at 9:00 a.m. EST. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer instructed his caucus not to hold back, saying these hearings will be an opportunity for them to grill Trump's choices about the incoming president's agenda.

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Massie removed from powerful House committee after vote against Johnson

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., no longer sits on the powerful House Rules Committee after he was the only Republican to vote against Speaker Mike Johnson in the House leadership election. "I volunteered to step aside if the Speaker wanted to place someone else on the Rules Committee and he chose that option. This was not retribution for my vote against him," Massie posted on X. "I look forward to continuing my work on the Judiciary and Transportation committees." The Rules Committee holds sway over which bills make it to the House floor for a vote. Massie, a hardline libertarian, had said he would step aside from the panel voluntarily after he opposed Johnson for speaker on grounds that Johnson had relied on Democratic support to pass major spending bills.

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Republican senator previously seen as a roadblock to Pete Hegseth's nomination says she'll back him to lead the Pentagon

Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, who had been seen as a key Republican skeptic of Pete Hegseth’s nomination to lead the Defense Department, said she will support him after his performance at Tuesday's confirmation hearing. “Our next commander in chief selected Pete Hegseth to serve in this role, and after our conversations, hearing from Iowans, and doing my job as a United States Senator, I will support President Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense," Ernst said in a statement. "As I serve on the Armed Services Committee, I will work with Pete to create the most lethal fighting force and hold him to his commitments of auditing the Pentagon, ensuring opportunity for women in combat while maintaining high standards, and selecting a senior official to address and prevent sexual assault in the ranks,” she added.

Ernst had indicated her plans to support Hegseth's bid in an interview Tuesday on Simon Conway’s radio show. "I figured you would ask this, so yes, I will be supporting President Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth," Ernst told Conway. Ernst’s support is a huge boost to Hegseth’s odds, all but assuring his confirmation to lead the Pentagon barring twists in the Republican-led Senate. She telegraphed her intentions during her friendly questioning of Hegseth at Tuesday’s hearing, which she began by entering into the record a letter from a Hegseth supporter arguing for his nomination. As a sexual assault survivor and combat veteran who sounded initially skeptical of Hegseth, Ernst was seen as the linchpin of his path to confirmation. Hegseth has been accused of sexual assault — an allegation he denies — and previously said women shouldn’t serve in combat.

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Trump team sidelines RFK Jr.’s antivaccine aides

Two vaccine skeptics who had been advising Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as he prepares to become health secretary have been sidelined by Trump transition officials, people familiar with the matter said, underscoring a split over immunizations in the “Make America Healthy Again” movement. Adviser Stefanie Spear and lawyer Aaron Siri had asked prospective administration hires about their beliefs around vaccines even if they were interviewing for posts that had little to do with immunizations, people familiar with the interviews said. Kennedy, whose hearings to lead the Department of Health and Human Services could start on Capitol Hill as early as next week, also lobbed questions related to inoculation, the people said. The questions were different from those asked in separate meetings with President-elect Donald Trump’s staff, according to some of the people. Trump’s team asked about topics traditionally important to conservatives, such as the size of government and deregulation.

Siri is no longer advising the presidential transition, a transition spokeswoman confirmed, and people familiar with the matter said his vaccine stances played a role. Spear, who had told others she would be Kennedy’s chief of staff, was passed over for that post in favor of a veteran of the first Trump administration—in part because of her vaccine priorities and in part because of her lack of experience, according to people familiar with the matter. A spokeswoman for the transition denied the existence of tension between the Trump and Kennedy camps. “Bobby Kennedy has worked hand-in-glove with President Trump’s transition,” said Katie Miller, a transition spokeswoman who also represents Kennedy. “HHS is well positioned for success.” The moves represent a disconnect emerging between the Trump transition and a core faction of Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again coalition, which helped fuel his political rise and land him a top job in the Trump administration. Others who have embraced elements of the “MAHA” mantra, such as encouraging healthy eating, expect that Trump’s official agenda in office will have little to do with vaccines. Some key players in both Trump’s world and Kennedy’s orbit think drastic action on vaccines would be a distraction and a political loser, people familiar with the matter said. Ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, Kennedy should instead focus on racking up wins in areas such as promoting healthy food and exercise, which some people advising the transition see as more politically palatable.

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TikTok could soon be banned. Here are alternative apps, from Lemon8 to RedNote.

With a TikTok ban looming, some users are scrambling to find a new destination for trending videos. The idea to ban the short-form video app because of security concerns tied to its Beijing-based owner initially came up during Donald Trump’s first term as president. Since then, court cases have inched the app closer to an outright ban in the United States. On Friday, the Supreme Court appeared likely to clear the way for a federal law that would shut down TikTok in the United States unless the popular video-sharing platform divests from Chinese ownership. A decision is expected this week. Replacing TikTok won’t be as simple as migrating to a new video app, though. TikTok has become a go-to spot for news, internet culture and lively debates, especially among young people. To compete, other video platforms would need large numbers of talented creators, loyal users and raucous comment sections.

Some TikTok alternatives — including newish contenders Lemon8 and RedNote — shot to the top of app download lists this week as people await official news from the Supreme Court, the company, and the app stores and internet service providers that may soon have to enforce a ban. Whether you’re looking for a brand-new online hangout or switching to something like YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels, here is a list of TikTok-esque apps that could replace the blockbuster video platform. If you move to TikTok clone Lemon8, you will see lots of other new users learning the ropes — the app had soared to No. 1 in the Apple App Store’s “lifestyle” category as of Monday. The problem is that Lemon8 is owned by ByteDance, the same company that owns TikTok, and could be subject to the same ban, depending on how the government and app stores proceed. Lemon8 is sort of like a mashup of TikTok and Pinterest, with separate feeds for different categories such as “tech” or “outfits.” Its engagement seems small compared with TikTok’s, with videos from popular creators generally getting a few hundred likes. RedNote — an English translation of the app’s Chinese name, Xiaohongshu — popped to No. 1 on the App Store social media charts Monday. It’s hugely popular in China, where it combines e-commerce and video content, much like TikTok’s Shop function.

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Johnson confirms ‘discussions’ on tying wildfire aid to debt limit

House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed to reporters Monday there’s “been some discussion” of tying California wildfire aid to a debt limit increase, after GOP members raised the issue with Donald Trump in several meetings at the President-elect’s Florida resort this weekend. The notion that Congress could make the release of disaster relief dollars conditional upon also agreeing to raise the debt ceiling is already facing pushback from some Democrats. But many California Republicans, including Rep. Doug LaMalfa, said in a brief interview Monday they may have no choice but to pursue that option given the potential urgency around addressing the Los Angles fires, paired with the reality that the nation could default on its borrowing authority in a matter of months.

Linking the two issues together could bring a larger coalition of support to the table from both sides of the aisle and allow Johnson (R-La.) to deliver Trump a debt ceiling increase sooner rather than later. LaMalfa also noted, however, that it will “take a little time” to assess the damage in California and estimate how much money will be needed on top of the $100 billion Congress made available for natural disasters at the end of last year. He added that a bipartisan negotiation over wildfire aid and the debt ceiling could actually be a positive exercise for lawmakers early in the year. But it could also be complicated and quickly grow unwieldy: LaMalfa, the chair of the Congressional Western Caucus, said he expects lawmakers from states that were hit hard by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, including North Carolina, to also press for more federal disaster relief money if wildfire aid is also made available. Ultimately, House Republicans have yet to decide on a path forward for addressing the debt ceiling in the coming months, with many fiscal conservatives opposed to doing so at all without steep, corresponding spending cuts. Johnson (R-La.) has pushed to include a debt limit increase as part of the massive budget reconciliation bill Republicans are pursuing to enact new border security, energy and tax policies. But Several House Republicans during their Sunday night dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, specifically raised the pitfalls of addressing the debt limit in reconciliation packages, according to two House Republicans who were in the room and were granted anonymity to share details of a private conversation.

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‘Perfectly legal’ if ‘sanctuary cities’ don’t help with mass deportations, law scholar says

More than 240 political leaders in so-called “sanctuary municipalities” received letters last month threatening them with legal prosecution and up to 20 years in prison if they hinder mass deportations. The letters were sent out by a group called American First Legal, a firm started by Stephen Miller, Donald’s Trumps next deputy chief of staff for policy. In California, state Attorney General Rob Bonta got one, as well as the mayor of Los Angeles and the city’s chief of police. San Diego’s former Board of Supervisor’s Chair Nora Vargas also received one. Many others including the mayors in big cities like Chicago, Washington D.C., and New York got one, as did small-town mayors like Las Cruces’ Eric Enriquez.

In short, the letters issue threats saying, “your jurisdictions’ sanctuary policies could expose you and your subordinates to criminal liability for conspiracy to commit a federal offense and conspiracy to impede a federal officer.” Those who received the letters are told they could face “up to 20 years imprisonment.” “The threat of criminal prosecution is really not realistic,” said Robert Shapiro, dean of the University of San Diego’s School of Law. Border Report asked Shapiro to review the letters from a legal and independent perspective. “That letter that was sent out threatens criminal prosecution and things like that, I suppose if state and local officials were actively obstructing what federal officials were doing, there could be those kinds of legal sanctions,” said Shapiro. “In general, when California or other states or other cities talk about being sanctuary jurisdictions, they don’t mean they’re actually going to blockade what federal officials are doing, what they mean is they’re not going to assist.” According to Shapiro, not helping or not wanting to help, is not a crime. “They’re not going to give information to federal authorities, they’re not going to enforce the federal law themselves and in general that’s perfectly legal.” Shapiro expects very little, if any prosecutions at all. “This really is just a replay of what went on during the first Trump administration, there were no criminal prosecutions of state local officials in that administration and assuming state and local officials do what they did at that time, there won’t be any criminal prosecutions this time either.”

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Lead Stories

Texas lawmakers will have $24B surplus to work with this session, comptroller says

Texas lawmakers will return to Austin this week with a budget surplus of nearly $24 billion, buoyed by growing tax revenue and a stalled school funding increase, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said Monday. “Texas is in good financial shape,” Hegar said when he announced the 2026-2027 biennium revenue estimate on Monday. Lawmakers will have $194.6 billion in funds available for general-purpose spending this session, a roughly 1% decrease from the money available during the 2024-2025 biennium. Last session, lawmakers convened with a "once-in-a-lifetime” cash surplus, much of which they spent on property tax relief for homeowners. Now, Hegar said, the Texas economy “will continue to normalize after the profound disruptions of the pandemic, dramatic recovery when COVID restrictions were lifted, and high inflation that accompany a booming economic growth.”

Hegar attributed much of the state’s surplus to “prudent decisions by the Legislature last session to do one time expenses, not spend all the dollars, to be cautious,” he said. Some of the state’s nearly $24 billion cash surplus comes from $4.5 billion that was set aside last session for school funding and a school voucher program but never enacted. Gov. Greg Abbott has said creating a voucher program is his top legislative priority, and he has refused to take up increased public school funding until it passes. In 2023, state lawmakers allocated $18 billion to property tax relief, and they are likely to consider passing further tax breaks onto homeowners this session. Lawmakers have also signaled they will tackle the skyrocketing cost of home insurance, which is now among the most expensive in the country. Hegar noted that insurance tax collections, which make up a small share of the state’s revenue, skyrocketed in the past two years, jumping by nearly 16% in 2022 and more than 30% in 2023, compared to roughly 5% growth in prior years.

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Senate braces for 'train wreck' as hearings kick off for Trump Cabinet picks

The Republican-led Senate is set to hold a dozen hearings this week for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks, with the hope of confirming them quickly after he’s inaugurated next Monday. The selections coming before the Senate range from those who are expected to have smooth paths to confirmation, like Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for secretary of state, to others who face headwinds and need the hearings to garner support, such as former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, a military veteran, for defense secretary. “We’re going to have a little bit of a train wreck next week of confirmation hearings,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters last week. “But I’m glad we’re getting those done, and the FBI background check would naturally be a part of that process.” The hearings kick off Tuesday with Hegseth in the hot seat. Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum's hearing to be interior secretary was postponed from Tuesday to Thursday, as the Office of Government Ethics has yet to complete its review, said Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, the chair of Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Similarly, a hearing for former Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., Trump’s pick for veterans affairs secretary, was also scheduled for Tuesday. But that will be delayed until Jan. 21 because the FBI has not completed its background check, according to Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chair Jerry Moran, R-Kansas. On Wednesday, hearings will feature Rubio; former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick to head the Justice Department; South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to run the Department of Homeland Security; former National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe, who was picked to lead the CIA; former Trump White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, who was tapped to fill the role again; former Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., who was selected for transportation secretary; and oil and gas industry executive Chris Wright, Trump’s choice for energy secretary. And the Thursday hearings will include a second day of Bondi appearing before senators; former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., the pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency; hedge fund executive Scott Bessent, who’s in line to lead the Treasury Department; and former NFL player Eric Scott Turner, who was tapped for housing and urban development secretary.

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Global bond tantrum is a wrenching and worrisome start to new year

For those unsettled by the relentless rise in government bond yields in the US and across much of the world lately, the message from markets is getting clearer by the day: Get used to it. The world’s biggest bond market and global bellwether is leading a reset higher in borrowing costs, with the prospect of a prolonged period of elevated rates carrying consequences for economies and assets everywhere. Just days into 2025, yields on US government debt are surging as the risks to supposedly super-safe assets mount. The economy continues to power ahead — Friday’s blowout employment report provided the latest evidence — while the Federal Reserve is rethinking the timing of further interest-rate cuts and Donald Trump is returning to the White House with policies prioritizing growth over debt and price fears as borrowing has soared.

The rate on 10-year notes alone has soared more than a percentage point in four months and now is within sight of the 5% barrier last breached briefly in 2023 and otherwise not seen since before the global financial crisis nearly two decades ago. Yields edged higher on Monday as traders’ expectations for Fed easing dwindled further and oil prices rose. Longer-dated US bonds have already touched 5%, with that milestone now seen by many on Wall Street as the new normal for the price of money. Similar spikes are playing out internationally, with investors increasingly wary of debt from the UK to Japan. “There is a tantrum-esque type of environment here and it’s global,” said Gregory Peters, who helps oversee about $800 billion as co-chief investment officer at PGIM Fixed Income. For some, the shift upward in yields is part of a natural realignment after years of a near-zero rate environment following the emergency measures taken after the financial crisis and then Covid. But others see new and worrisome dynamics that present major challenges.

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Surging job market could prove costly for households, businesses as odds of quick rate cuts fade

U.S. job growth surged and unemployment fell last month, an unexpected show of strength that may prove costly to homebuyers and businesses who were counting on sharply lower interest rates to lower the cost of buying everything from refrigerators to homes. Employers added 256,000 jobs last month, up from 212,000 in November, the Labor Department reported Friday. Unemployment, which was expected to hover around 4.2%, fell to 4.1% last month. Health care companies added 46,000 jobs, retailers 43,000 and government agencies at the federal, state and local levels 33,000. The final jobs report of 2024 underscores that the economy and hiring were able to grow at a solid pace even with interest rates much higher than they were before the pandemic. As a result, the Federal Reserve could be much less likely to cut borrowing costs again in the coming months. The Fed cut its rate three times last year in part out of concern that hiring and growth were flagging.

Overall, the solid jobs figures suggest the economy is entering a post-COVID period of steady growth, higher interest rates, low unemployment, and slightly elevated inflation. “There’s just no need for additional cuts in the Fed’s rate any time soon,” said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, an accounting and tax advisory firm. Brusuelas says that the economy, fueled in part by greater productivity, can grow at a steadily faster rate than it has since the Great Recession 16 years ago. Low unemployment can fuel healthy consumer spending. Yet greater demand can also push up inflation. “The economy is going to grow at a much higher equilibrium level, which implies higher inflation and higher interest rates relative to what we got used to from 2000 to 2020,” he said. The U.S. continued to create jobs steadily throughout 2024, 2.2 million in all. That is down from job growth of 3 million in 2023, 4.5 million in 2022 and a record 6.4 million in 2021 as the economy bounced back from massive COVID-19 layoffs. But last year’s average of 186,000 new jobs a month still slightly exceeds the pre-pandemic average of 182,000 from 2016-2019, solid years for the economy.

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State Stories

Greg Abbott names former Rep. Shawn Thierry to state board after party swap

Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday appointed former Houston state Rep. Shawn Thierry, who switched political parties after losing her Democratic primary, to the Texas Juvenile Justice Board. The board, whose nine members are appointed by Abbott, develops rules that govern the Texas Juvenile Justice Department and oversees the state's secure youth offender facilities. Thierry’s term will expire Feb. 1, 2029. An attorney, Thierry served four terms in the Texas House and made waves last session when she bucked her party on LGBTQ issues. She was defeated in a primary runoff last spring by union organizer Lauren Ashley Simmons, who will now represent the district after winning the general election this November.

Thierry’s political career has taken a remarkable turn since she went viral for a speech last year on the House floor defending her decision to support restrictions on treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy for youth. She also voted in favor of a ban on collegiate transgender athletes, angering many in the party who saw the votes as betrayals from a legislator who had previously won recognition for her support of LGBTQ initiatives. In August, she announced her new role as director of political strategy for Genspect, an organization that opposes gender-affirming care for children and young people experiencing gender dysphoria. A little over a week later, she made public her decision to become a Republican, citing the issue as a main driver.

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Lawyers for Texas say effort to close Catholic charity does not limit religious liberty

An attorney with the Texas attorney general’s office told the Texas Supreme Court on Monday that the agency’s efforts to close down a Catholic charity that helps migrants were not an attempt to limit religious liberty in the state. Justices on the all-Republican court heard oral arguments involving the fate of Annunciation House, an El Paso Catholic charity that Attorney General Ken Paxton has sought to shut down. The charity, which helps migrants who crossed into the United States regardless of their legal status, has defended its work by saying it is following Catholic teachings that emphasize helping those in need. Shutting down the charity, its lawyers told the court, would “substantially burden its free exercise of religion.” Courts across the country have recognized that providing shelter is “foundational to the exercise of religion,” lawyers for Annunciation House wrote in court documents.

Justice Debra Lehrmann asked Associate Deputy Attorney General Ryan Baasch if the state was seeking to limit religious liberty. No, Baasch said. “We want to deter organizations from knowingly and deliberately — that’s what the record here shows — knowingly and deliberately sheltering illegally present aliens,” he said Monday. Monday’s oral arguments lasted about 45 minutes, and a ruling is expected by the end of June. Justice James Sullivan, who was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott last week after serving as his general counsel, did not participate in the case. Paxton sued Annunciation House last year, accusing the charity of encouraging illegal immigration by providing services to migrants regardless of their legal status. Paxton also demanded records from the nonprofit, including documents identifying every migrant helped and the services provided since the start of 2022. In July, District Judge Francisco Dominguez of El Paso dismissed Paxton’s lawsuit, calling it “outrageous and intolerable” and a pretext to justify the “harassment of Annunciation House employees and the persons seeking refuge.”

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Dallas Cowboys moving on from Mike McCarthy as head coach

Mike McCarthy’s tenure with the Cowboys has come to an end. The two sides have reached the decision to move on, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Dallas Morning News. After a disappointing 7-10 season that came down to a referendum on the job done by McCarthy and his staff and the approach Jerry Jones and his son, Stephen, took in building this team, the club now begins its search for the 10th head coach in franchise history. “I don’t like to talk about myself in this manner, but I’m a winner," McCarthy said after the team lost to Washington in the regular-season finale. “I know how to win. I’ve won a championship. I’ve won a championship in this stadium.

“That’s who I am, and we’ll see where it goes." The Cowboys compiled a 49-35 record in McCarthy’s five seasons. Tom Landry and Jason Garrett are the only coaches in franchise history with more victories. After a rough start in his initial season, one conducted in a pandemic along with the loss of starting quarterback Dak Prescott to a broken leg in Week 5, Dallas showed signs of improvement late, finishing a 6-10 season with three wins in the final four weeks. Dallas then took off, recording three consecutive 12-5 seasons under McCarthy and advancing to the postseason in three straight years for the first time since the franchise’s Super Bowl run in the 1990s. The Cowboys have won the NFC East twice in his tenure. McCarthy, however, has been unable to lead the team past the divisional round, a ceiling that has limited the club for 29 years. He has a 1-3 playoff record, watching his team lose in the playoffs twice to San Francisco followed by a crushing loss at AT&T Stadium to Green Bay to end the 2023 season. The Cowboys’ one postseason victory in his tenure was over Tampa Bay in Tom Brady’s final game. Kellen Moore served as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator and play caller in McCarthy’s first three seasons. But McCarthy decided to assume those duties two years ago, leading to Moore’s departure.

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Humana, Baylor Scott & White impasse leaves some seniors out in the cold

In Rod Hedges’ opinion, switching health insurance plans is one of the worst possible ways to spend time. “In my case, I would prefer a root canal,” the 68-year old said. Hedges and his wife Kathryn spent days sorting out their health coverage and looking at new plans. They learned in December that their Baylor Scott & White Health providers would become out-of-network on their existing plan. The Dallas couple is currently on a Humana Medicare Advantage plan. But Humana and Baylor Scott & White Health failed to reach an agreement for the insurer’s Medicare Advantage plans, meaning the health system became out-of-network on those plans at the beginning of 2025.

Spokespeople for both Baylor Scott & White and Humana confirmed the change, but did not address questions about why the two parties were unable to reach an agreement. It’s not clear exactly how many people are impacted by the change. Federal data from 2024 indicates there are about 25,000 people in Dallas and Tarrant counties who are enrolled in Humana Medicare Advantage plans. Most people become eligible for Medicare when they turn 65. Once eligible, seniors can enroll in traditional Medicare or they can opt for a Medicare Advantage plan, which falls under the Medicare umbrella but is operated by a private insurer. Seniors may choose the private plans because they often have lower costs or offer perks such as dental coverage or gym memberships. But hospitals across the country have complained that Medicare Advantage plans are more likely to deny coverage for care and are slower to pay for care that is approved. Meanwhile, Humana is not the only insurer dropping out of Texas health systems' networks this year.

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Cy-Fair ISD board considering transgender policy that mirrors Katy ISD

Cypress-Fairbanks ISD trustees are considering a gender policy that could require staff to notify parents if their child uses a pronoun at school other than their biological sex. Staff would also be prohibited from diagnosing or treating a student with "gender dysphoria" under what some are calling a "hateful policy." The district's policy, called “parent’s rights and responsibilities,” continues an effort by trustees in the state's third-largest school district that began earlier this school year when the board adopted a policy mandating that only students of the same biological sex could use a sex-segregated bathroom. The gender policy closely resembles the one adopted by neighboring Katy ISD in August 2023, which triggered an ongoing federal civil rights investigation. In the last school year, at least 23 students were reported to their parents as transgender because of that policy, according to Chronicle reporting.

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Chris Tomlinson: How campaign megadonors are eroding the independence of Texas lawmakers as the Legislature opens

The public gallery overlooking the Texas House of Representatives is nicknamed “the owners’ box,” because that’s where major campaign donors and their lobbyists sit when overseeing lawmakers doing their bidding. Typically, at least once per legislative session, an impassioned author of an endangered bill will urge representatives not to look up at “the owners’ box” for cues on how to vote. Instead, they argue, elected officials “should vote their district.” Independent thinking is getting harder in the Texas Legislature. Texas House members will vote Tuesday on whether to take another step toward becoming a rubber stamp for priorities set by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and his billionaire donors. Students of Texas government learn early that the lieutenant governor is the state’s most powerful politician. He decides who will chair senate committees and what bills have the possibility of becoming law. By comparison, the governor’s power is limited to vetoing bills and limited political appointments.

Patrick rules with an iron hand, refusing to allow a bill to pass unless a majority of Republicans support it. Even if a bill authored by a Democrat has enough Republican support to pass, Patrick will not allow a vote unless most GOP senators sign off on it. The lieutenant governor cannot introduce a bill or have a vote. Over the last few election cycles, though, Patrick has rewarded those doing his bidding with powerful committee chairmanships. He has financed insurgent candidates in Republican primaries to drive out those who do not obey him. Patrick’s power does not come from his political skills but from his campaign war chest. West Texas oil billionaires Tim Dunn, Farris Wilks and others with a Christian nationalist agenda give Patrick enough money that he doesn’t have to worry about making anyone else happy. Last session, Republican senators consistently voted as a block to push forward Patrick’s priorities. When Patrick and Abbott disagree on an issue—and they often do—senators side with the lieutenant governor. The post has never been more powerful.

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Jail chief leaves Dallas, heads west to help Tarrant County

The Chief Deputy who helped improve Dallas County jail enough to pass recent jail inspections recently accepted a top position with Tarrant County’s jail. Shannon Herklotz, Detention Services Chief Deputy, left Dallas last month to become Tarrant County’s day-to-day operations jail administrator. Though Tarrant has not announced his hiring, Dallas County commissioners recognized Herklotz during the regular meeting Dec. 17. Commissioner John Wiley Price informed the court then that it was Herklotz’s last day in Dallas. Price said he would’ve liked Herklotz to stay, but Dallas County couldn’t match Tarrant County’s compensation offer.

“They understand that they're in trouble,” he said. Nearly 70 people have died in Tarrant County jail custody in seven years. Tarrant County has paid more than $4.3 million in lawsuit settlements since 2022 for alleged prisoner abuse and medical neglect. Herklotz previously worked at Harris County’s jail. He resigned from that job in January 2023, after a record number of custody deaths in 2022, according to Houston Public Media. He spent two decades — most of his career — at the Texas Commission on Jail Standards. He joined the Dallas County Sheriff's Office in 2023. Dallas County officials hope to fill its vacant position by spring, Price said.

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Judge dismisses charges against former UT Austin lecturer arrested after pro-Palestinian protest

A Travis County judge dismissed charges Monday against a former UT Austin lecturer for his alleged behavior during a pro-Palestinian protest last year. Judge Carlos Barrera granted a motion to dismiss charges against Rich Heyman after prosecutors failed to get an indictment within the amount of time required by state law. "The fact that we're here at all today is ridiculous," Heyman said outside the courtroom. "We shouldn't even be here." The Travis County Attorney's Office said in a statement they do not plan to pursue the case further after the judge's dismissal. In May, state police arrested Heyman outside his home and charged him with interfering with public duties, a misdemeanor. A state trooper accused Heyman of pulling on a bicycle he was using to create a barrier around protesters gathered on the South Lawn on April 29.

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Fort Worth nursing program to train 30 nurses amid shortage

A new class of Fort Worth nursing students started classes Jan. 13, a first day of school that will also help address a statewide shortage of the critical profession. Undergraduate nursing students started class at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. The group of 30 students are the school’s first and only on-campus class in the university’s brand new nursing school. HSC’s new nursing school was created in part to respond to a statewide nursing shortage. During and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals, nursing homes, and other health providers faced a staffing crisis, as nurses and other workers quit their jobs or retired after exhausting months or years on the front lines of the crisis. During the the height of the staffing crises, in 2022, three out of every four Texas hospitals reported inadequate staffing levels.

Hospitals reported a median nurse vacancy rate of about 18%, meaning almost one in every five nursing positions was empty. Last year, the rate dropped to 8%, according to the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies. But long term, the the state health department still predicts a nursing shortage in Texas, particularly as Fort Worth’s population continues to grow rapidly and continues to age. By 2030, the department projects North Texas will be short 15,700 nurses compared to the demand demand. In addition to the shortage, fewer nursing students are passing the national licensing exams and are able to go on to become nurses. In 2022, about 80% of U.S.-educated nursing candidates passed the exam, 8 percentage points lower than in 2019 and the lowest point in the last decade. “What we’re seeing is when, when nurses graduate, their entry level competency continues to go down,” said Darla Gruben, who has helped to design and create HSC’s curriculum for its nursing students. HSC’s goal, she said, is to graduate competent nurses who are ready to treat patients in a nursing residency program. There are about 250 nursing programs in the state, according to the center for nursing workforce studies.

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Keller school board calls meeting for district split talks Jan. 13th, 2025

The Keller school board will meet at 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16, to discuss a proposal to split the district in two. The meeting will include a chance for the public to express their opinions on the matter, as well as hear the board’s remarks on the proposal, but no action will be taken on Thursday. It will be held at the district’s Education Center, 350 Keller Parkway, Keller. The Tarrant County Commissioners Court appears set to discuss the matter in a closed meeting two days before the Keller school board meeting. The agenda for the Jan. 14 commissioners court session states commissioners will get legal advice on the statutes in the Texas Education Code on detaching part of a district. A spokesperson for County Judge Tim O’Hare declined to comment on the matter.

“Until we fully understand what the county’s role would be in the process, any comment from this office would be premature,” she said. The proposal sparked debate last week after Fort Worth council member Charles Lauersdorf confirmed he had heard about it from a school board member. Mayor Mattie Parker said in a statement that she learned of the proposed split in a city meeting on Jan. 8. The school board member told Lauersdorf that the board did not want to make its plans known in an attempt to avoid a public outcry. But once members of the nonprofit advocacy group Keller ISD Families for Public Education caught wind of it, outcry ensued. The majority, though not all, of comments on the organization’s Facebook post about the proposal were from people who expressed opposition to the split and the lack of transparency in the process so far. The board was originally set to hold a special meeting on Jan. 16, according to a scheduled live stream on the district’s YouTube page that has since been taken down.

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Governor Abbott orders Texas flags at full-staff on Jan. 20

All Texas flags must be raised to full-staff for President-Elect Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday, Jan. 13, even though all federal flags must be flown at half-staff in honor of former President Jimmy Carter. Following Carter’s death on Dec. 29, President Joe Biden ordered flags to be lowered across the nation. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, flags must remain at half-staff for 30 days when a president dies. Conversely, flags are normally full-staff for Inauguration Day. This day falls on Jan. 20 every four years (or Jan. 21 if Jan. 20 falls on a Sunday). President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in this year. Federal flags will remain at half-staff for Carter until Jan. 28. This has only happened one other time, when former President Richard Nixon was sworn in for his second term in 1973 and flags were lowered following the death of former President Harry Truman.

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In San Antonio, a pioneer of modern faith-based community organizing has deep roots

“Back then, when it was going to rain, we knew we were going to lose somebody,” said Linda Davila about her San Antonio, Texas, neighbors a half-century ago. At the time, the South Texas city’s all-white City Council had neglected the streets and sewers in its Hispanic neighborhoods, while their residents’ voting power was diluted through at-large elections. By the early 1970s, deaths from flooding energized the city’s Latino population to begin organizing, largely through their Catholic parishes. Communities Organized for Public Service, founded in 1974, soon turned out 500 people to attend a City Council meeting. “We were able to get a $40 million bond passed for our area to take care of the flooding,” recalled Davila, then involved as a youth group member at St. Stephen Catholic Church. Known today as COPS/Metro, after merging with other community-organizing groups formed in the 1980s, the organization has the attention of civic leaders. No longer concerned with flooding alone, it has advocated against spending public funds on stadium projects and for putting money instead into public amenities such as parks, libraries, a new community college, a low-cost diabetes center, workforce training and education funding.

COPS/Metro is “the nagging conscience in the back of the minds of the City Council and mayor,” as the organization fights “for public services and for infrastructure for the working poor and for the working class,” said Jon Taylor, professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio. San Antonio voters also now elect representatives by district, taking the city back from a handful of “big-money elites,” in the words of Sonia Rodriguez, a San Antonio resident and former COPS president. In December, more than 1,000 people packed an athletic arena at St. Mary’s University to launch a yearlong celebration of the organization’s 50-year history — and to plan for its future. Sitting with their churches amid the electric energy of a political rally, the crowd cheered as their pastors and lay leaders secured commitments from the city’s political and business leaders to work together on a variety of initiatives. COPS/Metro is “the nagging conscience in the back of the minds of the City Council and mayor,” as the organization fights “for public services and for infrastructure for the working poor and for the working class,” said Jon Taylor, professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio. San Antonio voters also now elect representatives by district, taking the city back from a handful of “big-money elites,” in the words of Sonia Rodriguez, a San Antonio resident and former COPS president. In December, more than 1,000 people packed an athletic arena at St. Mary’s University to launch a yearlong celebration of the organization’s 50-year history — and to plan for its future. Sitting with their churches amid the electric energy of a political rally, the crowd cheered as their pastors and lay leaders secured commitments from the city’s political and business leaders to work together on a variety of initiatives. They are also the leading example of a movement that has revitalized a strategy of community organizing that originally spread throughout the U.S. at the tail end of the Great Depression. Saul Alinsky, a community activist and political theorist who wrote “Rules for Radicals,” and others founded the Industrial Areas Foundation in Chicago in 1940, rallying with leaders, including clergy, in impoverished, often urban, neighborhoods to improve residents’ lives. Led by Ernesto Cortés Jr., COPS revised Alinsky’s tactics to push more deeply into congregations, especially Catholic parishes, developing the organizing skills of their lay members, particularly women, and turning them into community leaders.

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County attorney files court brief supporting Annunciation House

El Paso County Attorney Christina Sanchez has filed an amicus curiae or “friend of the court” brief with the Texas Supreme Court in support of El Paso’s Annunciation House, her office announced on Sunday, Jan. 12. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been seeking to shut down Annunciation House since last February, alleging that the El Paso-based network of migrant shelters encourages illegal immigration and is a de facto stash house. The Texas Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case starting at 8 a.m. Mountain time on Monday, Jan. 13, the County Attorney’s Office said. The friend of the court brief filed by Sanchez urges the state’s highest court to deny Paxton’s attempt to shut down the nonprofit organization.

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Texas AG drops probe of major US banks following NZBA exodus

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he will end his ongoing probe of major U.S.-based banks and allow them to conduct business in the Lone Star State following their recent departures from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance. Paxton has previously criticized the group for having “unlawful ESG commitments.” Paxton announced he would drop his review of Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase in a Tuesday statement; all three banks exited NZBA within a one-week span at the beginning of the year. The Texas AG previously dropped his probe into Wells Fargo in December after the bank announced it was leaving the alliance. All four financial institutions — in addition to Barclays, Fidelity, State Street and others — were part of a review Paxton initiated in October 2023 that required the targeted firms to prove their NZBA membership wasn’t in violation of Senate Bill 13. The 2021 Texas legislation requires the state to stop doing business with companies that take actions to “limit commercial relations” with fossil fuel companies.

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National Stories

Trump wants to active duty U.S. troops to quell protests and round up immigrants. Will the military comply?

The last time an American president deployed the U.S. military domestically under the Insurrection Act — during the deadly Los Angeles riots in 1992 — Douglas Ollivant was there. Ollivant, then a young Army first lieutenant, says things went fairly smoothly because it was somebody else — the cops — doing the head-cracking to restore order, not his 7th Infantry Division. He and his troops didn’t have to detain or shoot at anyone. “There was real sensitivity about keeping federal troops away from the front lines,” said Ollivant, who was ordered in by President George H.W. Bush as rioters in central-south LA set fire to buildings, assaulted police and bystanders, pelted cars with rocks and smashed store windows in the aftermath of the videotaped police beating of Rodney King, a Black motorist. “They tried to keep us in support roles, backing up the police.” By the end of six days of rioting, 63 people were dead and 2,383 injured — though reportedly none at the hands of the military.

But some in the U.S. military fear next time could be different. According to nearly a dozen retired officers and current military lawyers, as well as scholars who teach at West Point and Annapolis, an intense if quiet debate is underway inside the U.S. military community about what orders it would be obliged to obey if President-elect Donald Trump decides to follow through on his previous warnings that he might deploy troops against what he deems domestic threats, including political enemies, dissenters and immigrants. On Nov. 18, two weeks after the election, Trump confirmed he plans to declare a national emergency and use the military for the mass deportations of illegal immigrants. One fear is that domestic deployment of active-duty troops could lead to bloodshed given that the regular military is mainly trained to shoot at and kill foreign enemies. The only way to prevent that is establishing clear “rules of engagement” for domestic deployments that outline how much force troops can use — especially considering constitutional restraints protecting U.S. citizens and residents — against what kinds of people in what kinds of situations. And establishing those new rules would require a lot more training, in the view of many in the military community.

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Vance says those who were violent on Jan. 6 ‘obviously’ should not receive pardons

Vice President-elect J.D. Vance says those who committed violent crimes on Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol should not be pardoned. He made the remarks on “Fox News Sunday,” as people wonder whether President-elect Donald Trump thinks the same and thus how broad will be the scope of his expected Jan. 6 pardons. “If you protested peacefully on Jan. 6, and you’ve had Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned,” Mr. Vance said on Fox News Sunday. “If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned,” he said, while adding that there’s “a little bit of gray area there.”

“There are a lot of people, we think, in the wake of Jan. 6 who were prosecuted unfairly,” he said. “We need to rectify that.” Over 1,500 people have been charged with crimes tied to the event and over 1,000 have pleaded guilty and 250 convicted as of Jan. 1 this year. More than 1,000 have been duly sentenced, with the other sentencings still pending. Many of the charges were for crimes such as assaulting police officers trying to keep the rioters out of the U.S. Capitol or for destroying federal property, but many were not. The conservative complaint about the Jan. 6 cases is that Mr. Garland’s Justice Department pursued every last rioter with the zeal of Javert — bringing charges years later, scouring social media posts to find every civilian in Congress that day, and demanding prison time for such minor offenses as trespassing and interrupting a congressional proceeding. In the meantime, Mr. Vance and others on the right have charged, the feds turned relatively blind eyes to political rioters on the left such as Black Lives Matter, Code Pink and antifa. Mr. Vance caught some heat for his comments on the Sunday morning show, saying he didn’t go far enough to defend those who took part in the Jan. 6 riots. He defended himself in an X post, saying he “donated to the J6 political prisoner fund and got roasted for it during my Senate race” in 2022 in Ohio. “I’ve been defending these guys for years,” he said.

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Stock futures tick higher as traders await first of two key inflation readings this week

Stock futures rose on Tuesday, as investors braced themselves for the first of two inflation readings due this week. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 118 points, or about 0.3%. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.4%, while Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.5%. The producer price index, which measures wholesale inflation, is set for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Dow Jones predict that headline PPI grew 0.4%, while the core figure, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3%. The December PPI measure — and the consumer price index report due Wednesday — will be market catalysts as investors grapple with last week’s blowout jobs report. The upcoming inflation reports will inform the Federal Reserve’s next move on interest rate policy.

“On a short-term basis, the market has shifted back to a good-news-is-bad-news backdrop,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial. “However, it is important to remember that, in the long term, good economic news is usually good for equity markets as it implies better-than-expected growth, upside to potential earnings and reduced recession risk.” Fed funds futures trading suggests a near-certainty that the Fed will hold steady on interest rates at the conclusion of its two-day meeting later this month. Markets pricing also suggests an 80% chance of rates staying at their current target range of 4.25%-4.5% in March, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. On the earnings front, banking behemoths will kick off fourth-quarter earnings season this week, with JPMorgan Chase , Citigroup , Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo posting results on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley and Bank of America are slated to report on Thursday. Tuesday’s action comes after the Nasdaq Composite slid for the fourth consecutive day in the regular session. Traders rotated out of Big Tech names like Nvidia , which slid nearly 2%, and snapped up stocks in the energy, health care and materials sectors. The 30-stock Dow rose almost 0.9% as traders bought Chevron and UnitedHealth .

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China considers selling TikTok U.S. operations to Musk, Bloomberg reports

The Chinese government is considering a plan that would have Elon Musk acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations to keep the app from being effectively banned, Bloomberg News reported on Monday. The contingency plan is one of several options China is exploring as the U.S. Supreme Court determines whether to uphold a law that calls for China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. business by Jan. 19, the report said, citing anonymous sources. After that deadline, third-party Internet service providers would be penalized for supporting TikTok’s operations in the country. Under the plan, Musk would oversee both X, which he currently owns, and TikTok’s U.S. business, Bloomberg said. However, Chinese government officials haven’t yet decided on whether it would proceed, the report said, noting that the plan is still preliminary.

It’s unclear whether ByteDance knows about the Chinese government’s plans and TikTok and Musk’s involvement in the discussions, the report said. Senior Chinese officials are debating contingency plans involving TikTok’s future in the U.S. as part of larger discussions about working with President-elect Donald Trump, the report added. A TikTok spokesperson said in an email to CNBC, “We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.” X didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Last week, the Supreme Court held oral arguments about the law potentially banning TikTok, which President Joe Biden signed in April. TikTok’s legal team argued that the law violates the free-speech rights of the millions of users in the U.S. while the U.S. government said that ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok poses a national security risk.

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Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages, officials say

Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages, two officials involved in the talks said Tuesday. Mediator Qatar said the negotiations were at the “closest point” yet to sealing a deal. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the proposed agreement, and an Egyptian official and a Hamas official confirmed its authenticity. An Israeli official said progress has been made, but the details are being finalized. The plan would need to be submitted to the Israeli Cabinet for final approval. All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent the past year trying to mediate an end the 15-month war and secure the release dozens of hostages captured in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered it. Some 100 Israelis are still captive inside Gaza, and the military believes at least a third them are dead. Officials have expressed mounting optimism that they can conclude an agreement ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, whose Mideast envoy has joined the negotiations. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said at a weekly briefing Tuesday that the ongoing negotiations are positive and productive, while declining to get into the details of the sensitive talks. “Today, we are at the closest point ever to having a deal,” he said. Hamas, meanwhile, said in a statement that the ongoing negotiations had reached their “final stage.”

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Firefighters brace for strong winds that could fuel Los Angeles fire growth

A beefed-up firefighting force was staged around Los Angeles to attack flare-ups or new blazes and anxious residents were prepared for the worst as dangerous winds were expected to build Tuesday, a week after two massive infernos destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 24 people. Tabitha Trosen packed the meaningful things in her life and felt she was “teetering” on the edge with the constant fear that her neighborhood could be the next under threat. “Our cats are ready to go, we have their carriers by the door prepped with their little stuffed animals and things like that,” Trosen said. “It’s like, how do I take care of myself, and what are the things that will ground me as a human and remind me of my background and my life and my family.”

On Monday, planes doused homes and hillsides with bright pink fire-retardant chemicals, while crews and fire engines were placed near particularly vulnerable spots with dry brush. Dozens of additional water trucks rolled in to replenish supplies after hydrants ran dry last week when the two largest fires erupted. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other officials — who have faced criticism over their initial response to fires that began last week — expressed confidence Monday that the region was ready to face the new threat with scores of additional firefighters brought in from around the U.S., as well as Canada and Mexico. “We’re absolutely better prepared,” LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said when asked what will be different from a week ago, when hurricane-force winds propelled multiple fires across the parched, brush-filled region that has seen almost no rain in more than eight months. More than a dozen wildfires have broken out in Southern California since Jan. 1, mostly in the greater Los Angeles area.

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Arrested by AI: Police ignore standards after facial recognition matches

A Washington Post investigation into police use of facial recognition software found that law enforcement agencies across the nation are using the artificial intelligence tools in a way they were never intended to be used: as a shortcut to finding and arresting suspects without other evidence. Most police departments are not required to report that they use facial recognition, and few keep records of their use of the technology. The Post reviewed documents from 23 police departments where detailed records about facial recognition use are available and found that 15 departments spanning 12 states arrested suspects identified through AI matches without any independent evidence connecting them to the crime — in most cases contradicting their own internal policies requiring officers to corroborate all leads found through AI. Some law enforcement officers using the technology appeared to abandon traditional policing standards and treat software suggestions as facts, The Post found. One police report referred to an uncorroborated AI result as a “100% match.” Another said police used the software to “immediately and unquestionably” identify a suspected thief.

All of the cases were eventually dismissed. Police probably could have eliminated most of the people as suspects before their arrest through basic police work, such as checking alibis, comparing tattoos, or, in one case, following DNA and fingerprint evidence left at the scene. In eight known cases of wrongful arrests involving facial recognition, police failed to take one or more basic investigative steps. Quran Reid was arrested for stealing purses from a Louisiana store even though he repeatedly told the officers who arrested him in his hometown of Atlanta that he’d never been to the state. Investigators never sought proof he was at work in Georgia on the day the crime was committed. Police in Woodbridge, New Jersey, were so intent on building a case against Nijeer Parks, a robbery suspect, that they cast aside DNA and fingerprint evidence pointing to another potential suspect.

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Lead Stories

Migrant detention bill before U.S. Senate could give Texas more sway over immigration policy

The U.S. Senate is readying to vote this week on a bill that could dramatically increase detentions of people living in the country illegally, while also giving state attorneys general like Ken Paxton the ability to challenge federal immigration officials. The legislation, named the Laken Riley Act for a Georgia woman who was murdered by a person living in the country illegally, would require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain any person living in the country illegally caught committing theft or burglary. The Venezuelan man convicted of killing Riley had earlier been arrested for shoplifting and released. It's unclear if the legislation has the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate, but the bill easily advanced to the Senate floor for debate last week after passing in the House with the support of 48 Democrats including U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of South Texas. If passed, it is not expected to go to the White House for approval until President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

The legislation might have seemed unthinkable to Democrats just a few months ago, but some members have gotten on board in the aftermath of an election where Republicans won control of the White House and both chambers of Congress on a campaign promising to halt the flow of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border. "Kamala Harris lost the election and Democrats feel immigration was part of the reason," said David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, a Washington think tank. "They want to say, 'We're on board with getting tough on immigrant criminals.'" A spokesman for Cuellar said he was not available for comment. Gonzalez did not respond to a request for comment. Democrat critics have attacked the legislation as a brazen attempt to give state officials more power over immigration policy. Under the bill, states like Texas could sue the Department of Homeland Security over the release of people living in the country illegally and "other policy failures (that) harm that state or its citizens." "It’s a simple idea: if an illegal alien commits a crime, the federal government steps in to detain and deport them before they can hurt anyone else. Enough of the chaos—it’s time to put Americans first," U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Houston, posted on X last week. But immigrant activists say they worry that anti-immigrant politicians in states like Texas could sue over even routine decisions by immigration judges and other federal officials, holding up both illegal and legal immigration.

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L.A.’s wildfires have leaders fighting on two fronts: Nature and politics

As California continues to battle catastrophic wildfires consuming entire neighborhoods and taking lives, state and local officials are also fending off President-elect Donald Trump and his allies’ efforts to blame them for the destruction. At least 24 people are dead and as many are missing as roaring flames ravage Southern California, in what Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said he expects will be the worst natural disaster in U.S. history in terms of the scale and scope of damage. There will also probably be “a lot more” deaths added to the fatality toll, Newsom said in an interview that aired Sunday. The number of missing is expected to quickly increase by the dozens as search crews continue their work. Instead of offering words of sympathy or pledges of rebuilding, Trump, his billionaire ally Elon Musk and top Republicans have spent much of the past several days blaming Democratic leadership in the state for the crisis, exacerbating the already high tensions between the Republicans set to soon be in charge of the federal response and the mostly Democratic officials on the ground.

“The fires are still raging in L.A. The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday morning. “... They just can’t put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?” Many of Trump and Musk’s attacks are rooted in misinformation, but their responses to the ongoing destruction could pose a political risk to incumbent California Democrats, who are already seeking investigations and accountability efforts over the fires. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said her agency has sufficient funding to support its response to the Los Angeles wildfires, thanks to roughly $27 billion in additional funding Congress recently authorized. “We have the funding to support this response, to support this recovery, but also to continue to support the recovery from hurricanes Helene and Milton and the other 179 [disaster] declarations that we had last year alone across the United States,” Criswell said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” The scope and true cost of the destruction are far from clear. Weather officials are predicting that Santa Ana winds, which can fan flames and carry dangerous embers, will ramp up early Monday and continue through Wednesday. Government officials’ responses to natural disasters can bolster their reputations — or damage them irrevocably. In times of emergency, “voters reward actions from politicians,” both at the local or state level and at the federal level, said John Gasper, an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

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Texas lawmakers consider additional property tax relief amid projected $20 billion surplus in 2025 session

On Monday, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar will release the Biennial Revenue Estimate to the legislature. That estimate will reveal how much lawmakers can spend on the fiscal year 2026-27 state budget. Hegar will also confirm the state's surplus, which is projected at $20 billion, and how much will be in the economic stabilization fund also known as the "rainy day" fund. Eye on Politics reporter Jack Fink spoke with five state lawmakers from across North Texas to see what they think the state should do with the expected surplus and if that includes more relief for Texas homeowners. During the 2023 session lawmakers passed, and voters approved, $18 billion worth of reductions from the school portion of the property tax bill. State Representative Salman Bhojani, D-Euless, told Jack the state should look at making increased investments in public schools and infrastructure in addition to considering additional property tax reductions.

"We want to make sure the property tax needs to be fixed in a meaningful way," said Bhojano. "I feel like it's really expensive. I knocked on so many thousands of doors in the district. I heard repeatedly that property taxes are sometimes getting to the point of people not owning a house anymore and those who are renting have such high rates. We need to do meaningful reductions in property taxes while funding the schools because right now with increasing property taxes, our schools are not funded." State Senator Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas told Jack that while lawmakers should consider both additional property tax relief, they need to focus on making critical investments in infrastructure, including water. "It's nice to have tax breaks. We gave an important property tax reduction last session," said Johnson. "There's a conversation of doing it again. While I'm all for reducing taxes where we can, I think right now, we need to keep our eye on what lies down the road." When asked for an example Johnson said, "Water is an issue. We're all aware of strains on the grid because we had a grid failure. We all turn the tap and water comes out, so people are lulled into perceiving we don't have an issue with water, but we really do. It takes 30 years to plan and build a reservoir and we're running out of places to build reservoirs."

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Senate braces for 'train wreck' as hearings kick off for Trump Cabinet picks

The Republican-led Senate is slated to hold more than a dozen hearings this week for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks, with the hope of confirming them quickly after he’s inaugurated on Jan. 20. The selections coming before the Senate range from those who are expected to have smooth paths to confirmation, like Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for secretary of state, to others who face headwinds and need the hearings to garner support, such as former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, a military veteran, for defense secretary. “We’re going to have a little bit of a train wreck next week of confirmation hearings,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters last week. “But I’m glad we’re getting those done, and the FBI background check would naturally be a part of that process.” The hearings kick off Tuesday with Hegseth; former Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., Trump’s pick for veterans affairs secretary; and former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum for secretary of the interior.

On Wednesday, hearings will feature Rubio; former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick to head the Justice Department; South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to head up the Department of Homeland Security; former National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe, who was picked to lead the CIA; former Trump White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, who was tapped to fill the role again; former Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., who was selected for transportation secretary; and oil and gas industry executive Chris Wright, Trump’s choice for energy secretary. And the Thursday hearings will include a second day of Bondi appearing before senators; Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Trump’s choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., the pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency; hedge fund executive Scott Bessent, who’s in line to lead the Treasury Department; and former NFL player Eric Scott Turner, who was tapped for housing and urban development secretary. Other hearings will be scheduled in the days and weeks ahead, too.

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State Stories

North Texas Democratic legislators outline priorities for legislative session

North Texas statehouse Democrats say other states are doing a better job of protecting their citizens — and that needs to change. On Sunday, they outlined their priorities for the legislative session, including funding for public education, increased access to health care and local control. The legislative session begins on Tuesday. Rep. John Bryant from Dallas said Texas ranks too low for public education spending and mental health care compared to other states in the nation. Researchers at University Miami and Rutgers University last year ranked Texas 44 out of 48 for per-pupil spending during the 2020-2021 school year. A Forbes study put Texas at the bottom of the list for mental health care due to the large number of uninsured residents and other barriers to access. Texas had highest number of uninsured residents in 2023 according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Bryant said Republicans who are beholden to wealthy donors are to blame for these problems. He said the North Texas Democrats plan to tackle the issues in the legislative session that starts on Tuesday. “We're here to fight for the public, and we're here to fight for a Texas that is built and run for everybody, not just for those billionaires,” Bryant said. The Texas Tribune reported last year that billionaire Jeff Yass donated millions of dollars to Gov. Greg Abbott to help oust statehouse Republicans who voted against his school choice plan. Abbott says he has the votes to pass it this session. The bill that failed to pass last session would have allowed families to use state funds for private school tuition through education savings accounts. Several rural Republicans voted with Democrats against the bill, saying it would hurt schools’ pocketbooks. Opponents argue that school vouchers would derail public school funding in a state that hasn’t seen a funding increase since 2019. A House bill introduced during the last legislative session would’ve raised the basic allotment — the amount each district is given based on enrollment. But the bill died after lawmakers removed money to fund school vouchers.

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Bexar County Democrats discuss legislative priorities heading into 2025 session

After a painful November election, Bexar County Democrats are heading into the 89th legislative session with a long list of priorities and a request for their constituents: mobilize and help drive change. The 140-day biennial Texas legislative session begins Tuesday. For Democrats, that means the start of a long-winded battle against school vouchers and far-right extremism. At a news conference Sunday, local Democratic lawmakers unveiled their legislative priorities and pushed for community engagement to advance legislation centered on public education, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ protections and income equality. “We need each and every one of you,” said State Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins. “Will this session be challenging? Yes, but it won’t be as challenging if your voices are heard.”

Gervin-Hawkins represents San Antonio's East Side and is chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus. She was joined at the Bexar County Democrats Headquarters by several other politicians, including Bexar County’s new Democratic Party chair Michelle Lowe Solis. “We know that public schools are going to be at risk,” Lowe Solis said. “We’ve got Trump coming back to office on January 20, and he’s promised tariffs, mass deportations and he’s nominated the worst cabinet, bar none ever. So, it’s going to be chaos — and with chaos, perhaps we might have an opportunity.” Democrats are returning to Austin after struggling to turn out their base in urban centers and suffering major blows in the Nov. 5 election. Lowe Solis acknowledged the difficulties ahead, but said the party has an opportunity to redefine itself as the party that “fights for Texas families.” She said the state’s decades-long Republican leadership has earned Texas the poorest ranking nationwide for affordable health care and a ranking of 43rd for public school funding. Meanwhile, it’s in the top five for the highest property taxes, she said. While the state is only required to pass its budget during the five-month legislative blitz, Texas lawmakers have already filed nearly 2,580 bills. Among them are bills targeting LGTBQ+ residents, including banning the use of any taxpayer resources for “gender reassignment,” and barring students from using bathrooms that don’t align with the gender they were assigned at birth. “The next time Republicans talk about the trans issue, you must understand that this is a distraction because that trans person is not closing your neighborhood school,” Lowe Solis said.

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'There's blame on both sides' | What Austin city leaders say they would like to see happen this legislative session

The 89th Texas Legislature will begin this week, as lawmakers are set to return to the Texas Capitol to try and implement the agenda of Gov. Greg Abbott and other state leaders. School choice is a top priority for many lawmakers in the new session, including Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. It is a measure that would allow families to use taxpayer dollars to pay for their children's private schooling. Jeremi Suri is a UT Austin professor who worries voucher legislation will take money out of Austin ISD. "The Austin school district is already hemorrhaging money because of the formula the state uses," Suri said. "More than half of the property taxes that you and I and all property holders in Austin pay, more than half leaves the city and goes to other parts of the state. [It] makes the system even more unsustainable for students and families that are sending their children to go to this system."

Newly sworn-in Austin City Council member Marc Duchen is focused on pushing back on attempts by the legislature to strip away local control from cities like Austin. "[It is] a priority for me, because that covers a lot of issues that we care about, whether they're environmental, housing, serving homelessness, etc.," Duchen said. KVUE reached out to Mayor Kirk Watson for an interview on his legislative priorities but was unavailable at the time of publication. His office provided the following statement: "Mayor Watson will continue to advocate and protect Austin's light rail, which was approved by voters in 2020. Austin has done a lot when it comes to addressing housing affordability in the last two years, and Mayor Watson sees an opportunity to work with state leaders on this issue--especially since the Legislature has indicated that they want to do more on housing affordability. There's also opportunities to work with the State on issues like homelessness and mental health." "We can argue over whether it should be light rail or something else, but we need public transportation. And the state at the very least needs to allow us to make those decisions," Suri said. "Sometimes, it kind of feels like the legislature is a foreign place in our city and I think there's blame on both sides."

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What Houston-area school districts are asking lawmakers for ahead of the legislative session

Funding is at the top of the agenda for Houston area school districts as the 89th session of the Texas Legislature begins on Jan. 14. After a few strained budget years for Texas school districts, amid the rise of inflation, an increase in special education services and a stagnant basic allotment, many districts had to make deep cuts this year, including eliminating librarians, closing schools and slashing transportation routes. Some area school boards are pleading with legislators to bolster funding this session. But funding isn’t the only ask from area ISDs. Districts are also hoping for a reduction in state-mandated assessments for students, changing discipline laws and at least one district asked the Legislature to reject school voucher legislation.

As hundreds of bills flood in from senators and representatives, a handful are already meeting these requests, including increasing the basic allotment, fully funding districts that provide a local optional homestead exemption and changing the funding formula from average daily attendance to average enrollment. But whether those bills will gain enough traction to become law is unknown. Conroe, Fort Bend, Katy and Spring Branch ISDs all included increasing the basic allotment in their legislative priorities. Cy-Fair ISD did not include increasing the basic allotment in its priorities, but listed other funding needs. The four districts and other statewide groups have advocated for an increase to the basic allotment of $6,160, which has not changed since 2019. These districts also asked for a funding model that includes automatic adjustments for inflation, so that the Legislature isn't required to convene to increase funding. A Chronicle analysis of area shortfalls found that districts incurred $857 million in deficits during just last school year. Policy analyst Eva Deluna said in June that the basic allotment would have to be $7,500 to account for inflation. The total per-student funding in Texas is also $4,000 below the national average, according to National Education Association statistics. In Fort Bend ISD’s resolution, the board said the state has not done its job funding public education. “Key elements of school funding, such as the basic allotment, special education funding weights… school safety allotment, and pre-Kindergarten funding have not increased in over five years and have not kept pace with inflation, the actual cost to provide services, and fail to adequately fund Texas public school districts,” Board President Kristen Tassin wrote. Tassin also added that per-student funding has declined over the past decade and continues to do so.

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NBA informs Spurs they will play Monday

The NBA has informed the Spurs their game against the Lakers on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena will go on as scheduled, a team spokesman said. The status of the game was uncertain after the league postponed the Spurs-Lakers game on Saturday night due to the ongoing wildfires that have destroyed more than 10,000 structures and killed at least 13 people. The Spurs finished practice Sunday morning at Crypto.com Arena not knowing whether they would be playing Monday night. But word came down from the league shortly after the workout ended that the game was a go. The NBA postponed the Spurs-Lakers game and the Clippers-Hornets game scheduled for Saturday night. In a statement, the league said it wanted to "ensure that no resources will be diverted from the wildfire response efforts." The NBA continues to monitor the situation in LA, but as of Sunday afternoon the game on Monday was scheduled to be played.

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Bird flu detected in Austin ducks as cases of the contagious virus rise across the state

Texas officials are asking residents to take down their bird feeders and baths due to a rise in bird flu cases across the state, including the recent detection of the contagious disease in the Austin area. The virus was confirmed in multiple domestic ducks found dead in a North Austin pond this month, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife. Austin Public Health issued a public health advisory last week urging community members to take proper precautions. “The best way to protect yourself and others from bird flu is to avoid sources of exposure,” the advisory states. “That means avoiding direct contact with wild birds and other animals.” Residents should avoid touching sick or dead animals or their droppings, bringing sick animals into their homes, letting pets interact with sick or dead animals and their feces, and ingesting uncooked food products such as unpasteurized raw milk or cheeses.

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Texas saw record number of million-dollar home sales last year.

The number of million-dollar homes sold in Texas from November 2023 to October 2024 was the second highest on record, according to a new study. Released by Texas Realtors, the 2024 Texas Sales of Million-Dollar Homes Report found that Texas buyers snagged 12,888 million-dollar homes worth over $21 billion last year, a 10% increase over the previous year. While only 4% of all homes sold in Texas were $1 million or more, those properties represented 15.7% of all residential sales dollar volume statewide, up from 14.3%. “The high end of the Texas real estate market continues to evolve,” Texas Realtors Chairman Christy Gessler said in a news release. “As prices rise, more homes cross the million-dollar threshold. Some are highly valued for their size or amenities, but with many, the key factor is location.”

The report says that nearly 90% of the million-dollar homes sold in Texas last year were in one of the four largest metropolitan areas. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area had 39% of the luxury homes — 4,992 worth a combined $8.5 billion. The region saw the highest growth in million-dollar home sales at 14%. The Houston-Woodlands-Sugar Land area had 26% of the home sales, rising 10% from the prior year. The Austin-Round Rock area had 19% and saw little change from the previous period. The San Antonio-New Braunfels area had the fourth-highest percentage of the state’s million-dollar homes with 5.1%, an increase of 4% from the previous year. The 656 properties were worth a combined $957 million.

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$17.8 million in food funding for Austin-area kids is on the line when the Legislature convenes

A federal food assistance program could provide families in Hays, Williamson and Travis County with more than $17.8 million to feed their kids over the summer if Texas decides to participate. But that’s a big if. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission missed the Jan. 1 deadline to tell the U.S. Department of Agriculture whether it plans to participate in the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer Program, or Summer EBT. The program provides families with $120 per eligible school-aged child to buy groceries while school is out. But missing the deadline doesn’t necessarily count Texas out in 2025. The USDA Food and Nutrition Service said it wants to help every eligible child access Summer EBT.

“We are working with state agencies individually to ensure they have the resources and time they need to implement Summer EBT and will consider waiver requests from states that have missed deadlines,” a USDA spokesperson said in an email to KUT. Texas Health and Human Services has not said whether it plans to participate this year. It has repeatedly referred KUT to the following statement in its legislative appropriations request: "The federal Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 authorized states to implement a permanent Summer Electronic Benefits (EBT) program to provide families with school-aged children food benefits during the summer months. HHSC will work with the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA), and the Legislature on this issue." Still, anti-hunger advocates hope the Texas Legislature — which begins its 89th session Tuesday — will act fast to provide the agency with the funding it needs to launch the program.

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An education ecosystem is being built in Elon Musk’s image. It starts in rural Texas.

From the outside, nothing appears to be special about the house at the end of Earhardt Road. It looks like many of the other ranches that dot this rural stretch of highway less than half an hour outside Austin’s city limits. Simple, white facade. Black iron gate. A lone star adorning the cut-glass door. Cars and trucks whizz down the farm-to-market road out front, taking no notice of it. But behind its walls, the nondescript farmhouse represents a key step in what may be the next big venture for the world’s richest man. This is Ad Astra, a private school for kids ages 3-6. It’s opened right around the corner from Elon Musk’s massive corporate compound in Bastrop County, which already houses offices for SpaceX, the Boring Company and, soon, X (formerly Twitter). Records show an entire system of education — from pre-K to college — is being created in Musk’s image. And it starts right here in rural Central Texas.

Musk’s name isn’t on the school’s application or its website. It isn’t even on the paperwork of a nonprofit that reported total assets of more than $200 million at the end of 2022. But his foundation provided the seed money, his top advisers are leading the venture and Musk’s influence is everywhere. The initial curriculum, which The Texas Newsroom obtained from the state through a public records request, pulls heavily from a Montessori-inspired playbook of “individualized exploration” and the school’s website promises students a course of study delivered in a “progressive learning environment” focused on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). Even the name, “Ad Astra,” sounds like something Musk would dream up. It means “to the stars” in Latin. This isn’t the first time Musk has waded into the education world. He started programs for his and his employees’ kids in the past. But what starts here with Ad Astra promises to be Musk’s biggest foray into education to date, and, if successful, will add to his already massive footprint in Central Texas. This is not Musk’s first school — and not even the first under this name. Years ago, he started an Ad Astra School on the then-SpaceX campus in California. There, some of Musk’s own kids reportedly learned alongside the children of SpaceX employees and some other high-profile Los Angeles kids in an environment Ars Technica described as “closer to a venture capital incubator than a traditional school.” Josh Dahn, who co-founded Ad Astra at SpaceX, now runs a fully online version of the venture called Astra Nova. This “experimental school” serves kids 10-15 years old and offers such courses as Mathematical Biology and Poetry for Scientists.

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Southwest Airlines bids farewell to two retiring top executives

Two of Southwest Airlines’ highest-ranking executives will retire at the end of March, after more than 30 years each with the Dallas-based air carrier. Effective April 1, Tammy Romo, the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, will step down along, along with chief administration officer and public relations leader Linda Rutherford. Both have been key leaders at Southwest dating back to the tenure of airline co-founder Herb Kelleher. Romo has been with the company since 1991 and oversaw the company’s finance activities as it grew to be one of the world’s largest airlines. Southwest is known for its tight fiscal operating style that has very little debt compared to its competitors. Rutherford, 58, is a former journalist for the Dallas Times Herald who came to Southwest in 1992 and worked her way up through management positions, eventually supervising the company’s human resources, diversity, recruiting and technology departments. Before her current role, she was the company’s chief communications officer for seven years.

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Jason Villalba: The Texas speaker race can still usher a surprise

The branch of Texas government that most influences our property taxes, the quality of our public schools, the sturdiness of our energy infrastructure, and the state and expanse of our roads and bridges is the Legislature. The governor and the lieutenant governor will often set the agenda for the session. But as a former member of the Texas House of Representatives, I can assure you that the real work of “making the sausage” happens in the lower chamber. The House, led by its speaker, is where the rubber meets the road. Article III, Section 9 of the Texas Constitution provides that: The House of Representatives shall, when it first assembles, organize temporarily, and thereupon proceed to the election of a Speaker from its own members. On Jan. 14, 2025, the 89th Session of the Texas Legislature will gavel in. While most of the day will be spent on the pomp and ceremony of swearing in new members, the most important order of business on that day will be the nomination and election of the speaker of the House.

As set forth in the Texas Constitution, the privilege of choosing the speaker is granted solely to the 150 members of the House. Unfortunately, the public will have no say in who will become the next speaker, even though the role played by the speaker is equal to that of the governor and lieutenant governor. The conventional wisdom surrounding the current speaker’s race is that the contest has boiled down to two contenders. Dustin Burrows, a staunch conservative and seasoned legislator from Lubbock, has marshaled the support of classic Republicans and the chamber of commerce set. The other candidate, David Cook of Mansfield, seems to have captured the imagination of the base and those members most beholden to the trinity of modern conservative politics: Guns, God, and Trump. In Texas politics, the past is prologue. Because the speaker is chosen by the House members in the quiet corners of the Texas Capitol, rather than on the boisterous and transparent campaign trail, outcomes are often different than what the public expects. Just such a scenario unfolded on Jan. 2, 2009. On that evening, Chairman Byron Cook convened 10 fellow-minded Republicans in his Austin home on Polo Road to not only strategize how to challenge and displace the sitting speaker but to choose a new speaker from among themselves. If they failed, it would mean the end of their political careers. The gentlemen attending the meeting that evening were neither mutineers nor insurrectionists. They were chamber of commerce Republicans who had been marginalized by a firebrand speaker from Midland who had determined to usher in a new era in Texas politics where political moderation was no longer tolerated and where compromise was frowned upon.

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How Texas’ war on drug users fueled an Austin overdose disaster

Over the last weekend of April 2024, something in Austin’s drug supply went horribly wrong. The first deaths passed largely unnoticed by anyone other than the families and friends of those who consumed the tainted substances. An 8-year-old girl who’d been playing outside her apartment in northeast Travis County on the evening of Sunday, April 28, came home to find her 50-year-old father dead in bed. In a homeless encampment in a wooded area of East Austin, paramedics revived two people with naloxone, the overdose reversal drug known commonly as Narcan. But, hours later, one of them, a 51-year-old woman, was found dead inside her tent—a short walk from a 53-year-old man who likely died around the same time. A clearer picture wouldn’t emerge, however, until 911 calls began flooding in the following morning. Most Mondays, the Sixth Street entertainment district would be quietly nursing the hangover from another rowdy weekend, the only souls on the street those who sleep in the shelters, alleys, and sidewalks. But emergency dispatchers were getting repeated reports of people in distress.

Through dozens of open records requests and interviews, the Texas Observer and Texas Community Health News have pieced together what happened during those deadly days—and how changes to state law might have saved lives. Across the capital city, people who consume crack, a stimulant, were suffering symptoms consistent with poisoning from opioids like heroin or fentanyl, the incredibly potent prescription painkiller. The adulterated crack impacted Central Texans from many walks of life. Among the people who died were a construction worker from Honduras and a young man from Wimberley, who passed away in his parked truck with the engine running. Crack rocks found at the scene of some of the deaths tested positive for fentanyl. A small, inexpensive item might have averted some of these deaths. Fentanyl testing strips can be used to check for the presence of the synthetic opioid. With an appearance similar to an at-home COVID-19 test, the strips are dipped in water in which a small amount of the drug has been dissolved. A line indicates if fentanyl is present. But such testing strips are illegal in Texas. They’re considered paraphernalia, and possessing one is a Class C misdemeanor. While the Texas House passed a bill that would have legalized them in 2023, the Senate declined to vote on it.

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Keller ISD district split meeting must allow public comment

The Keller school board’s meeting to discuss a possible split of the district cannot be conducted without some participation from the public, according to an attorney specializing in the Texas Open Meetings Act. School board President Charles Randklev announced on social media on Thursday, Jan. 9, that the board would meet in an executive session for legal analysis on a proposal to detach part of the district and create a new one. Randlkelv did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Board Secretary Joni Shaw Smith, who posted to social media on Thursday that she was “blindsided” by the proposal, told the Star-Telegram she supports a more transparent process. “My goal is to continue to conduct any conversation regarding this topic in public,” she said in an email.

“I believe it would be a mistake to move forward with any plan, and especially a resolution, without not only continued discussion among the board as a whole and with district input, but also without robust public involvement.” The board was set to discuss the split in a special meeting open to the public on Jan. 16, according to a scheduled live stream on the district’s YouTube page that has since been taken down. The executive session and agenda have not been posted on the district’s website, but any meeting to discuss the matter must include a chance for the public to weigh in on the proposal, according to Bill Aleshire, an Austin-based attorney with the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. “They have to meet in public before they can discuss it in executive session and they have to state what provision of the Open Meetings Act allows them to discuss that in secret,” Aleshire said, adding that the law requires public comment at an open meeting. The Open Meetings Act states that a “governmental body shall allow each member of the public who desires to address the body regarding an item on an agenda for an open meeting of the body to address the body regarding the item at the meeting before or during the body’s consideration of the item.”

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Sale of Alex Jones' Infowars to return to Houston court following rejected bankruptcy auction

The future of conspiracy website Infowars will once again be up for discussion inside a Houston courtroom Monday. Attorneys representing Infowars founder Alex Jones, satirical news site the Onion, victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, and others are expected to be back in court to discuss where the site's sale goes next. The hearing comes a month after Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez rejected the results of an auction that would have given control of the website and its assets to The Onion. After two marathon hearings in December, Lopez ruled the auction wasn't conducted in a way that maximized the sale of Infowars.

Jones' filed for personal bankruptcy in 2022 after he was ordered to pay more than $1.4 billion to Sandy Hook families who had sued for defamation over his repeated claims that the school shooting, in which 26 people were killed, 20 of whom were children between 6 and 7 years old, was faked. Juries in Texas and Connecticut issued the monumental judgments against him; though it is unlikely that Jones will ever pay the full sum. As part of his personal bankruptcy, Jones planned to liquidate Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars. The auction included the Infowars website and intellectual property, as well as equipment from Jones' Austin studio. Jones also planned to separately sell his127-acre ranch, gun collection and other assets to pay his debts A sealed bid auction was held in November. The Onion was declared the winner, by Christopher Murray, the trustee overseeing the bankruptcy. However, Jones and the only other bidder in the sale, First United American Companies, objected to Murray's announcement. First United bid $3.5 million in cash. The Onion bid $1.75 million in cash, but also said it had an agreement with some of the Sandy Hook families, who said they would forgive some of Jones' debts to them if The Onion won.

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National Stories

A bond selloff is rocking the world. You might want to take the other side.

Wall Street is really worried about bonds. It might be time to buy some. On Friday, a jobs report that blew past expectations pushed yields on 10-year Treasurys to 4.772%, the highest close since Nov. 1, 2023, and those on 30-year paper to 4.962%. What is spooking markets, however, is that much of the recent rise in yields doesn’t appear to reflect expectations of stronger economic growth. Rather, it might be the result of investors applying a higher discount or “term premium” to hold long-term bonds, estimates by the Federal Reserve suggest. Some analysts attribute this to the possibility of Donald Trump’s promised tariffs derailing the global economy and leading to a jump in inflation, while his tax cuts bloat budget deficits further. Movements in term premiums are usually strongly correlated across the globe, and the consequences are being felt more starkly in weaker economies overseas, especially in Britain. There, 30-year yields are trading around 5.4%, a 27-year high. U.K. Treasury chief Rachel Reeves, who has made a public pledge to appease bond markets while also attempting to set out some moderate growth ambitions in her latest budget, is under strong pressure.

France is also in the hot seat: The government is shackled by a parliamentary deadlock, and now has borrowing costs firmly above those of Greece. In a further sign of trouble, the pound and the euro are falling, with the latter sliding close to parity with the U.S. dollar. The S&P 500 and the Stoxx Europe 600 ended Friday down 1.5%, and 0.8%, respectively. But counterintuitively, bonds may ultimately prove to be the safest place amid the storm. For one, the fiscal doomsayers are probably wrong: Countries that print their own currency can’t truly be pushed to default. More important, inflation-linked Treasurys have sold off too, belying the idea that markets see a hot economy and tariffs as a serious inflationary problem. It might all have to do with interest rates after all. Since December, the Fed has squashed expectations of a prolonged rate-cutting cycle. As a result, the whole middle part of the Treasury yield curve—from two to five-year maturities—has become positively sloped for the first time since 2022. Only the very short end, from three months to one year, remains inverted, reflecting the one or two cuts that markets suggest might still happen this year.

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Welcome to Aspen’s Bezos era: Diamond cowboy hats and champagne sprays

When Hunter S. Thompson ran for sheriff of Aspen, Colo., in 1970, he vowed to rename it “Fat City” to prevent “greed heads, land-rapers and other human jackals from capitalizing on the name ‘Aspen.’” The late Thompson would have definitely raised an eyebrow at his swish neighbors in 2024: Gucci, Loro Piana, Bottega Veneta, Prada and Hermès, to name just a few. At Hotel Jerome, where Thompson spent his days writing and drinking, Max Mara opened a seasonal pop-up store filled with $4,000-plus fuzzy teddy coats. Next month, luxury e-commerce site Mytheresa is importing the Carlyle Hotel’s Bemelmans Bar in downtown Aspen, with tableside shopping and a coat check complete with designer outerwear for purchase. Even during Thompson’s slightly more ramshackle era, Aspen drew celebrities and jet-setters. In the late 1960s, society photographer Slim Aarons captured a mountaintop picnic complete with a helicopter at adjacent Snowmass for “Holiday” magazine. But in recent years—nay, weeks!—the town has reached an apex of glamour, with a near-constant stream of luxury store and restaurant openings, the highest-profile visitors imaginable, a glut of private-jet traffic, over-the-top brand events and influencers giddily posting gaudy aprés-ski outfits (not to mention avant-ski and pendant-ski…). Fashion has fully infiltrated Aspen.

“It’s common to see a woman in Moon Boots, a 10-gallon cowboy hat and Celine goggles sitting in a leather club chair enjoying an espresso martini at 3 p.m.,” said Chris Black, the co-host of the podcast “How Long Gone,” who recently visited the town for its snow polo event. While many locals and more low-key visitors still adhere to a more humble wardrobe of North Face puffers and jeans, the city’s new look is increasingly one designed to be photographed on South Mill Street, Aspen’s answer to Rodeo Drive. Some snow bunnies wear Prada puffers over sleek, body-con snow leggings or jumpsuits; some go full Western in cowboy hats, boot-cut jeans and heels; and others wear piles of fur, dramatic shearling coats and hats. “I call them the Furbies,” said Shea Marie, the founder and creative director of fashion brand Same and a part-time Aspen resident. The credit—or blame—for this exaggerated style is multifold. Many of the Aspenites I spoke with called out the hit show “Yellowstone” for stoking a desire for the Western look. While Hollywood types like Goldie Hawn and Kevin Costner have long sought cozy refuge in the mountain town, the tenor of celebrity has reached new heights with recent guests like Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey. Social media and paparazzi have escalated, too. Although the rumor that Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez were to be married in Aspen over Christmas turned out to be false, the buff couple did stop by the town long enough over the holiday to be photographed in their body-conscious mountain wear.

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How lagging vaccination could lead to a polio resurgence

Most American parents hardly give thought to polio beyond the instant their child is immunized against the disease. But there was a time in this country when polio paralyzed 20,000 people in a year, killing many of them. Vaccines turned the tide against the virus. Over the past decade, there has been only one case in the United States, related to international travel. That could change very quickly if polio vaccination rates dropped or the vaccine were to become less accessible. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic who may become the secretary of health and human services, has said the idea that vaccination has nearly eradicated polio is “a mythology.” And while Mr. Kennedy has said he’s not planning to take vaccines away from Americans, he has long contended that they are not as safe and effective as claimed. As recently as 2023, he said batches of an early version of the polio vaccine, contaminated with a virus, caused cancers “that killed many, many, many, many, many more people than polio ever did.”

The contamination was real, but research never bore out a link to cancer. Aaron Siri, a lawyer and adviser to Mr. Kennedy, has represented a client seeking to challenge the approval or distribution of some polio vaccines on the grounds that they might be unsafe. Those efforts appear unlikely to succeed. And there is widespread support for vaccination among prominent Republicans, including President-elect Donald J. Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell, who had polio as a child. But the secretary of health and human services has the authority to discourage vaccination in less direct ways. He or she could withdraw federal funds for childhood vaccination programs, hasten the end of school mandates in states already disinclined toward vaccines or fuel doubts about the shots, exacerbating a decline in immunization rates. If polio vaccination rates were to fall, scientists say, the virus could slip into pockets of the country where significant numbers of people are unvaccinated, wreaking havoc once more. The virus may be nearly eradicated in its original form, but resurgence remains a constant threat.

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Trump can still vote after sentencing, but can't own a gun and will have to turn over DNA sample

President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t have to go to jail, pay a fine or perform community service as a result of his New York hush money conviction. A judge ended the case Friday with a sentence of an unconditional discharge, closing the case with no punishment. But unless the conviction for falsifying business records is someday overturned, Trump will have felonies on his criminal record, which will affect some of his rights. Here are some of the potential impacts and some things that won’t change:

Trump is registered to vote in Florida and he will be able to vote there. Florida does bars people convicted of felonies from voting, but restores their right to vote after they have completed their sentence. People convicted of murder or a sex offense lose their right to vote permanently unless their rights are restored by a clemency board. For people convicted of felonies in other states — like Trump — Florida only makes a person ineligible to vote if they lost their voting rights in the state where they were convicted. New York doesn’t let a person convicted of a felony vote while they are incarcerated, but restores voting rights once that person is released. Can he own a gun? No. Under federal law, people convicted of felonies are not allowed to possess firearms. Does he have to give a DNA sample? By law, every person convicted of a felony in New York must provide a DNA sample for the state’s crime databank. Samples are collected after sentencing, typically when a defendant reports to probation, jail or prison. Samples can also be taken by a court or police official. It’s a noninvasive process involving a swab along the inside of the cheek. State police analyze the cells and genetic material, creating a profile that is then entered into the databank. There, technology takes over, performing automatic searches and comparing profiles of people convicted of crimes with profiles of DNA collected at crime scenes. Matches can be used to identify a suspect in an unsolved crime. New York’s databank contains profiles for more than 720,000 offenders and is connected to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System. Can Trump hold office with a felony conviction? There is nothing in federal law that prevents a person from becoming president because they have been convicted of a crime. State laws vary on whether a person with a criminal record can run for state and local offices. Some require a pardon or expungement to run for office. There are no such limits to run for federal office.

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Steve Bannon condemns Elon Musk as ‘racist’ and ‘truly evil’

In an escalation of discontent among the highest-profile far-right followers of Donald Trump, his former adviser Steve Bannon has called Trump’s newest favorite, Elon Musk, “racist” and a “truly evil guy”, pledging to “take this guy down” and kick him out of the Maga movement. In an interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper in Italy, excerpts of which were published this weekend by Breitbart, Bannon criticised Musk’s embrace of some forms of immigration and vowed to ensure that Musk does not have top-level access to the White House. “He is a truly evil guy, a very bad guy. I made it my personal thing to take this guy down,” Bannon said. “Before, because he put money in, I was prepared to tolerate it – I’m not prepared to tolerate it any more.” He added: “I will have Elon Musk run out of here by inauguration day”, which falls on 20 January. “He will not have full access to the White House. He will be like any other person.”

Musk became one of Trump’s biggest cheerleaders, and certainly his richest, during the Republican’s ultimately successful campaign to regain the US presidency, spending reportedly about $270m and being rewarded with a place at Trump’s side ever since. After his victory Trump tapped Musk to help lead an advisory group theoretically dedicated to cutting US government spending by up to $2tn, a quarter of its entire budget. But Musk’s embrace of H-1B visas, which allow companies – such as Musk’s own SpaceX and Tesla – to hire skilled professionals and engineers from outside the US, has been taken badly by other Maga acolytes who are opposed to nearly all forms of immigration. Musk, who was born in South Africa, has himself held an H1-B visa. “This thing of the H-1B visas, it’s about the entire immigration system is gamed by the tech overlords. They use it to their advantage. The people are furious,” said Bannon, whom Trump fired from his White House position during his first administration but who later reinvented himself through his War Room podcast as one of the chief evangelists of the Maga movement.

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FBI Director Wray reveals why he is resigning during ‘such a dangerous time’

FBI Director Christopher Wray revealed why he decided to resign "during such a dangerous time" and with nearly three years left to go in his term during an interview on CBS’ "60 Minutes" Sunday. "If it’s such a dangerous time, why resign?" asked host Scott Pelley. Wray, 58, had just been outlining the United States' greatest threats from communist China’s ability to attack critical US infrastructure to domestic terrorists like New Orleans attacker Shamsud-Din Jabbar who became radicalized "not in years, but in weeks." "My decision to retire from the FBI was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make," Wray responded.

The outgoing FBI boss said that while he cares deeply about the FBI and "our people," his decision to leave after having only served seven years of his ten-year term was motivated by President-elect Donald Trump’s stated desire for a change in leadership at the bureau. Wray announced he was leaving his post in December. "President-elect had made clear that he intended to make a change… my conclusion was that the thing that was best for the bureau was to do this in an orderly way. To not thrust the bureau deeper into the fray," Wray said. Wray, a graduate of Yale Law School who joined the DOJ in 1997, was nominated by Trump to run the bureau in 2017 after he fired then-FBI Director James Comey. Trump and Wray’s relationship has since deteriorated after the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago after the president-elect was accused of possessing classified documents in his private residence. "Our job at the FBI is to follow the facts wherever they lead, no matter who likes it," Wray told "60 Minutes." Wray further inflamed tensions with Trump after he questioned whether he was actually shot with a bullet at his July 2023 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. "With respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear," Wray told House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) at a hearing on the attack.

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Lead Stories

Texas agencies ask Legislature for billions of dollars in new money in 2026-27 budget

State agencies and institutes of higher education are asking Texas lawmakers for $24.6 billion in new money over the next two years, according to the Texas Senate’s chief budget writer. The requests are part of the budget process that begins in earnest after the Legislature convenes Tuesday and typically winds up around May — when lawmakers pass a budget expected to exceed $300 billion for the two-year cycle. The pleas for new money reflect the evolving functions and purposes of agencies that use state tax dollars to serve Texans, Senate Finance Chair Joan Huffman, R-Houston, said. “As the state continues to grow and inflation remains an issue, one can expect that agencies may request additional funding to maintain operations,” Huffman said in an email to The Dallas Morning News.

More than half of that nearly $25 billion in requests for 2026-27 came from a dozen of the largest agencies among the more than 100 that submitted proposals. Coming as the state’s coffers are brimming with more than $20 billion in unspent tax money, the requests lean heavily toward pay raises and new hires for state agencies dealing with high turnover and low pay. “Salary is frequently cited by applicants as a factor in turning down job offers,” according to the appropriations request by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which oversees the state foster care and adult protective services. “DFPS employees engage in difficult circumstances, often putting personal needs aside to protect children and vulnerable adults. The ability to have tools to recruit and retain these individuals is critical to DFPS’ mission,” according to the agency’s legislative appropriations request. Staff turnover at state agencies hit an all-time high in 2022 but dipped last year after lawmakers gave state employees their first across-the-board pay raise in nearly a decade.

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Dan Patrick campaign says it has $33.5 million to spend on reelection

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s reelection campaign entered the new year with $33.5 million in its coffers. The sum is “the second highest” balance recorded by a state officeholder in Texas history, his campaign said. The announcement came ahead of Tuesday’s start of the state’s 89th legislative session and Wednesday’s deadline to file semiannual campaign finance reports, which will cover fundraising and expenditures from July through December. As lieutenant governor, Patrick, 74, leads the Texas Senate.

“Lt. Governor Dan Patrick continues to be a clarion voice for the conservative majority in the State of Texas,” said Allen Blakemore, Patrick’s senior political adviser. “His leadership keeps Texas as the very best place to live, work and raise a family.” Patrick, who said he looks forward to seeking reelection in 2026, vowed to do everything possible to deliver Texans “the conservative government they want and deserve” during the legislative session. “There is much work to be done during this Session and you can count on the Texas Senate to set the pace and lead on a host of issues and a significant public policy agenda,” Patrick said in a statement. Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Patrick will be among the statewide officials up for reelection in 2026.

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Knives come out for the D.C. consultant class as Democrats search for a new leader

Candidates vying to lead the Democratic National Committee have found a common enemy: the D.C. consultant. In the first DNC-sanctioned forum in the body’s low-profile race for chair on Saturday, DNC candidates channeled their frustration at the “D.C. insiders,” whom New York state Sen. James Skoufis vowed to “kick to the curb.” Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chair Ken Martin pledged the “D.C. consultants” will “be gone when I’m there.” And Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler promised he’d go into 2025 “with no commitments to anyone who’s been on a campaign payroll before.” It’s a sign of the times for a party that burned through some $1.5 billion in the final months of the campaign, only to come up short against President-elect Donald Trump.

As the party still searches for answers to its devastating losses in 2024, consultants became the punching bag while the DNC candidates largely avoided sparring with one another. They all agreed that the party needed to reground its identity with the working class and commit to a permanent campaign infrastructure across the country. But any light attacks — of which there were a few — came without names attached. Saturday’s forum was the first of four meetings scheduled in January ahead of a Feb. 1 DNC chair election, the first big decision Democrats will make to redefine their party in the second Trump era. Here are The candidates may have spent much of their 90-minute debate attacking D.C., but nearly all of them committed to moving to the capital if elected. It’s a question that had been percolating for weeks among DNC members, many of whom have been frustrated by the sitting DNC Chair Jaime Harrison’s decision to stay in South Carolina during his tenure. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said “leaders lead from the front, and they have to be present in the center of the circle,” while Skoufis, the only sitting elected official running, said he would step down from the New York state Senate because “the next DNC chair must be fully committed.” But Wikler, who has a young family in Wisconsin, didn’t commit to a move. He said he planned to keep a “congressional schedule” and be in D.C. “on a regular basis,” but “I think there’s strength that comes from being in a place where Democrats don’t win every election a lot of the time.”

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Are Texas school vouchers in turmoil? One top Democrat says yes.

Despite Gov. Greg Abbott's claim that school choice will cross the finish line this year, the top Texas House Democrat says Abbott's biggest legislative priority may be up in the air. "On the opposition side. The consensus is crystal clear: no vouchers. On the yes side, which plan is it?" said Gene Wu, the Texas House Democratic Caucus chair. "There's a reason why they have not released a plan, because even among the 'yes-to-vouchers group,' there is no consensus on what kind of voucher program is okay." Days from the start of the 2025 legislative session, details about the program allowing taxpayer dollars to cover private and parochial school costs are still being ironed out. A lack of legislative language on school vouchers comes amid preliminary proclamations by the state's top voucher-loving GOP lawmakers that Abbott has secured the 76 majority votes to pass his top priority through his committed campaigning and a series of primary challenges.

Although Abbott characterized the series of victories as a win, Wu, recently elected to head the Texas House Democratic Caucus, said the governor's strategy soured relations with Democrats. "There's no give and take. There's no compromise. There's no horse training," Wu said. "It's just do it my way, or I'll punish you." Wu said Abbott's tendency to hardball his way through his priorities has proved unsuccessful. He referred to Abbott's "dangling" of public school funding and teacher pay raises last legislative session, which the governor used to get vouchers to cross the threshold. "People did not react well to that. Abbott's not treating us like we're an equal part of the process, and we are," Wu said. "He operates by dictate. He operates by threats." Wu argued that anti-voucher legislators could have the upper hand as Abbott's accomplishment is contingent on the newly elected state representatives remaining pro-voucher and supporting the proposed voucher program. "If they release a light plan, all the hardcore people are like…?" Wu said. "If they release a hardcore plan, all the light people are gone."

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Inside Elon Musk’s plan for DOGE to slash government costs

An unpaid group of billionaires, tech executives and some disciples of Peter Thiel, a powerful Republican donor, are preparing to take up unofficial positions in the U.S. government in the name of cost-cutting. As President-elect Donald J. Trump’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency girds for battle against “wasteful” spending, it is preparing to dispatch individuals with ties to its co-leaders, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, to agencies across the federal government. After Inauguration Day, the group of Silicon Valley-inflected, wide-eyed recruits will be deployed to Washington’s alphabet soup of agencies. The goal is for most major agencies to eventually have two DOGE representatives as they seek to cut costs like Mr. Musk did at X, his social media platform. This story is based on interviews with roughly a dozen people who have insight into DOGE’s operations. They spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

On the eve of Mr. Trump’s presidency, the structure of DOGE is still amorphous and closely held. People involved in the operation say that secrecy and avoiding leaks is paramount, and much of its communication is conducted on Signal, the encrypted messaging app. Mr. Trump has said the effort would drive “drastic change,” and that the entity would provide outside advice on how to cut wasteful spending. DOGE itself will have no power to cut spending — that authority rests with Congress. Instead, it is expected to provide recommendations for programs and other areas to cut. But parts of the operation are becoming clear: Many of the executives involved are expecting to do six-month voluntary stints inside the federal government before returning to their high-paying jobs. Mr. Musk has said they will not be paid — a nonstarter for some originally interested tech executives — and have been asked by him to work 80-hour weeks. Some, including possibly Mr. Musk, will be so-called special government employees, a specific category of temporary workers who can only work for the federal government for 130 days or less in a 365-day period.

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State Stories

Texas prisons are scrambling to fix a 'dangerous' staffing crisis

Texas prisons were so short staffed in 2023 the state spent more than $111,000 on rental cars for correctional officers to drive to far-flung rural facilities to cover temporary shifts that couldn’t be filled locally. Once there, the guards needed a place to stay. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s bill for hotels and travel meals that year came to nearly $14 million – double what it was the year before. The corrections agency even had names for the tactic of shuttling employees around just to keep the lock-ups operational: The Uber model, named after the ride-share program, for daily fill-ins; and the hotel model, for longer-term, but still temporary shifts. “(They’re not) models we love or embrace for the future, but models that let us keep the capacity and the operation going,” the correction’s agency executive director, Bryan Collier, told legislators in a hearing late last year.

“It’s getting out of hand,” added Jeff Ormsby, executive director of the corrections worker union, AFSCME Council 907. The travel and lodgings expenses, obtained by the Houston Chronicle through an open records request, highlight the creative contortions the state prison agency has had to perform to keep watch over a suddenly surging inmate population. Thanks to a string of legal reforms followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, by 2021 the number of Texas prisoners dropped from more than 150,000 to about 120,000, the lowest census since the mid-1990s. In response, the prison system idled 14,000 beds, shuttering entire units in the process. But the number of inmates has bounced back with a vengeance. This year it is projected to approach 140,000 – and to keep climbing. At the same time, the corrections agency has struggled to find corrections and parole officers. At the end of 2023, nearly 30% of positions remained unfilled – three times the vacancy rate experts say is needed to ensure safety for employees and inmates. Some more isolated facilities have struggled to fill half their jobs.

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‘We’re trying to send a message’: San Antonio state Senator discusses dangerous dog legislation

The City of San Antonio’s Animal Care Services gave a dog owner six criminal citations after their dog bit an 11-year-old girl and injured two other people who were trying to help. After several dog bites over recent months, a San Antonio state Senator introduced a bill with hopes of increasing the consequences for irresponsible dog owners. Among the citations the owner of the dog is facing include: the dog was away from the owner’s property, failure to provide proof of rabies vaccination, failure to provide proof of microchipping, and three citations for failure to prevent the attack.

Consequences could escalate much higher if state Senator Jose Menendez’s legislation on dangerous dogs is passed. “We’re trying to send a message, you know?” Menendez said. “If you’re going to be a dog owner, be a responsible dog owner.” Senator Menendez introduced Senate Bill 155 on dangerous dogs in November — alongside 62 other bills — for the upcoming legislative session based on several complaints from the community. If passed, owners of known dangerous dogs could face more than criminal citations. Owners could be charged with misdemeanors or even felonies. “There are people who’ve called our office and said, ‘We can’t even walk,‘” Menendez said. “‘We don’t feel that we can walk or ride our bikes safely in our neighborhood. Our children can’t be out playing safely in the neighborhood.‘ You and your dog’s rights end at your property line.” KSAT has reported several dog attacks over the last few months but the legislation that Menendez introduced specifically points to a deadly dog attack on an elderly man in 2023.

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This aspiring social worker should not be blacklisted

Families in crisis trust Katherin Youniacutt, a grandmother who lives a quiet life with her husband in Lubbock. Besides a graduate degree in social work, she has experience as a recovering alcoholic with over a decade of sobriety. Youniacutt is a role model, exactly the kind of person Texas should want as a social worker. But the state has banned her for life from licensure because of a mistake she made long ago. No matter what she does to rehabilitate herself and demonstrate her qualifications, she can never practice social work in Texas. Trouble started for Youniacutt as a child and young adult, when she became a victim of clerical abuse and started drinking to cope. She hit bottom in 2007, when an off-duty police officer approached her vehicle late at night and reported an injury to himself when Youniacutt pulled away. She accepted responsibility for her actions by agreeing to plead guilty to drunk driving and assault of a public servant.

Youniacutt apologized to the officer and was not sentenced to jail time for the assault. She tried to move on and successfully entered recovery on New Year’s Day in 2011. As she turned her life around, Youniacutt felt called to use her experience overcoming abuse and addiction to help others struggling with the same problems. For five years, Youniacutt volunteered with a codependency group to help women and families in recovery. She then earned an undergraduate degree in social work at Lubbock Christian University in 2020 and a Master of Social Work at the University of Texas at Arlington in 2022. Texas has a dire shortage of social workers, and Youniacutt found work immediately at Oceans Healthcare. The plan was for Youniacutt to take on a direct care role as soon as she received her social work license. But only after passing the state licensing exam in February 2023 did she learn that she was ineligible. A harsh 2019 state law, enacted after Youniacutt started her social work training, imposes a lifetime ban on anyone with certain convictions, including Youniacutt’s assault charge. Texas families in need of services are the ultimate losers. An October 2024 report from the University of Texas at Austin shows a “significant deficit” in social workers, and the problem is projected to worsen.

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Monday's budget estimate announcement opens path for ‘life-changing decisions for Texans’ by lawmakers

From education savings accounts to border security to property tax reform, lawmakers have big plans for the legislative session. Those plans come with big price tags. On Monday, State Comptroller Glenn Hegar will release the Biennial Revenue Estimate, or BRE. It’s his estimate of how much money lawmakers will have available when they make the next state budget. Hegar hinted that the estimate would be good news for the state. “The upcoming revenue estimate that we’re gonna give next Monday shows, once again, that the state legislature will have a large cash carryover balance from this two-year budget to the next two-year budget,” Hegar said during an interview Wednesday.

Hegar did not release a specific number. That will come with Monday’s announcement. But he suggested that it will be less than the $32.7 billion surplus he announced before the 2023 legislative session. “It was historical. It was once in a lifetime,” Hegar said of that surplus. Still, he noted the encouraging financial outlook for the state in this budget cycle. Hegar said the state’s Economic Stabilization Fund now stands at $24 billion, the most in Texas history. The fund is more commonly known as the rainy day fund, functioning as a savings account to help the state cover shortfalls or emergency needs “Once again, the legislature here is in a very positive position to make some real kind of monumental decisions and life-changing decisions for Texans, which, if you compare that to other states, some of the other states, unfortunately, they’re in deficits right now. So we are in a relatively very strong position compared to other states,” Hegar said. Hegar believes continued growth in the state, including demand for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency will likely require funding improvements to power infrastructure.

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Texas sending personnel and equipment to help California fight wildfires

Texas is sending personnel and equipment to help Californians battle the wildfires blazing in the Los Angeles area, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Saturday. More than 135 firefighters and other emergency management and medical personnel are being deployed, according to the state. The wildfires, which first started popping up Tuesday, have destroyed more than 12,000 homes, businesses, vehicles and more, according to the Associated Press. "Our hearts grieve with the entire Los Angeles community as they continue to respond to these destructive wildfires,” Abbott said. “Texans know all too well the devastation wildfires can cause to our communities, and our country is stronger when we come together in times of crisis. I directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management to deploy firefighters, fire engines, and firefighting equipment to help our fellow Americans battle these wildfires." The response comes after California sent out a request for help through the state's Office of Emergency Services

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Texas judge strikes down American Air’s ESG focus in retirement accounts

A federal judge in Texas on Friday said American Airlines violated federal law by basing investment decisions for its employee retirement plan on environmental, social and other non-financial factors. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor appeared to be the first of its kind amid growing backlash by conservatives to an uptick in socially-conscious investing. O’Connor said American had breached its legal duty to make investment decisions based solely on the financial interests of 401(k) plan beneficiaries by allowing BlackRock, its asset manager and a major shareholder, to focus on environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) factors. “The evidence made clear that [American’s] incestuous relationship with BlackRock and its own corporate goals disloyally influenced administration of the Plan,” wrote O’Connor, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush.

The judge ruled after holding a four-day non-jury trial in June, in a class action by American pilot Bryan Spence on behalf of more than 100,000 participants in the retirement plan. O’Connor said he would decide later on whether class members suffered financial harms and American must pay them damages. American said in a statement that it was reviewing the decision. Lawyers for Spence did not immediately respond to requests for comment. BlackRock, which on Thursday said it was leaving an environmentally focused investor group under pressure from Republican politicians, is not involved in the lawsuit. In November, BlackRock and two rival asset managers were sued by 11 Republican-led states who claim the firms violated federal antitrust law through climate activism that reduced coal production and caused energy costs to increase. BlackRock called the claims baseless. Spence sued American in 2023, saying it had violated the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by failing to remain loyal to 401(k) plan participants and to prudently oversee their assets.

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Texas sues TikTok, alleging platform is dangerous for minors, enables harmful content

Attorney General Ken Paxton sued TikTok on Thursday, alleging the social media company deceptively marketed its application as safe for minors in violation of Texas law. The lawsuit accuses TikTok of misleading consumers by maintaining an age rating of 12-plus in app stores instead of 17-plus. The suit also alleges the company downplays the frequency of its inappropriate content by marking categories such as sexual content, nudity, profanity or crude humor as “infrequent” and “mild.” A state investigation “discovered virtually endless amounts of extreme and mature videos presented to minors as young as thirteen — some with millions of views,” the lawsuit said. “Much of this content would shock the conscience of an individual of any age, let alone impressionable minors.”

Texas has a law against deceptive trade practices, and the state is seeking a court ruling “ordering TikTok to stop its false, misleading, and deceptive representations to Texas minors and their parents.” The lawsuit, filed in state district court in Galveston County, accuses TikTok of ignoring the health and safety of Texas minors and argues the platform “is rife with profanity, sexual content, violence, mature themes, and drug and alcohol content.” The state’s investigation found TikTok users are shown inappropriate content “in their algorithmically-driven For You Feed without having searched for it.” The investigation also found typing a few letters into a search bar presents users with “suggestions that lead to frequent and intense profanity; crude humor; alcohol, tobacco, and drug use and references; sexual content or nudity; and mature or suggestive themes.” “TikTok actively worked to deceive parents and lure children onto their app despite the presence of an overwhelming amount of profane and illicit material,” Paxton said in a statement. “Companies may not jeopardize the health and wellbeing of Texas children by blatantly lying about the products they provide.”

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Dallas Morning News Editorial: Is Texas doing enough to save abandoned babies?

If you lived in Texas in the 1990s, you might remember that our state pioneered what the U.S. calls Baby Moses or safe haven laws. In 1999, Texas passed a law to allow parents to safely give up their newborns after more than a dozen babies were abandoned in the Houston area over a 10-month period. Some of the babies were dead when they were found. Our safe haven law covers babies 60 days or younger, who must be handed over to emergency personnel at a hospital or fire station. The parent can voluntarily share health information about the baby but is not required to do so. As long as the baby is unharmed, the mother or father can walk away, no questions asked. Another spate of abandoned babies in Houston last year stirred a new sense of crisis: Why are we still pulling babies out of trash piles? Why aren’t parents availing themselves of a law meant to help people in desperate circumstances?

State statistics show that the Baby Moses law has saved the lives of dozens of babies. But as the Legislature convenes for its 2025 session, our representatives and senators should have a policy discussion about how to promote the law. When lawmakers passed the safe haven rules 25 years ago, they washed their hands of having to advertise them, with no state money budgeted to that end. A Washington Post story in December drew attention to the recent string of abandoned babies in Houston. The paper reported that 18 babies had been abandoned statewide in 2024 and suggested a tie to Texas’ near-total abortion ban, quoting critics of the law who said these abandonment cases are no coincidence. Texas passed what was called the “heartbeat bill” in 2021 and a fuller abortion ban in 2022. The state’s abortion law has gone too far in restricting access to the procedure in cases of health threats and even in instances of rape and incest. Most Americans support abortion rights in the first trimester, with support waning in later pregnancy stages. But regardless of our frustration with Texas’ abortion laws, historical data muddle The Post’s suggestion that there is a relationship between the abortion ban and the recent wave of abandoned babies. The Department of Family and Protective Services keeps statistics on newborns abandoned by their parents and those who are safely surrendered to emergency caregivers under the Baby Moses law. A look at the past 10 years shows those numbers fluctuate annually. For instance, seven newborns were abandoned in Texas in 2014, and nine surrendered to emergency caregivers. Three years later, 15 were abandoned and 13 relinquished under the safe haven law.

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Glenn Rogers: Don’t stop at chairmanships; ban Democrats from Texas altogether

Glenn Rogers(Michael Hogue) In a rare act of political disunity early in the 87th legislative session, State Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, spoke against an amendment to ban Democratic chairmanships. After asserting his longstanding conservative voting record, this is what he said: “I cannot vote for this amendment, not because I support the values of the Democratic Party, not because I disagree with the concept found in this amendment. I cannot support this amendment because the amendment takes us one step closer to looking like Washington, D.C. This chamber exists so that we may deliberate ideas, work the process, and work hard to pass and kill bills on behalf of our constituents. We don’t need to have Republican-only chairs to do that. We never have in the past; we don’t need them now.” The banning of Democratic chairs, while failing miserably in the last two sessions, is most assuredly destined for passage in the upcoming 89th session.

Republican citizens clad in bright red t-shirts emblazoned with the words, “Ban Democrat Chairs!” are sure to again flood the Capitol like they did early in the 88th session. I remember fondly when they gave a raucous standing ovation in the gallery for their hero, Rep. Bryan Slaton, R–Royse City, who was later expelled from the Texas House for sexual misconduct. The winds of reform are now at gale force and legislators are poised and ready to implement the strong desires of the majority of 8% of Texas citizens voting in Republican primaries — the voters carefully attuned to campaign messages financed by megadonors Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks. Here are a few possible next steps that move beyond chairmanships to just banning Democrats (and RINOs) altogether. Did you realize we have a “Physician of the Day” recognition in the House? Only recognize “Physicians of the Day” that are Republicans. Why would we want a Democratic physician anywhere near the state Capitol? Furthermore, only rabid anti-vaxxer doctors should have this honor. Did you know that Democrats are currently serving as vice-chairs of House committees? Ban Democratic vice-chairs. Vice-chairs are just a heartbeat away from becoming chairs. That’s not a chance any red-blooded Republican should ever be willing to risk. Can you believe Democrats are given some of the best offices in the Capitol? Eliminate the seniority system for Democrats. Seniority for Democrats is traditional Austin swamp culture in need of reform. Only Republicans should utilize the premium office space, and room assignments should be based on scorecard ratings from least to most conservative. Can you believe Republicans and Democrats are seated together on the Texas House floor? They should be segregated and seats assigned according to conservative ratings. This seating arrangement would group the RINOs with moderate Democrats in the middle of the House floor. The RINOs would then be on full display in their last session before being primaried out of office. A rope decorated with little rhinoceros emblems could be used to cordon off this area from the donor-compliant members. While red-meat issues are being addressed, this middle crowd can focus on trivial issues such as water, health care and transportation. Did you know that Democrats are permitted to lead prayer to start each day’s session? God doesn’t hear Democrats’ prayers. Only Republicans who are avowed Christian Nationalists and approved by the gods — er, donors — should be allowed to publicly pray before each day’s activities.

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Why is Jerry Jones dragging out Cowboys coaching decision with Mike McCarthy?

The entirety of the Cuban Missile Crisis — from the discovery of Russian missiles in Cuba to Kennedy’s reaction to Khrushchev’s response (which led the world to the brink of nuclear disaster) to the final peace-saving arrangement made by the two leaders — took 13 days. Jerry Jones is hoping to make a decision on Mike McCarthy’s future in slightly less, but it could be close. There are six NFL clubs searching for coaches, and some have known the search was coming since mid-season and all have been working at it since midday Tuesday when the Raiders let Antonio Pierce go. On Saturday afternoon, Jones and McCarthy had already met for days and still not found a resolution, but, like a jury trial, the longer this goes, the more it favors McCarthy staying as head coach. That’s not the end of the world for Cowboys’ fans by any means. For most, I suspect, it is unsatisfactory and something less than inspirational.

The NFC playoffs begin Sunday and maybe Jones is counting on a big performance from a hot Tampa Bay team, not just because McCarthy’s Cowboys played their best game of the year in beating the Bucs here in late December. Tampa Bay at least has a coach (Todd Bowles, once the Cowboys’ defensive backs coach under Bill Parcells) in McCarthy’s age range. Both are 61 (Mike is eight days older if you want to factor that in). Beyond that, 54-year-old Dan Quinn in Washington is the only one knocking on McCarthy’s door. The Lions’ Dan Campbell is 48 and the other four — Eagles’ Nick Sirianni, Packers’ Matt LaFleur, Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell and Rams’ Sean McVay are anywhere from 38 to 45. I’m not trying to make this coaching decision all about age. Certainly I am decades past a time arguing for younger minds (as in columnists?) to be placed in charge. And I’m very aware that Andy Reid, five years older at 66, is closing in on being the first coach ever to capture three straight Lombardi Trophies. There’s a lot to be said for wisdom and experience. It’s of a particular benefit when a team is enjoying success.

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Billy Begala: Rep. Julie Johnson is coming to Congress to work on policy, not for stardom

(Billy Begala is director of product and operations for The Barbed Wire.) (This article is the fifth in a six-part MSNBC Daily series, “Meet the Freshmen,” featuring six of Congress’ newest faces — three Republicans and three Democrats — in a series of diverse columns that explore the new members’ backstories, policies, home districts and where they fit in this historic political moment.) There’s an old idiom in politics that a politician is either a “work horse” or a “show horse.” In its 180 years as a state, Texas has sent more than its fair share of work horses to Congress. Members like Lyndon Johnson, Sam Rayburn, Tom DeLay and Barbara Jordan expertly navigated the halls of Congress, emerging as party leaders and change-makers in Washington. Recently, however, the Texas delegation has been all show horse. Representatives like Louie Gohmert, Chip Roy and Ronny Jackson are drawn like moths to the bright lights of Fox News and Newsmax cameras. The eminently quotable Rep. Jasmine Crockett once did a TV hit from her seat on a Southwest flight. But a new member of the Texas delegation, Rep. Julie Johnson, has all the makings of the next Texas congressional work horse.

A new member of the Texas delegation, Rep. Julie Johnson, has all the makings of the next Texas congressional work horse. As a former trial lawyer, Johnson boasts a background that would have made it easy for her to veer into the politics of identity or the world of attention-seeking that many of her new colleagues are fond of. Johnson made history as the first member of the Texas Legislature to have a same-sex spouse, and she defeated one of the chamber’s most bigoted members. Nearly all of the headlines about Johnson’s 2024 victory have likewise noted that she is the first openly LGBTQ person to represent Texas in Congress. It might have been easy for Johnson’s tenure in the state House to be defined more by her sexual orientation or her history-making electoral victory than by the policy she has had a hand in. Instead, during her time in the Legislature, Johnson has earned a reputation as a smart member, a hard worker and someone who was unafraid of sharing a good whiskey with members of either party — all of which earned her the hard-won honorific “Freshman of the Year” from Texas Monthly. The magazine called Johnson a “paragon of collegiality,” noting that she “carried a variety of nuts-and-bolts legislation, including limits on predatory practices by insurance companies as well as bills to legalize medical marijuana as a treatment for PTSD.” This isn’t glamorous work, but it’s genuinely reassuring that there are still some politicians up to the task.

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Texas Democrats want to expand abortion access in 2025. Do they have a chance?

Texas Democrats are gearing up for another legislative session, where they'll push to expand access to abortions. Republicans are expected to do the opposite, in an ongoing policy battle between the two parties. "We are in a circumstance where leadership is no longer interested in the majority view of average everyday Texans, and is no longer responding to the facts on the ground," Senator Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin, said in a press conference on Thursday, unveiling legislation that would add reproductive healthcare to Medicaid coverage, "which are maternity deserts across half of the state of Texas; a dearth of any physician, much less an obstetrician-gynecologist; and a, frankly, a physician drain from the state because of these policies. It's important to continue to file legislation that actually addresses the needs and the wants of our population."

But while Democrats are pushing for expanding access to abortion in Texas, Republicans have filed legislation that would curb access. Among that broad category of legislation, Republicans have filed bills to restrict access to abortion-inducing medications and bills that would forbid city governments from entering into partnerships with abortion access groups, such as Austin did last year. As many as one in two Texans believe Texas should loosen its ban on abortion, according to the most recent polling for the Texas Politics Project. More respondents said the ban on abortion should be loosened rather than left the same or more strict. "I think the politics are still very similar," James Henson, director for the Texas Politics Project, told CBS Austin. "There's not a lot of broad public support for going back to the well, if you will, on abortion laws in Texas and making reproductive laws more strict, or more stringent. And you know, we are seeing some movement in that direction, you know, by some faction to the right." Republicans have also been applying pressure to government officials affiliated with abortion access. This week, Dr. Robert Bredt retired as Medical Director for the Texas Medical Board. This comes just weeks after Republicans drew ire toward his affiliation with Planned Parenthood in the past and called for his resignation.

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City Stories

Poteet ISD students sent home early due to emailed bomb threats

Poteet Independent School District sent students home early on Friday due to emailed bomb threats. Superintendent Charles Camarillo told the Express-News that two teachers received emails indicating that there were concealed bombs throughout its campuses. The emails asked for a $30,000 ransom. "We are sending kids home as we speak," Camarillo said in an email just after 10 a.m. "We have multiple law enforcement agencies here assisting and three bomb dogs en route to sweep the schools." In a follow-up message, Camarillo said the detection dogs had not found anything as of 2:30 p.m. All students and staff were evacuated by 11:15 a.m.

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‘The Spurs Lady’ Sovia Lauriano dies after suffering heart attack, family member says

San Antonio Spurs super fan Sovia Lauriano passed away on Saturday, according to a family member. Lauriano, commonly referred to as “The Spurs Lady,” was known for dressing head-to-toe in customized Spurs gear. Over the years, Lauriano grew as one of the most beloved Spurs fans in San Antonio. She represented Silver and Black every chance she could with over-the-top costumes. In remembrance of Lauriano, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg shared a statement on X (formerly Twitter). “San Antonio has lost an irreplaceable thread in the fabric of our community. Sovia “Spurs Lady” Lauriano embodied the heart and soul of our city, radiating love for SA in everything she did. Her presence brought joy to so many, and we will deeply miss her unwavering spirit,” said Nirenberg. A family member of Lauriano said a heart attack contributed to her death. Lauriano had prior heart issues, including surgery last year, during which the entire city showed their support.

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Dallas city manager candidates start making their cases for why they should get the job

The three finalists to lead Dallas are making their case to the public and City Council on why they should be named the municipal government’s next top executive. Saturday morning was the first of a trio of community meet-and-greet events for Fort Worth Assistant City Manager William Johnson, Sacramento Assistant City Manager Mario Lara and Dallas Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert to explain their vision for the city. More than 100 people attended the first session at Dallas City Hall on Saturday morning. All three declared themselves leaders ready to help the ninth-largest city in the country navigate its challenges and thrive. A second session took place at 3 p.m. Saturday at Singing Hills Recreation Center, and a third is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at Fretz Recreation Center, 6950 Beltline Road. The City Council is scheduled to interview the three city manager finalists and discuss who the top pick should be during a closed session meeting on Wednesday.

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National Stories

Their homes torched amid a housing crisis, L.A. residents wonder where to go

LaNiece Carpenter fled with her siblings, parents and pets from her Altadena home at 4 a.m. Wednesday as flames raced across the tops of the hills behind them. Now, with the family home turned to ash, she must confront the question facing every Angeleno displaced by the fires: Where to now? She doesn’t want to leave the city she grew up in, but it might be too costly to return. “It is an impossible decision either way,” Carpenter, 30, said. Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous, faced an unprecedented housing crisis even before the past week’s fires destroyed an estimated 12,000 structures, including thousands of homes, and forced mass evacuations. The disaster has already been pegged as the costliest blaze in U.S. history, with analysts projecting total economic losses of $50 billion to $150 billion.

“If you were suddenly to become homeless and displaced, the housing market in L.A. is not the one you want to end up in,” said Cynthia Strathmann, executive director of Strategic Actions for a Just Economy, a nonprofit that researches housing policies to benefit low-income Angelenos. Across California, housing shortages were already acute in part because of land costs, a strict regulatory environment and limited supply. Rent in Los Angeles averages $2,820, according to Zillow, much higher than the national average of $1,983. That could spike further after the fires. When Carpenter and her family evacuated, they drove west out of Los Angeles to escape the raging Eaton Fire. Now they’re crammed into her aunt’s home about an hour away in Simi Valley. Carpenter worried she wouldn’t be able to finding affordable housing that would allow her parents, in their 60s, to commute to their jobs in Pasadena. They’re considering moving to Ohio or Indiana, where they’d find extended family and cheaper rent. “We don’t have a lot to pack,” she said. Bungalows, mansions and mobile home parks burned in the Los Angeles-area fires. So did new rental developments, senior homes and celebrity hideaways. Fire wiped out much of the Pacific Palisades — a coastal community of 23,000 people — where the median sale price of a home was $3.3 million in November, according to Redfin. Meanwhile, the $3,800 median rent in Altadena is still 90 percent higher than the national median, according to Zillow figures as of Saturday morning.

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Trump's Cabinet picks are set for Senate hearings. Here's the schedule.

After the initial crush of personnel announcements for President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, now the nominations process officially begins. Senate hearings are scheduled this coming week for several of Trump’s picks for the Cabinet. Many have met with senators individually. Now, they will go before the committees overseeing the agencies that Trump wants them to run. Here’s a look at the schedule for Senate hearings set so far, in Eastern time:

On Tuesday: 9 a.m.: Doug Collins, Department of Veterans Affairs: The former Georgia congressman is up first, before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Collins is a Baptist minister, former U.S. Navy chaplain and Air Force Reserve colonel. The VA provides health care to former members of the U.S. armed forces. 9:30 a.m.: Pete Hegseth, Department of Defense: The former “Fox & Friends” weekend host and Army National Guard combat veteran goes before the Senate Armed Services Committee after weeks of meetings during which some senators have questioned his fitness for the role amid allegations of excessive drinking and sexual misconduct. 10 a.m.: Doug Burgum, Interior Department: The former governor of North Dakota and businessman appears before members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, who will consider his nomination as interior secretary, the chief steward of U.S. public lands.

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Special counsel Jack Smith resigns from DOJ

Special counsel Jack Smith has completed his work on two criminal investigations of President-elect Donald Trump and resigned Friday from the Justice Department. Word of Smith’s departure came in a footnote to a court filing Justice Department officials submitted to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon Saturday afternoon, urging her not to extend a court order she issued last week temporarily blocking the release of the final report Smith submitted to department leaders on Tuesday. Justice Department officials say Cannon’s order overstepped her authority and that she has no power to block Attorney General Merrick Garland from releasing Smith’s findings. Her ban on disclosure of Smith’s report currently runs through Monday. Garland has said he plans to release publicly only the portion of Smith’s report that covers his investigation into Trump’s effort to subvert the 2020 election. The attorney general has said in court filings that he agreed with a recommendation from Smith to keep the other volume — which addresses the probe into Trump’s possession of a raft of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after he left office in 2021 — under wraps due to prosecutors’ ongoing efforts to revive a criminal case against two Trump allies and former co-defendants. Instead, Garland intends only to show that report to a handful of members of Congress.

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John Fetterman: A Democrat who can talk Trump, or a reckless maverick?

As Senate Democrats agonized over a looming vote that could boost deportations of immigrants living unlawfully in the U.S., the first Democrat to sponsor the Republican-led measure wasn’t even in the room. Instead, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting on Thursday behind a different set of closed doors with President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi. Television crews waited outside, eager to ask Fetterman about the news that he planned to visit Trump at Mar-a-Lago, becoming the only Democratic senator so far known to meet with him after the election. “If somebody is shocked or freaked out if I’m going to take a conversation with the president, I’d like to remind you that I’m not just for Democrats—I’m for everyone,” Fetterman said in an interview. After all, he said, “Most Pennsylvanians chose Donald Trump as our next president.”

The unconventional lawmaker, whose political stances have sometimes exasperated progressives, has emerged as the Democrat most open to working with the incoming administration. This past week, his endorsement of the immigration bill marked the start of a stampede of Democrats to open debate on the measure, while also raising concern within the party that lawmakers were tacking too far right. As Democrats regroup following the loss of the Senate and the White House, Fetterman argues that some of Trump’s ideas deserve consideration. He cautions against what he casts as overblown Democratic rhetoric that Trump will serve as an autocrat bent on purging the federal workforce in favor of loyalists. The senator also signaled he could provide votes for Trump’s cabinet choices, some of whom will struggle to draw Democratic support, or even parts of Trump’s agenda. “It’s like our phasers are set at freakout,” Fetterman said of Democrats, using a “Star Trek” reference. “You have a right to react any way you want, but I’m not that guy, and I am here to have conversations with our nominees and look for the ways we can possibly be a part of the dialogue.”

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Los Angeles wildfires death toll rises as crews fight heavy winds to save homes and landmarks

The death toll from the wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area rose to 16 as crews battled to cut off the spreading blazes before potentially strong winds return that could push the flames toward some of the city’s most famous landmarks. Five of the deaths were attributed to the Palisades Fire and 11 resulted from the Eaton Fire, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said in a statement Saturday evening. The previous number of confirmed fatalities before Saturday was 11, but officials said they expected that figure to rise as teams with cadaver dogs conduct systematic grid searches in leveled neighborhoods. Authorities have established a center where people can report the missing.

Joseph Everett, assistant chief of the Los Angeles Fire Department’s west bureau, said it has been difficult to see such destruction in an area where he, his father and grandfather all have worked as firefighters. “It resonates with me heavily,” he said at a community meeting Saturday night. “Please be patient as we are up there … we’re still aggressively fighting fire out there.” There were fears that winds could move the fires toward the J. Paul Getty Museum and the University of California, Los Angeles, while new evacuation warnings left more homeowners on edge. By Saturday evening, Cal Fire reported the Palisades, Eaton, Kenneth and Hurst fires had consumed about 62 square miles (160 square kilometers), an area larger than San Francisco. The Palisades and Eaton fires accounted for 59 square miles (nearly 153 square kilometers).

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Anger and resentment rise in Los Angeles over fire response

After being largely reduced to ashes by wildfire, Altadena was being patrolled by National Guard soldiers on Friday. For residents of this devastated Los Angeles suburb, the arrival of these men in uniform is too little, too late. "We didn't see a single firefighter while we were throwing buckets of water to defend our house against the flames" on Tuesday night, said Nicholas Norman, 40. "They were too busy over in the Palisades saving the rich and famous's properties, and they let us common folks burn," said the teacher. But the fire did not discriminate.

In the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, the first to be hit by the flames this week, wealthy residents share the same resentment toward the authorities. "Our city has completely let us down," said Nicole Perri, outraged by the fact that hydrants being used by firefighters ran dry or lost pressure. Her lavish Palisades home was burnt to cinders. In a state of shock, the 32-year-old stylist wants to see accountability. "Things should have been in place that could have prevented this," she told AFP. "We've lost everything, and I just feel zero support from our city, our horrible mayor and our governor." Multiple fires that continue to ravage Los Angeles have killed at least 11 people, authorities say. Around 10,000 buildings have been destroyed, and well over 100,000 residents have been forced to evacuate. So far authorities have largely blamed the intense 100 mile (160 kilometer) per hour winds that raged earlier this week, and recent months of drought, for the disaster. But this explanation alone falls short for many Californians, thousands of whom have lost everything.

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Firefighters from Mexico will help fight Eaton blaze, Newsom says.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said firefighters from Mexico were en route Friday to help fight at least one of the fires devastating the Los Angeles area. He said those coming to help from Mexico will be joining more than 10,000 personnel already on the ground. They’d be heading to help battle the Eaton Fire, where more than 2,800 personnel were. "California is deeply grateful for President @ClaudiaShein’s support as we work to suppress the Los Angeles wildfires," he wrote on Friday in a post on the social platform X.

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Lead Stories

Will Texas have its 'biggest water session' in history? Here's why a senator says yes.

More than 8 million Texans live in areas affected by drought, according the National Drought Mitigation Center. And without significant legislative appropriations, water shortages are expected to worsen as the population grows. But the critical infrastructure that supports the state's water supply — underground pipes, groundwater reservoirs and water treatment facilities — lacks a dedicated funding source from state coffers, unlike the state's highways and roads, which benefit from a steady stream of revenue from gas taxes, sales taxes and other automatic funding mechanisms. A state senator from Lubbock, however, is seeking to shore up Texas' funding for water, and he’s confident the Legislature will back him. “We will leave this session with a significant sum to jump-start water supply development and have a constitutional vote in November for perpetual funding going forward,” Republican Sen. Charles Perry told the American-Statesman in a phone interview Tuesday.

Perry said he has secured commitments from Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and numerous members of the House and Senate to support a new funding plan, though he said the details are still fluid. The sixth-term senator is among several lawmakers and advocates who have sounded the alarm in recent years about gaps in Texas’ water system as the state continues to attract new businesses and residents. Insufficient water supply has forced South Texas citrus growers to shrink their orchards and shut down the last remaining sugar mill in the Valley, costing hundreds of workers their jobs. And concerns over water supply and infrastructure have led at least three Texas cities — Dripping Springs, Conroe and Magnolia — to put the brakes on new development, cutting off potential economic growth in the process. Furthermore, Mexico has made inconsistent deliveries of water promised in a 1944 federal treaty, contributing to shortages in South Texas in particular.

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Trump to be sentenced in hush money case, days before return to White House

In a singular moment in U.S. history, President-elect Donald Trump faces sentencing Friday for his New York hush money conviction after the nation’s highest court refused to intervene. Like so much else in the criminal case and the current American political landscape, the scenario set to unfold in an austere Manhattan courtroom was unimaginable only a few years ago. A state judge is to say what consequences, if any, the country’s former and soon-to-be leader will face for felonies that a jury found he committed. With Trump 10 days from inauguration, Judge Juan M. Merchan has indicated he plans a no-penalty sentence called an unconditional discharge and prosecutors aren’t opposing it. That would mean no jail time, no probation and no fines would be imposed, but nothing is final until Friday’s proceeding is done. Regardless of the outcome, Trump will become the first person convicted of a felony to assume the presidency.

Trump, who is expected to appear by video from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, will have the opportunity to speak. He has pilloried the case, the only one of his four criminal indictments that has gone to trial and possibly the only one that ever will. The judge has indicated that he plans the unconditional discharge — a rarity in felony convictions — partly to avoid complicated constitutional issues that would arise if he imposed a penalty that overlapped with Trump’s presidency. The hush money case accused him of fudging his business’ records to veil a $130,000 payoff to porn actor Stormy Daniels. She was paid, late in Trump’s 2016 campaign, not to tell the public about a sexual encounter she maintains the two had a decade earlier. He says nothing sexual happened between them, and he contends that his political adversaries spun up a bogus prosecution to try to damage him. “I never falsified business records. It is a fake, made up charge,” the Republican president-elect wrote on his Truth Social platform last week. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office brought the charges, is a Democrat. Bragg’s office said in a court filing Monday that Trump committed “serious offenses that caused extensive harm to the sanctity of the electoral process and to the integrity of New York’s financial marketplace.”

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Claiming conspiracy, Republican activist Steven Hotze seeks to block start of civil trial over 2020 assault

Republican activist Stephen Hotze asked a federal judge to step in on a civil case against him, saying the lawsuit was part of a Democrat-led conspiracy. Hotze on Dec. 31 asked the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to issue injunctions that would delay a February trial over the lawsuit accusing him of instigating a 2021 assault and false imprisonment of an air conditioner repairman. A man who worked for Hotze's Liberty Center for God and County was following the repairman as a part Hotze's investigation of supposed ballot harvesting during the 2020 election. The new lawsuit accused former District Attorney Kim Ogg of "conspiring" with private attorneys to use the civil lawsuit to obtain evidence that was later used to bring felony charges against Hotze. The DA's office hadn't responded to Hotze's lawsuit as of Thursday morning.

"[Hotze] was only criminally prosecuted due to his political views and the fact that Liberty Center was investigating voter fraud in an election where the Democrats were successful," Hotze's lawyer, Jared Woodfill, wrote in the filing. It's Hotze's latest claim that the criminal and civil cases brought against him are part of a vast conspiracy. Hotze accused the district attorney's office of violating his rights to free speech and equal treatment under the law, and circumventing his protections against self-incrimination. The lawsuit seeks damages and asks for a restraining order stopping the DA's office and other, unnamed people from participating in the civil trial before the criminal case against him is completed. The state lawsuit brought by the repairman, David Lopez, is scheduled to go to trial Feb. 17, according to court records.

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Friday’s jobs report could present a mixed view of the labor market. Here’s what to expect

The December jobs report is likely to provide only limited clarity on where the labor market is headed, with experts differing on how pronounced a slowdown there is in hiring. From a consensus view, economists expect the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday morning to report a gain of 155,000 in nonfarm payrolls, a step down from the surprising 227,000 increase in November but about in keeping with the four-month average. The unemployment rate is forecast to hold steady at 4.2%. However, the details of the report will be key, with some on Wall Street expecting that the number could come in a bit weaker, depending on how seasonal trends and other factors play out.

“We’ve seen a little bit of the softening, and I think we’ll continue to see that, but it’s still a good [labor] market overall,” said Maureen Hoersten, chief operating officer and interim CEO at LaSalle Network, a Chicago-based staffing firm. “Things are leveling off a little bit. People are still a tad cautious, trying to figure out this new year and the new economic climate and political climate.” On average, the economy in 2024 added about 180,000 jobs a month through November, though the data has been volatile and somewhat confusing lately. Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said Thursday that labor market reports “have become increasingly difficult to interpret” due to measurement challenges, which have included a surge of new workers and low response rates on surveys. The December report also could be harder to judge depending on how the hiring of holiday workers affects the numbers. Goldman Sachs, for one, estimates that payroll growth will come in at just 125,000, with the unemployment rate drifting up to 4.3%.

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State Stories

David Feigen: Addressing Texas' child care crisis should be a top priority for lawmakers

(David Feigen is the director of early learning policy at Texans Care for Children.) Like so many other Texas parents, Serena struggled to find affordable, high-quality child care so she could go to work. For a year, she was stuck on the waitlist for the state’s child care scholarship program, as she recently explained to our staff with Texans Care for Children. Without child care, Serena had to turn down full-time jobs. She could not attend college classes. She battled depression. But after finally getting a scholarship to pay for child care, Serena reports she has been able to work full time, attend classes and improve her mental health. The opportunity to attend a high-quality early learning program has helped her daughter, too. Serena told us her daughter follows directions better, and has improved her speech and learned to share with her classmates — putting her on a path to succeed when she starts elementary school.

As a labor-intensive industry that can’t cut costs through automation, child care typically costs more than tuition for the University of Texas. Without access to affordable, high-quality options, many parents settle for dropping off their toddler at unlicensed programs that may put their child in front of a screen all day — or even in a potentially unsafe environment — instead of placing them with well-trained educators who can keep their kids safe, read them books, play counting games and engage in brain-building conversations. It shouldn’t be this way. Families deserve choices, whether they want to stay home with their young children, drop them off with a grandparent, or sign them up for child care with a faith-based provider, a child care center or a licensed provider who operates out of her home. The Texas Legislature can help. In fact, more than 120 Texas organizations just unveiled a road map with specific child care policy proposals for this legislative session. A wide variety of organizations endorsed the package, including the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County, business groups such as the Lubbock and Greater Waco Chambers of Commerce, faith-based organizations, associations of medical professionals, community groups, child care providers and children’s advocates.

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Texas tops US states for renewable energy and battery capacity

Texas is dominating the development of renewable energy generation and battery capacity within the United States, and is estimated to have installed nearly 80% more combined solar, wind and battery capacity than the next largest state. The Lone Star state has 42,000 megawatts (MW) of wind power, 22,000 MW of solar farms and 6,500 MW of utility-scale battery capacity in place as of the end of 2024, data from Cleanview and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows. California has the next largest network of renewable generation and battery capacity, while Florida, Arizona and Colorado round out the top 5 list of U.S. states that are deploying renewables and batteries to boost power supplies.

California has the next largest network of renewable generation and battery capacity, while Florida, Arizona and Colorado round out the top 5 list of U.S. states that are deploying renewables and batteries to boost power supplies. Since 2019, Texas power firms have boosted solar generation capacity by 800%, wind capacity by 50% and battery storage capacity by an eye-popping 5,500%, according to energy data portal Cleanview, using EIA and state-level data. In absolute terms, Texas has installed around 19,000 MW of solar, 14,000 MW of wind and 6,200 MW of battery capacity within the past five years. Those installations have resulted in wind and solar farms generating roughly 30% of the state's electricity in 2024, according to Ember, which is up from a combined solar and wind share of around 18% in 2019.

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The winter storm continues to deliver snow and ice across North Texas

The winter storm began in earnest around 7 a.m. on Thursday, spraying rain, sleet, and some snow across much of North Texas. The weather is expected to stay in the metro area through lunchtime Friday. The latest forecast from the National Weather Service estimates that another 2 to 4 inches of new snow and sleet accumulation is possible overnight, which could lead to as much as a tenth of an inch of ice. Those conditions will make travel “hazardous” ahead of the weekend, but local and state transportation officials are working to de-ice major roads. Friday’s high will be 38 and its low is 22. Saturday and Sunday will be sunny with highs of 47 and 49, which might be how long it takes to thaw depending on the volume of what the NWS calls “snow showers.” Both nights have lows below freezing. We’re currently under a Winter Storm Warning through noon on Friday. The onset of the storm has seen more snow falling in counties north of Dallas. The NWS’ Thursday morning forecast predicts that it will spread across the entire warning area, whose southern boundary is Dallas County, northern is the Oklahoma border, east is Lamar County, and west is Bowie.

Dallas ISD schools are closed on Thursday and Friday. All after-school events, including sports, are canceled. WFAA is tracking other school district closures here. Most districts are closed on Thursday, but a smattering are considering opening on Friday. ERCOT, which manages the power grid, has issued only a weather watch, not an order to conserve. Power reserves remain well above the demand so far, as they have been since the watch was issued on Tuesday. Highs in most of the state—including Dallas—had ticked above freezing after lunchtime each day this week. That won’t happen here on Thursday. ERCOT says at least 150 power and transmission facilities have been inspected in the past month, and, as of Wednesday, it predicts any outages will be localized and happen because of downed trees or power lines. The NWS’ forecast now expects 100 percent precipitation on Thursday, and temperatures ticked below freezing after lunch. These snow showers—brief, scattered snowfall that could accumulate on the ground—will continue through Friday morning. Wednesday morning, Gov. Greg Abbott was joined by Texas Department of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd and other state officials, including representatives from the Texas Department of Transportation, ERCOT, and the Public Utility Commission.

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I-40 Closed in the Texas Panhandle: Hundreds stranded in near blizzard conditions

A large winter storm has dumped heavy amounts of snow across the Texas panhandle Thursday. Some snow amounts approaching 1 foot near I-40 west of Amarillo, Texas. Strong winds have kicked up Thursday evening and now there is blowing snow creating very poor visibility and very dangerous travel conditions. Around 9PM Thursday evening I-40 westbound was closed at Soncy Road in Amarillo due to a jackknifed semi blocking the interstate. Storm chaser, Blake Brown was able to confirm that hundreds of motorists were stranded with their vehicles waiting for a chance to continue down the interstate.

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2 Keller school board members urge pause in split plan

Two Keller school board members issued statements late Thursday afternoon saying that they are opposed to a plan to split the Keller school district. Chelsea Kelly and Joni Shaw Smith said that they hope the board will “pause” the process to split the district. They urged a transparent approach that includes collaboration and community debate. “I am not OK with this,” Kelly wrote in the Jan. 9 statement posted on Facebook. “I am not OK with the way this has been rolled out or that our community has had no input on this idea.” Kelly said the board discussed the plan in one closed meeting, which was the first time they had heard about it. “The rumor is true,” Shaw Smith wrote in her statement.

Shaw Smith said board President Charles Randklev, Vice-President John Birt and Trustee Micah Young revealed their plan to “detach” a portion of Keller ISD and form a new district on Dec. 19. “To say that Trustee Kelly and I were blindsided and shocked is an understatement,” Smith said. “An action like this carries significant implications for our community, our schools, and most importantly, our students.” Fort Worth city council member Charlie Lauersdorf, whose district includes Keller schools, had learned about the proposed split from a board member. Lauersdorf said trustees were trying keep the plan quiet to avoid a public outcry before discussing it. “I was recently made aware of statements by Trustees Joni Smith and Chelsea Kelly statements regarding the rumored KISD split,” Lauersdorf said. “I applaud them for standing up for what’s right and demanding transparency from their colleagues. This is what true leadership looks like and I’m looking forward to working with them on behalf of all of our students, teachers, staff and families in Keller ISD.”

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HISD teachers union launches 'Fair Pay Campaign' against planned pay-for-performance policy

A Houston teachers union is advocating against a possible overhaul to the pay scale that could base salaries for some teachers entirely on evaluations, rather than tenure. The Houston Education Association, representing about 200 members, is launching a "Fair Pay Campaign" to urge community members to advocate against linking teacher pay to evaluations and to tell the Board of Managers to vote no on any pay-for-performance policy.

The concern comes as HISD leaders are testing and collecting feedback at 18 campuses for components of a new teacher evaluation system. HISD has also administered at least one district-wide survey, garnering more than 8,000 teacher respondents, according to the district. However, regardless of what evaluation system the district ultimately implements, HISD plans to move toward pay-for-performance, Deputy Chief of Academics Alyssa Murray said in an explainer video for the proposed system. An HISD spokesperson said that the development of a new evaluation system and the move to pay-for-performance are separate initiatives. "HISD will move to a pay-for-performance model for teachers at non-NES campuses in the school year 2026-2027. Performance will be measured by the teacher evaluation system in place at that time, whether that is the proposed TES (Teacher Excellence) System, if passed by the board, or the current T-TESS (state standard) system," the spokesperson commented.

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Commission admonishes Fort Bend District Court Judge who used profanity in courtroom

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct admonished a Fort Bend District Court Judge who used profanity during a hearing and said a defendant could not wear her jail uniform at trial. The commission ordered 268th District Court Judge Stephen Rodgers to complete four hours of instruction for violating the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct and the state constitution in his interactions with two defense attorneys. Rogers was elected to the bench in November of 2022, the Fort Bend Herald reported. According to the commission’s findings, the judge said he only had about two months of experience in criminal law before joining the bench and relied on attorneys to conduct legal research, instead of doing the research himself.

During a heated court hearing in July 2023, the judge ordered defense attorneys Annie Scott and Michael Elliott to buy civilian clothes from Walmart for their client. The judge said the defendant could not wear her jail uniform during trial and ended the hearing by saying "Don’t f—k with me in my court," according to the admonishment. The following week, Scott filed a motion to recuse Rogers from the client’s criminal cases. According to the admonishment, Rogers transferred the cases to another judge and referred the recusal motion to the presiding judge three days past the deadline to do so. The presiding judge found that the recusal motion was moot because Rogers had transferred the case. Since Rogers transferred the case, he was still in charge of signing the two defense attorneys’ pay vouchers. Additionally, their client's case could still be moved back to his court.

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Houston City Council denies CenterPoint’s request for rate hike

Houston City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to deny CenterPoint Energy's request for a rate hike. The proposed increase would've added $1.83 to the average residential customer's monthly bill. "The bottom line is Houstonians deserve a refund for what we’ve been put through, not a hit to our wallets for utility hardening that quite frankly should have been done years ago," City Council Member Abbie Kamin said. In a statement, CenterPoint said the rate hike is "essential to meeting the current and future demand" of the region and would help cover "improvements to reliably deliver power." The company faced backlash this year after more than 2.2 million customers lost power during Hurricane Beryl. Poor communication and lengthy restoration times prompted multiple calls for CEO Jason Wells to resign, and some officials have argued the company overcharged customers for years — allegations Wells pushed back on in October.

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Meta moves teams to Texas over ‘concern’ of ‘biased employees’ in California

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been quietly shifting toward a Republican-favored strategy for his leadership of social media giant Meta, announcing on Tuesday that he’s replacing a trusted fact-checking program with community notes, removing restrictions on topics like immigration and gender, and moving the company’s “trust and safety and content moderation teams out of California, and our U.S. content review to Texas.” The changes mirror many of those made in recent months by Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter), and it will affect both Facebook and Instagram, per NBC News. He wrote on Threads — the company’s attempt at a Twitter dupe — that the move to Texas “will help remove the concern that biased employees are overly censoring content.” (Guess no one told Zuck about the biases happening in Texas towards women, people of color, immigrants, and the LGBTQIA+ community.) “It’s time to get back to our roots around free expression on Facebook and Instagram,” Zuckerberg said on a video posted to Facebook. “I started building social media to give people a voice. Governments and legacy media have pushed to censor more and more.” To be clear, actual research contends that conservatives are not unfairly censored on social media. Despite this, Republicans have long criticized fact-checking in general — and Meta’s fact-checking system in particular — as unfair and favoring Democrats, NBC reported.

During a Senate hearing in 2019, Texas’ sweetheart Sen. Ted Cruz told fellow lawmakers: “Not only does big tech have the power to silence voices with which they disagree, but big tech likewise has the power to collate a person’s feed so they only receive the news that comports with their own political agenda,” Cruz said, according to a Washington Post article that year. In 2020, Zuckerberg told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that Facebook’s goal is to “make sure that people have reliable information about the election,” according to Politico. Is Zuckerberg bowing down to the incoming Trump administration? Or was this always Zuck’s plan? Here’s what we know: He’s already donated $1 million to soon-to-be President Trump’s inaugural fund, and, earlier this week, Zuckerberg put Joel Kaplan — a Republican and a Brett Kavanaugh supporter — on its global policy team. He’s also put Dana White, the Ultimate Fighting Championship president and a Trump ally, on Meta’s board. Though Zuckerberg never explicitly endorsed Trump ahead of the election, he did praise the former president in an interview with Bloomberg Television. As Kat Vargas, the woman behind Howdy Politics, wrote on Threads, “Texans have been telling you that we would be ground zero for Project 2025 and that living in a blue state wouldn’t protect you. We told you that our problems would become yours if you continued to ignore Texas.” So, see y’all on Bluesky?

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Dallas megachurch Watermark ‘aware’ of staffer’s sex offender status, his platform remains

Dallas megachurch Watermark Community Church said it is aware of one of its leader’s registered sex offender status and indicated that they plan to allow his involvement in church activities to continue, despite his past conviction of child sex abuse. Charles “Chuck” Adair, 64, actively volunteers at Watermark, serves as a ministry leader at Grace Place Church Of Christ in Duncanville and sometimes presides from the pulpit to deliver a sermon, according to the churches’ websites. Adair is a lifetime registered sex offender, according to the state database. In 1996, Adair was convicted of sexually assaulting a child in West Texas and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Prior to his arrest in Las Vegas 30 years ago, Adair was featured on America’s Most Wanted after he fled Texas with the victim, a

Adair’s continued leadership in churches despite his sex offender status, has caused an uproar on social media from people who disagree with the churches’ stance, demanding accountability from the religious leaders. He became a topic of discussion on social media when blogger Amy Smith posted about him on her X account, where she frequently posts about pastors accused of or charged with abuse. “Mr. Adair has spoken openly and honestly about his past offenses as a means of pointing others to Christ’s redemptive work in his life,” Watermark officials wrote in a statement posted to the church’s website on Jan. 6. “Watermark is aware of Mr. Adair’s status as a registered sex offender and his previous completion of his required community supervision/parole.” Officials from Grace Place did not immediately respond to a request from The Dallas Morning News for comment about Adair’s sex offender status. Adair did not respond to a reporter’s request by phone for comment Wednesday morning. In a 2012 interview with The News, Adair said he realized he crossed legal and moral boundaries in the past. But he said he is no longer that man and is grateful for a second chance. Adair, however, in the same interview admitted that his relationship 30 years ago with a then-15-year-old started emotional but escalated into sexual activity. He described the affair to The News as “completely inappropriate,” and that it was “just one of those things that started.”

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Joy Sewing: Why State Rep. Gene Wu's viral comments on Black civil rights paving the way for Asians ring true

If you look at racial tropes, it’s no wonder there’s little solidarity between Asian and Black communities. Many Asian Americans have been saddled with the stereotype of the “good” minority. They work hard, excel in academics, are financially successful and keep their heads down. Black Americans, on the other end of the stereotype, are the “bad” ones who don’t excel academically, can’t get out of poverty and dare to talk back. Stereotypes have a way of infiltrating our psyche and eroding unity. Not to mention, they are a lie. State Rep. Gene Wu is fiercely fighting to bridge that divide and is calling for Asian communities to stand up for their rights and for what’s right, including supporting Black Americans.

“The day the Latino, African American, Asian and other communities realize that they share the same oppressor is the day we start winning because we are the majority now,” Wu recently said on a podcast with host Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas. Vargas founded Define America, a nonprofit culture-change organization focused on humanizing immigrants' stories. “Our country and the forces that be, the powers that be, have spent tremendous time, effort and money to make sure that those groups (Black, Asians and Latinos) are never united and that they always see each other as enemies and competitors without ever realizing that they share one thing in common, that their oppressors all are the same, the oppression comes from one place,” Wu said. Wu’s comments were shared on multiple social media sites, particularly ones focused on Black audiences. His statement that Asian and Black communities have one of the worst relationships between any community has gone viral. Basically, he said the privileges that Asian people benefit from would not be afforded if it weren't for the civil rights fights led by Black Americans.

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Gov. Abbott appoints losing DA candidate Dan Simons to serve as Harris County judge

Failed district attorney candidate Dan Simons was tapped by Gov. Greg Abbott to preside as a state district court judge for the next two years, officials said. Simons, who narrowly lost to newly elected District Attorney Sean Teare on the Republican ticket, was appointed Tuesday to the 496th District Court, one of Harris County's three new courts. His term will expire either Dec. 31, 2026, unless he runs for that seat and wins. Simons applied for the judicial position after the November election. He plans to start hearing cases in late January after closing his criminal defense practice, he said.

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Humble ISD board taps Roger Brown to be the next superintendent in 6-1 vote

The Humble ISD board ushered in a new era Wednesday night, appointing Roger Brown as superintendent, even as the verdict on a termination appeal filed by former superintendent Elizabeth Fagen remains pending before the Texas Education Agency commissioner. Brown was confirmed in a 6-1 vote, with trustee Robert Sitton opposing. The lone opposition drew frustration from some board members who felt that Sitton’s rationale was “disingenuous.” “Suggesting the process has been in any way inappropriate is misleading to the public. We conducted a public poll of the board to gauge interest in engaging a national search firm for the superintendent. There was insufficient interest in that. Following this, we adhered to all required protocols,” said Board President Chris Parker. “The process has been conducted fairly.”

But Sitton and trustee Martina Lemond-Dixon questioned the hiring process. Sitton said that he has no reservations about Brown’s candidacy, but raised concern that the board did not interview any one of the eight applicants, including Brown, before choosing him. Lemond-Dixon asked fellow board members if they had read applications and some responded that they had. Trustee Michael Grabowksi said he had asked for updates from legal counsel and reviewed applications “over the phone,” and suggested all trustees should have been as engaged during the 10 days the job was posted. Trustee Robert Scarfo said he was fine with the process and added that he was especially pleased with Brown’s new contract. “What we have in place right now is a good contract. We've gotten away from things that I was against for quite a long time … It's not going to just automatically renew every year and keep it at three years. The current contract on the table is for three years, not five years,” Scarfo said. “I think, from a taxpayer standpoint, it's a fair deal for all involved.” The contract will remain in place from Wednesday until June 30, 2028, according to the document provided by Chief Communications Officer Jamie Mount. Brown will receive an annual salary of $335,000 and a $1,000 monthly car allowance for in-district travel.

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Katy ISD students denied access to more than 400 LGBTQ books that haven't officially been banned.

Katy ISD librarians have been instructed to steer students away from more than 400 books with LGBTQ+ themes, even though the school district hasn't yet officially banned the titles, records show. Under Katy ISD’s book banning policy, books that are flagged for review are to remain on library shelves until they’re officially banned. But internal district emails show that students are being denied access to about 450 titles while the books await review. While the fate of the books remains uncertain, the district has instructed school librarians to tell children to “choose another book” if the child attempts to check out one of the titles, emails show.

Katy ISD in a statement said that “listed titles are available for check out by students whose parents have provided permission in accordance with board policy,” but declined to clarify why librarians are redirecting childrens’ choices. The district sent a web link to the district's policy regarding books that have been challenged but not yet banned. “If appropriate, the librarian or administrator may offer a concerned parent an alternative library material to be used by that parent's child in place of the challenged material,” the policy states. It does not mention redirecting all children from checking out books that are under review. The email to librarians expands Katy ISD's book-ban policy beyond its intent, said Anne Russey, founder of Texas Freedom to Read Project. “At least 400-plus books, targeted for their LGBTQ+ content, are to remain on the shelves while they undergo internal reconsideration, and students are being denied access if they attempt to check out any of them,” Russey explained. “This is a detour from standard practice in the district. Typically books being informally and formally reconsidered remain available for student check out pending the outcomes of the reconsiderations.”

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Feds may take Texas bird off endangered list; advocates vow to fight

Federal officials have recommended removing the golden-cheeked warbler from the endangered species list, a decision that could alter future debates about development in the Hill Country. It could also have wider ripples for protecting environmentally sensitive land, advocates said. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week announced the potential reclassification of the warbler from from endangered to threatened, following the completion of a status review of the species. The recommended change is based on research “that better clarifies our understanding of the species and its habitat conditions, and habitat conservation,” the agency said in a news release.

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Keller ISD considers split; creating new Alliance district

Keller school trustees are eyeing a possible plan to split the district in two, according to Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker and council member Charlie Lauersdorf. Lauersdorf, whose district includes the Keller schools, said Jan. 8 he was assured by a school board member that trustees were merely examining the possibility of a split at a special Jan. 16 meeting. Lauersdorf declined to name the school board member, citing private aspects of the conversation. Before that conversation, Lauersdorf said no Keller school district officials had reached out to him or the city of Fort Worth. The board didn’t want to disclose the plan publicly, because it is not going to make any decisions and members didn’t want to create a public outcry before discussing it, Lauersdorf said. Parents said in social media posts that they believe the new Alliance school district would be west of Denton Highway.

Keller is the fourth-largest school district in Tarrant County, with more than 34,000 students in Keller, Fort Worth, Colleyville, Haltom City, Hurst, North Richland Hills, Southlake, Watauga and Westlake; 27 of its 42 campuses are in Fort Worth. “You would hope the school board would actually involve the city of Fort Worth, and say ‘This is what we’re thinking, nothing’s set in stone,” Lauersdorf said. “Apparently, it looks like Keller ISD’s strategy is a strategy of ambiguity, which I believe only works in our relationship with China.” Lauersdorf added that the potential split raised questions about the impact on property taxes, school building maintenance, and feeder patterns for the large number of Keller school district students who reside in the city of Fort Worth. “That’s what they need to be transparent about — like here’s what we’re thinking and here’s how it’s going to impact you,” he said. “That information just has to be put out there whether it’s good, bad, ugly or indifferent,” he said. Parker said in a statement Wednesday that she learned of the split in a city meeting on Tuesday and had not heard from the school district or board members.

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John Cornyn introduces bill allowing concealed carry permits to work in all 50 states

Republican Texas Sen. John Cornyn introduced a bill Thursday to allow concealed carry license holders to carry their guns in any state. The bill, titled the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, will compel states to recognize concealed carry permits from all states as a valid certification to carry a concealed firearm, according to the bill text. A similar bill was proposed in the House in 2023 by Republican North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson with widespread Republican support, with a Republican majority in both chambers only bolstering the law’s likelihood to pass. President-elect Donald Trump has also voiced support for the law on the campaign trail.

“The Lone Star State has long championed our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, and gun owners in Texas and across the country should not have that fundamental right violated when they cross state lines,” Cornyn said in statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation. “This legislation would reduce unnecessary burdens for law-abiding citizens and allow them to carry a concealed firearm in every state that permits it, and I’m grateful for the overwhelming support from my fellow Republican colleagues on this commonsense bill.” Hudson also introduced his own bill in the new House on Wednesday, according to Fox News. He first introduced a bill in 2017, and has proposed the bill now five times, according to congressional records. Nearly 20 gun advocacy organizations have supported the bill, including the National Rifle Association (NRA), Gun Owners of America (GOA), and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). Other Republicans also joined Cornyn in endorsing the bill, including Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassely and Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and 40 other Republican senators.

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Nearly 100 extremist groups still operate in Texas

Extremism is alive — and thriving — in Texas. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), nearly 100 groups dedicated to hate and anti-government ideals called the Lone Star State home by the end of 2023; only California and Florida surpassed Texas with 117 and 114 groups, respectively. Eighteen of those groups operate statewide, the nonprofit civil rights organization claims, and over a dozen are headquartered in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The SPLC has published a census of hate groups each year since 1990, and the data shows that Texas is growing more extreme with each passing year. In 2015, the group found 84 active hate groups across the state compared to the most recently recorded 97; in 2005, the SPLC identified 45 groups across Texas. The 2024 Hate Map should be released sometime in the summer, and if Texas continues its current trajectory we will likely become the third state to record hate groups in the hundreds.

This comes on the heels of other organizations dedicated to tracking oppression noting a rise in extremist beliefs across Texas. In early 2023, a report by the Anti-Defamation League found that Texas is the No. 1 state for white supremacist propaganda and some of the largest hate groups nationally have deep roots in the Lone Star State. Hate groups are defined by the SPLC as organizations that “attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics,” while anti-government groups “believe the federal government is tyrannical and traffics in conspiracy theories about an illegitimate government of leftist elites seeking a ‘New World Order.’” (The SPLC's reporting on "hate" and "anti-government" groups has been frequently criticized by some for unfairly targeting groups that take conservative or faith-based positions.) The SPLC found 16 groups based out of North Texas, some of which have multiple chapters in the area. Half of the groups are defined as being antigovernment and half as being hate organizations. Here is how the SPLC defines each group’s ideological type, and the location of each organization in North Texas.

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National Stories

‘Completely dry’: How Los Angeles firefighters ran out of water

Capt. Kevin Easton and his firefighting team had already spent hours battling an out-of-control fire sweeping through Los Angeles’s Pacific Palisades area, leaving gutted homes in its wake. Then, around midnight, their water lines started to sputter. Before long, the hydrants had run dry. “Completely dry — couldn’t get any water out of it,” said Captain Easton, who was part of a small, roaming patrol of firefighters who were trying to protect the community’s Palisades Highlands neighborhood. Even on Wednesday afternoon — hours after the hydrants had gone dry — there was still no water. Houses in the Highlands burned, becoming part of the more than 5,000 structures destroyed by the Palisades fire so far. Officials now say the storage tanks that hold water for high-elevation areas like the Highlands, and the pumping systems that feed them, could not keep pace with the demand as the fire raced from one neighborhood to another. That was in part because those who designed the system did not account for the stunning speeds at which multiple fires would race through the Los Angeles area this week.

“We are looking at a situation that is just completely not part of any domestic water system design,” said Marty Adams, a former general manager and chief engineer at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which is responsible for delivering water to nearly four million residents of Los Angeles. Municipal water systems are designed for firefighters to tap into multiple hydrants at once, allowing them to maintain a steady flow of water for crews who may be trying to protect a large structure or a handful of homes. But these systems can buckle when wildfires, such as those fueled by the dry brush that surrounds Los Angeles’s hillside communities, rage through entire neighborhoods. As urban growth spreads into wilderness areas around the country and climate change brings more challenging fire conditions, an increasing number of cities have confronted a sudden loss of water available for firefighting, most recently in Talent, Ore.; Gatlinburg, Tenn.; and Ventura County, Calif. The problem can be especially acute during high-wind conditions, like those Los Angeles experienced this week, when firefighting aircraft could not safely make their usual aerial drops of water and fire retardant.

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A slew of new housing laws take effect this month to streamline building, protect tenants

New state laws taking effect this month aim to confront the nation’s ongoing housing crisis in various ways, from expanding housing options, to speeding up the development process, to protecting struggling tenants from eviction. Similar bills are in store for this year’s legislative sessions. The new laws include measures to combat landlord retaliation in Illinois and Minnesota, to seal eviction records in Idaho and, in California, to streamline the process for building backyard accessory dwelling units, known as ADUs. Other states focused on the barriers preventing housing from being built by relaxing zoning laws to allow for new types of development, and put the onus on cities to make affordable housing available. Surveys show most Americans, of all backgrounds, communities and political persuasions, want to see more housing built. The need, experts say, is overwhelming. Freddie Mac estimates the current housing shortage at about 3.7 million homes. For extremely low-income tenants, that shortage is more than 7 million rental homes, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

“I expect that it will be a banner year for housing legislation, because many state legislators and governors ran for the first time on a platform that included addressing housing cost inflation,” said economist Salim Furth, a senior research fellow and director of the urbanity project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. “Now they need to deliver.” Furth, who is tracking 135 housing-related bills this year, said he expects a return of last year’s popular issues: making it easier to build an ADU, allowing residential development in commercial zones, and streamlining permitting processes. Perhaps no state did more last year than California, which enacted more than 60 housing-related laws. Most encourage more development in a state with an estimated shortfall of 2.5 million homes. Among the new laws in California are measures that eliminate parking requirements for certain residential developments near transit stations, ease the development of more housing in existing neighborhoods, and strip local governments of the power to block some affordable housing in-fill projects except on the grounds of public health or safety. The state also enacted several laws to encourage more construction of ADUs. Among other provisions, the measures offer up-front transparency on ADU regulations, encourage the building of ADUs in coastal zones, and offer flexibility for ADUs on multifamily lots.

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10 people have died in the wildfires spreading across Southern California

Fires continue to rage on in Southern California, as tens of thousands of acres of land have been decimated, and the flames have been partially contained. Ten people have died due to the fires, the Los Angeles Medical Examiner's Office confirmed. Identification may take several weeks, the examiner said. About 180,000 people have had to evacuate and another 200,000 people are under evacuation warnings, the LA County Sheriff's Department said.

More than 35,000 acres have been burned, with the Palisades and Eaton fires driving the destruction, according to the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. "Unfortunately I think the death toll will rise," LA Sheriff Robert Luna said. "I hope I'm wrong. But I think it will rise." About 8,000 personnel are responding to the fires from local, state, out-of-state and federal agencies, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said. The Los Angeles Unified School District closed its schools throughout the week, and will continue to do so Friday. The NBA has postponed a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets to an unannounced date, while the NFL has moved a game between the Vikings and Rams from Inglewood, Calif., to Glendale, Ariz. Twenty people have been arrested for looting in LA, a number Luna said is likely to go up.

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'Pizzagate' gunman killed by police during traffic stop in North Carolina

The "pizzagate" gunman who fired his rifle in a Washington, D.C., pizza restaurant in 2016, acting on a debunked conspiracy theory, has died after police shot him in a traffic stop. Edgar Maddison Welch was shot by police over the weekend and died from his injuries Monday, authorities in North Carolina said Thursday. Almost 10 years ago, Welch made national headlines when he traveled to the nation's capital from North Carolina and fired shots in the Comet Ping Pong restaurant, spurred by a conspiracy theory that had spread online. Prosecutors said at the time that Welch was trying to investigate an internet conspiracy theory about the pizza restaurant's being home to a child sex-trafficking ring connected to prominent Democratic politicians, a false claim that became known as "pizzagate." Welch, who was 28 when the incident occurred, ended up surrendering to police after he did not find evidence to support the conspiracy theory, according to court documents at the time.

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TikTok's fate arrives at Supreme Court in collision of free speech and national security

In one of the most important cases of the social media age, free speech and national security collide at the Supreme Court on Friday in arguments over the fate of TikTok, a wildly popular digital platform that roughly half the people in the United States use for entertainment and information. TikTok says it plans to shut down the social media site in the U.S. by Jan. 19 unless the Supreme Court strikes down or otherwise delays the effective date of a law aimed at forcing TikTok’s sale by its Chinese parent company. Working on a tight deadline, the justices also have before them a plea from President-elect Donald Trump, who has dropped his earlier support for a ban, to give him and his new administration time to reach a “political resolution” and avoid deciding the case. It’s unclear if the court will take the Republican president-elect’s views — a highly unusual attempt to influence a case — into account.

TikTok and China-based ByteDance, as well as content creators and users, argue the law is a dramatic violation of the Constitution’s free speech guarantee. “Rarely if ever has the court confronted a free-speech case that matters to so many people,” lawyers for the users and content creators wrote. Content creators are anxiously awaiting a decision that could upend their livelihoods and are eyeing other platforms. The case represents another example of the court being asked to rule about a medium with which the justices have acknowledged they have little familiarity or expertise, though they often weigh in on meaty issues involving restrictions on speech. The Biden administration, defending the law that President Joe Biden signed in April after it was approved by wide bipartisan majorities in Congress, contends that “no one can seriously dispute that (China’s) control of TikTok through ByteDance represents a grave threat to national security.” Officials say Chinese authorities can compel ByteDance to hand over information on TikTok’s U.S. patrons or use the platform to spread or suppress information.

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Appeals court allows release of Smith’s report on Trump’s election-reversal efforts

A federal appellate court ruled Thursday that the Justice Department may publicly release special counsel Jack Smith’s report on Donald Trump’s efforts to undo the results of the 2020 election, although the timing of that release remains unclear. The ruling did not distinguish between the two volumes of Smith’s report — one dealing with his election-interference probe and the other focused on Smith’s investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents. But Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland have said in court filings and in a letter to Congress that they will keep the classified documents volume under wraps while litigation related to the case continues.

The president-elect and two of his former co-defendants in the documents case had urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to block the release of the entire report, with Trump saying making it public would harm his White House transition. Trump and his co-defendants did not immediately say Thursday if they would appeal. A lower court judge had previously barred the release of the report until at least three days after the 11th Circuit decision. In a filing late Thursday evening, three hours after the appellate court’s ruling, the Justice Department and Smith said they would appeal that lower court order to potentially allow for an earlier release. Smith’s report could shed new light on alleged efforts by Trump and his allies to subvert his election loss four years ago. Many of those details were divulged in a lengthy legal brief the special counsel filed last year detailing the evidence his team had amassed. But Smith’s report could offer a clearer picture of the material as well as insights into the strategy the government would have employed had that historic set of charges against Trump gone to trial.

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Jimmy Carter lauded for humility and service in Washington before being laid to rest in Georgia

Jimmy Carter was celebrated Thursday for his personal humility and public service before, during and after his presidency in a funeral at Washington National Cathedral featuring the kind of pageantry the 39th U.S. president typically eschewed. It was followed by an intimate hometown funeral near where he was born a century ago. All of Carter’s living successors attended in Washington, with President Joe Biden, who was the first sitting senator to endorse his 1976 run for the White House, eulogizing his longtime friend. Biden and others took turns in the morning praising Carter’s record — which many historians have appraised more favorably since he lost his bid for a second term in 1980 — and extolling his character. The dual ceremonies in Washington and Plains, Georgia, provided a moment of national comity in a notably partisan era and offered a striking portrait of a president who was once judged a political failure, only for his life ultimately to be recognized as having lasting national and global impact.

“He built houses for people who needed homes,” said Joshua Carter, a grandson who recalled how Carter regularly taught Sunday school in Plains after leaving the White House. “He eliminated diseases in forgotten places. He waged peace anywhere in the world, wherever he saw a chance. He loved people.” AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports on Jimmy Carter’s state funeral. Jason Carter, another grandson, wryly noted his grandparents’ frugality, such as washing and reusing Ziploc bags, and his grandfather’s struggles with his cellphone. “They were small-town people who never forgot who they were and where they were from, no matter what happened in their lives,” said Jason, who chairs the Carter Center, a global humanitarian operation founded by Jimmy and his late wife, Rosalynn Carter. At the national service, former President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump, who have mocked each other for years going back to Trump fanning conspiracy theories about Obama’s citizenship, sat next to each other and talked for several minutes, even sharing a laugh.

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Copyright January 17, 2025, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved