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Tag: Texas

  • Mavs leaving no doubt that Cooper Flagg is their future after Davis trade

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    DALLAS (AP) — Cooper Flagg is in the midst of an unprecedented run for an NBA teenager just as the Dallas Mavericks are firmly declaring their rookie No. 1 pick the future face of the franchise.

    The day was coming regardless. It arrived with Dallas trading Anthony Davis, the 10-time All-Star who joined the Mavs in a deal that cost them generational superstar Luka Doncic and sent their fans into a funk from which they’re still recovering.

    “We have an unbelievable player in Cooper Flagg,” co-interim general manager Michael Finley, a former Mavericks player, said Thursday night during the announcement of a three-team trade involving nine players and five draft picks that are all going to Dallas.

    “When you have that type of draft capital, it gives yourself the ability to go out and put the proper pieces around him to make our team, like I keep stressing, a championship contender.”

    The Mavericks got Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson and Marvin Bagley III along with two first-round picks and three second-rounders from Washington for Davis, Jaden Hardy, D’Angelo Russell and Dante Exum. Malaki Branham also was part of the deal for Dallas, which then traded him to Charlotte for Tyus Jones.

    “It’s tough. Those are guys I came in here my first year, they were all amazing guys to be around on and off the court,” Flagg said. “I wish them all the best. And I’m just blessed to be here. Whoever’s out there on the court with me, and the rest of the guys, just looking forward to continuing to try to get better and compete at a really high level.”

    Flagg extended his NBA record for a teenager with his fourth consecutive game of at least 30 points, scoring 32 in a 135-123 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night. The run started with the 19-year-old setting a league scoring record for a teen with 49 points against Charlotte. Flagg followed that with 34 points against Houston and 36 against Boston.

    The Mavericks have lost all four games during Flagg’s surge to put their season-worst losing streak at six games, which helps explain why the Mavericks moved on from the oft-injured Davis, currently sidelined by a hand injury, and chose another retooling of the roster over the chance to see Davis, Flagg and star guard Kyrie Irving on the court together.

    “I think, as a fan, you probably would want to see AD, Kyrie, and Cooper on the court,” said Finley, who shares the interim GM title with Matt Riccardi. “But we had an opportunity to do something to give us the ultimate flexibility in the future. We just felt that this was an opportunity to take advantage of that situation.”

    When the Mavericks converted a 1.8% chance in the draft lottery for the right to select Flagg last summer, there was hope that the fog of losing Doncic would clear.

    Instead, Davis’ injury woes returned amid a slow start by the team this season, as did the “Fire Nico” chants that filled American Airlines Center in the final two months of 2024-25 after the Doncic trade engineered by then-general manager Nico Harrison.

    The Mavericks fired Harrison in November in part as a way to repair the relationship with the fans, and to acknowledge that the trade was a setback for the franchise.

    Now they’ve moved on from their centerpiece in that deal, but Irving is the biggest remaining piece from the team that he and Doncic led to the NBA Finals less than two years ago. It’s beginning to look as if Irving won’t play at all this season after the nine-time All-Star tore the ACL in his left knee last March.

    Finley indicated the Mavs still have a vision of Flagg and Irving — both one-and-done No. 1 overall picks from Duke — sharing the court at some point.

    “We’ve both spoken to Kyrie at different points,” Finley said, referring to Riccardi. “Kyrie has the ultimate respect for Cooper. He loves the kid’s work ethic. He loves the kid’s love for the game. And I think Kyrie’s embracing the role as a mentor to Cooper. So it’s going to be amazing to have a chance to see those guys on the court and playing together.”

    The fate of Flagg’s rookie year is all but set — the Mavericks as also-rans in what appears to be a second consecutive season without a trip to the playoffs since the five-game loss to Boston in the 2024 NBA Finals.

    Coach Jason Kidd, the point guard for the franchise’s only championship team in 2011, believes Flagg has the makings of a franchise leader, and the perseverance to work toward that first postseason chance.

    “The bigger the stage, the bigger the light, the better game he has,” Kidd said. “He wants to win. The 49 (points), the 36, they all have L’s behind it. He wants the change that. He wants to win. I think the great ones learn how to change those L’s into W’s, and he’s going to be one of those.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Snow follwed by dangerously cold temperatures this weekend

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    Another weekend will bring snow and bitter cold to parts of the country—this time across the Ohio River Valley, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Wind chills could plunge to 35 degrees below zero.

    What You Need To Know

    • Cold Weather Warnings are in place Saturday night through Sunday afternoon

    • Wind chills could dip as low as 30 degrees below zero

    • Snowfall totals will be around 1 to 3 inches with the potential for higher amounts in southern Maine and eastern Massachusetts



    Snow chances

    A cold front will bring snow to New York and New England from tonight through tomorrow. Totals will generally be light—around 1 to 3 inches—but a unique phenomenon known as ocean-effect snow could enhance accumulations in eastern Massachusetts and southern Maine (including York County).

    A heavy band may develop there, with localized totals exceeding 6 inches. If this occurs, the most likely timing is early Saturday afternoon.

    Here’s one model’s timing on the snow.


    Cold Weather Alerts

    Arctic air will move in behind the snow starting Saturday night. Area-wide temperatures will dip near zero, and gusty winds could drive wind chills down to 30 below.

    Cold Weather Advisories are in place for the Lakes and Mountains region of Maine, Ohio and eastern Michigan, with Extreme Cold Warnings set to go into effect for New York State and western Massachusetts.


    Cold weather alerts will remain in effect through Sunday afternoon.

    A Cold Weather Advisory is issued when dangerously cold wind chills can cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 15 minutes. An Extreme Cold Warning is issued when frostbite and hypothermia are likely if skin is left unprotected.

    Frigid wind chills

    The cold will settle in Saturday night and remain locked in the Northeast and New England through Sunday. A gradual warmup will begin on Monday. 


    Several of these areas were hit with heavy snow two weeks ago, and much of it remains. Additional snow this weekend will only build bigger piles.

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Meteorologist Stacy Lynn

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  • What’s Going on With Texas’s Democratic-Primary Mess?

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    Things kicked off when Morgan Thompson, a Dallas-based content creator focused on Texas politics, recounted a story to her more than 185,000 TikTok followers regarding an off-the-record meeting she had with Talarico about the Democratic primary on January 12. Thompson claimed that during their conversation, Talarico made an offensive comment comparing Crockett to Allred, a former representative whom Talarico was initially running against. (Allred, who dropped his bid after Crockett entered the race, was also Texas’s Democratic Senate nominee in 2024, losing to Ted Cruz, and is now running for Congress again.)

    “Talarico told me that he signed up to run against a mediocre Black man, not a formidable and intelligent Black woman,” Thompson said in a video posted on Sunday.

    Thompson explained that she initially supported Talarico over Allred but expressed concern after his campaign pushed out a fundraising appeal under the name of James Carville, the storied political consultant who authored a New York Times op-ed last year looking to warn Democrats against embracing what he called “performative woke politics.”

    “I’m always going to advocate for Black people ’cause I don’t care about how much you talk about affordability, housing, health care, whatever. If ‘woke politics’ is not included in that — which directly impacts Black people — then we’re left out of that conversation and policy,” Thompson said.

    Thompson said she reached out to the campaign and shared her concerns to a staffer, who offered her the chance to speak with Talarico one-on-one about the issue. In a subsequent video, Thompson said her conversation with Talarico had been going well and that the comment came as talk turned to which offices the various candidates could have run for besides the Senate. Thompson acknowledged that she doesn’t have a recording of their conversation. She has since endorsed Crockett’s campaign and said the representative was not involved in her decision to speak about her interaction with Talarico.

    Talarico-campaign spokesman J.T. Ennis confirmed to CNN that Thompson and Talarico did meet in Plano, adding that “the Talarico campaign works with lots of creators in Texas to keep them updated on the campaign.”

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    Nia Prater

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  • Supreme Court, with no dissents, rejects GOP challenge to California’s new election map

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    WASHINGTON  — The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that California this fall may use its new election map, which is expected to send five more Democrats to Congress.

    With no dissents, the justices rejected emergency appeals from California Republicans and President Trump’s lawyers, who claimed the map was a racial gerrymander to benefit Latinos, not a partisan effort to bolster Democrats.

    Trump’s lawyers supported the California Republicans and filed a Supreme Court brief asserting that “California’s recent redistricting is tainted by an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.”

    They pointed to statements from Paul Mitchell, who led the effort to redraw the districts, that he hoped to “bolster” Latino representatives in the Central Valley.

    In response, the state’s attorneys told the court the GOP claims defied the public’s understanding of the mid-decade redistricting and contradicted the facts regarding the racial and ethnic makeup of the districts.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed re-drawing the state’s 52 congressional districts to “fight back against Trump’s power grab in Texas.”

    He said that if Texas was going to redraw its districts to benefit Republicans so as to keep control of the House of Representatives, California should do the same to benefit Democrats.

    The voters approved the change in November.

    While the new map has five more Democratic-leaning districts, the state’s attorneys said it did not increase the number with a Latino majority.

    “Before Proposition 50, there were 16 Latino-majority districts. After Proposition 50, there is the same number. The average Latino share of the voting-age population also declined in those 16 districts,” they wrote.

    It would be “strange for California to undertake a mid-decade restricting effort with the predominant purpose of benefiting Latino voters and then enact a new map that contains an identical number of Latino-majority districts,” they said.

    Trump’s lawyers pointed to the 13th Congressional District in Merced County and said its lines were drawn to benefit Latinos.

    The state’s attorneys said that too was incorrect. “The Latino voting-age population [in District 13] decreased after Proposition 50’s enactment,” they said.

    Three judges in Los Angeles heard evidence from both sides and upheld the new map in a 2-1 decision.

    “We find that the evidence of any racial motivation driving redistricting is exceptionally weak, while the evidence of partisan motivations is overwhelming,” said U.S. District Judges Josephine Staton and Wesley Hsu.

    In the past, the Supreme Court has said the Constitution does not bar state lawmakers from drawing election districts for political or partisan reasons, but it does forbid doing so based on the race of the voters.

    In December, the court ruled for Texas Republicans and overturned a 2-1 decision that had blocked the use of its new election map.
    The court’s conservatives agreed with Texas lawmakers who said they acted out of partisan motives, not with the aim of denying representation to Latino and Black voters.

    “The impetus for the adoption of the Texas map (like the map subsequently adopted in California) was partisan advantage pure and simple,” Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote in a concurring opinion.

    California’s lawyers quoted Alito in supporting their map.

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    David G. Savage

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  • Musk vows to put data centers in space and run them on solar, experts doubt

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk vowed this week to upend another industry just as he did with cars and rockets — and once again he’s taking on long odds.

    The world’s richest man said he wants to put as many as a million satellites into orbit to form vast, solar-powered data centers in space — a move to allow expanded use of artificial intelligence and chatbots without triggering blackouts and sending utility bills soaring.

    To finance that effort, Musk combined SpaceX with his AI business on Monday and plans a big initial public offering of the combined company.

    “Space-based AI is obviously the only way to scale,” Musk wrote on SpaceX’s website Monday, adding about his solar ambitions, “It’s always sunny in space!”

    But scientists and industry experts say even Musk — who outsmarted Detroit to turn Tesla into the world’s most valuable automaker — faces formidable technical, financial and environmental obstacles.

    Here’s a look:

    Feeling the heat

    Capturing the sun’s energy from space to run chatbots and other AI tools would ease pressure on power grids and cut demand for sprawling computing warehouses that are consuming farms and forests and vast amounts of water to cool.

    But space presents its own set of problems.

    Data centers generate enormous heat. Space seems to offer a solution because it is cold. But it is also a vacuum, trapping heat inside objects in the same way that a Thermos keeps coffee hot using double walls with no air between them.

    “An uncooled computer chip in space would overheat and melt much faster than one on Earth,” said Josep Jornet, a computer and electrical engineering professor at Northeastern University.

    One fix is to build giant radiator panels that glow in infrared light to push the heat “out into the dark void,” says Jornet, noting that the technology has worked on a small scale, including on the International Space Station. But for Musk’s data centers, he says, it would require an array of “massive, fragile structures that have never been built before.”

    Floating debris

    Then there is space junk.

    A single malfunctioning satellite breaking down or losing orbit could trigger a cascade of collisions, potentially disrupting emergency communications, weather forecasting and other services.

    Musk noted in a recent regulatory filing that he has had only one “low-velocity debris generating event” in seven years running Starlink, his satellite communications network. Starlink has operated about 10,000 satellites — but that’s a fraction of the million or so he now plans to put in space.

    “We could reach a tipping point where the chance of collision is going to be too great,” said University at Buffalo’s John Crassidis, a former NASA engineer. “And these objects are going fast — 17,500 miles per hour. There could be very violent collisions.”

    No repair crews

    Even without collisions, satellites fail, chips degrade, parts break.

    Special GPU graphics chips used by AI companies, for instance, can become damaged and need to be replaced.

    “On Earth, what you would do is send someone down to the data center,” said Baiju Bhatt, CEO of Aetherflux, a space-based solar energy company. “You replace the server, you replace the GPU, you’d do some surgery on that thing and you’d slide it back in.”

    But no such repair crew exists in orbit, and those GPUs in space could get damaged due to their exposure to high-energy particles from the sun.

    Bhatt says one workaround is to overprovision the satellite with extra chips to replace the ones that fail. But that’s an expensive proposition given they are likely to cost tens of thousands of dollars each, and current Starlink satellites only have a lifespan of about five years.

    Competition — and leverage

    Musk is not alone trying to solve these problems.

    A company in Redmond, Washington, called Starcloud, launched a satellite in November carrying a single Nvidia-made AI computer chip to test out how it would fare in space. Google is exploring orbital data centers in a venture it calls Project Suncatcher. And Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin announced plans in January for a constellation of more than 5,000 satellites to start launching late next year, though its focus has been more on communications than AI.

    Still, Musk has an edge: He’s got rockets.

    Starcloud had to use one of his Falcon rockets to put its chip in space last year. Aetherflux plans to send a set of chips it calls a Galactic Brain to space on a SpaceX rocket later this year. And Google may also need to turn to Musk to get its first two planned prototype satellites off the ground by early next year.

    Pierre Lionnet, a research director at the trade association Eurospace, says Musk routinely charges rivals far more than he charges himself —- as much as $20,000 per kilo of payload versus $2,000 internally.

    He said Musk’s announcements this week signal that he plans to use that advantage to win this new space race.

    “When he says we are going to put these data centers in space, it’s a way of telling the others we will keep these low launch costs for myself,” said Lionnet. “It’s a kind of powerplay.”

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    Associated Press

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  • Texas Works to Save Its Hemp Beverage Industry

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    Texas works to save its hemp beverage industry amid federal uncertainty and booming sales in convenience stores and liquor retailers.

    Texas works to save its hemp beverage industry as it is at a crossroads as it moves to preserve a booming hemp beverage industry. The state finds itself caught between evolving state regulations and looming federal restrictions. What started as a niche segment of the hemp market has quickly become a mainstream category, with hemp-derived drinks now available on convenience store shelves and even at large liquor retailers like Total Wine & More. Yet lawmakers in Austin and policymakers in Washington are locked in a debate which could redefine the future of this sector.

    RELATED: The Rebel Heart Of The South Includes Cannabis And Rock

    The hemp beverage market took off in Texas following the 2018 federal Farm Bill, which legalized hemp and its derivatives with limited amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound found in cannabis. Without clear federal guidelines specifically addressing consumable products, hemp drink manufacturers expanded rapidly — forming a product category that includes seltzers, sodas and “zero alcohol, buzz-oriented” beverages that appeal to adults seeking alternatives to traditional alcoholic drinks. These products often provide mild psychoactive effects, making them especially attractive to consumers who want a social buzz without the calories, hangovers or legal complexities of alcohol.

    Major brands have taken notice. Hemp-derived beverages from companies such as Bayou Beverage, hi Seltzer and Wana Brands have secured distribution deals with Total Wine & More, bringing THC-infused seltzers and sparkling drinks to hundreds of stores nationwide, including locations in Texas. These offerings deliver carefully measured doses of hemp-derived THC, often paired with cannabidiol (CBD) or other cannabinoids, positioned as adult recreational or relaxation beverages. The presence of these products in both convenience marts and big-box liquor stores signals how quickly the category has transcended its counterculture origins to enter mainstream retail channels.

    Yet that mainstream success has heightened scrutiny. At the state level, Texas lawmakers have grappled with how to regulate — or even whether to allow — intoxicating hemp products. Earlier legislative proposals sought a total ban on THC-containing hemp products, which business groups warned would dismantle a roughly $5 billion industry supporting tens of thousands of jobs. Critics of the ban argued that restrictive laws would push consumers toward unregulated black-market products while depriving adults of legally recognized alternatives.

    Gov. Greg Abbott’s administration vetoed an outright ban and directed regulators to create a workable regulatory framework, leading the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to finalize rules requiring age verification and setting ongoing rule-making processes to oversee consumable hemp products. These regulations mirror some alcohol industry controls, such as restricting sales to adults 21 and over.

    RELATED: Marijuana Use And Guy’s Member

    Complicating matters further is federal action. Legislation passed by the U.S. Senate is poised to impose strict THC limits on hemp products nationally, effectively outlawing most of the current hemp beverage offerings when it takes effect in 2026. This shift would place Texas’s state-level market directly at odds with federal law, potentially forcing companies to reformulate products or face legal challenges.

    For consumers, hemp beverages represent a growing lifestyle trend. Their positioning as an alternative to alcohol resonates with adults who are cutting back on traditional drinking but still want social experiences or relaxation. As the market and regulatory landscapes evolve, Texas stands as a bellwether for how states and the federal government will balance innovation, public safety and commercial growth in an increasingly popular segment of the beverage world.

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    Anthony Washington

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  • Jasmine Crockett weighs in on Talarico’s comments about Collin Allred

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    State Rep. James Talarico, left, and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Democratic primary candidates for U.S. Senate, shake hands prior to a debate at the Texas AFL-CIO COPE Convention in Georgetown, Texas on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026.

    State Rep. James Talarico, left, and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Democratic primary candidates for U.S. Senate, shake hands prior to a debate at the Texas AFL-CIO COPE Convention in Georgetown, Texas on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026.


    Bob Daemmrich for The Texas Tribune via POOL

    U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett weighed in Monday on allegations that state Rep. James Talarico called his former Senate opponent Colin Allred a “mediocre Black man.”

    On Sunday night, a TikTok user posted a video claiming that Talarico made the comment in a one-on-one conversation with her.

    Allred on Monday posted a blistering video responding to the alleged comments.

    “If you want to compliment Black women, just do it, don’t do it while also tearing down a Back man, OK?” Allred said. “We’ve seen that play before. We’re sick and tired of it. We’re tired of folks using praise for Black women to mask criticism for Black men. That’s not good for our community.”

    Talarico called the video a mischaracterization of a private conversation.

    “In my praise of Congresswoman Crockett, I described Congressman Allred’s method of campaigning as mediocre — but his life and service are not. I would never attack him on the basis of race.”

    Talarico said he understood how his “critique of the Congressman’s campaign could be interpreted given this country’s painful legacy of racism, and I care deeply about the impact my words have on others. I have always said that, despite our disagreements, I deeply respect Congressman Allred. We’re all on the same team.”

    Allred, a former congressman, challenged Ted Cruz for Senate in 2024 and dropped out of the 2026 Senate Democratic primary in December, instead opting to run for Congressional District 33 in North Texas.

    Crockett and Talarico are running for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in the March 3 primary.

    Crocket told the Star-Telegram editorial board on Monday that Allred isn’t mediocre.

    “I definitely don’t think there’s anything mediocre about Colin Allred,” Crockett said. “It’s kind of hard to become the Democratic nominee for Senate in the state of Texas, and he had a primary as well, and he went up against a sitting state senator, so he was put through the ringer.”

    Allred previously represented Congressional District 32 in Dallas. He played in the NFL and worked as a civil rights attorney.

    “I’ve known him as a colleague,” Crockett said. “I’ve known him before either one of us was ever elected to office. I know about the fights that he was waging as a civil rights lawyer, that kind of stuff, and frankly I just hope and pray that as we go through this primary, as well as the general, that we can focus on the real concerns and threats right now.”

    Crockett said it was clear from Allred’s video that the comments struck him.

    “As somebody who’s known him for years, I know that he felt like it was his responsibility to speak up for himself and speak up for other Black men,” she said.

    Crockett said that she has never heard Talarico “say anything racial.” She also acknowledged that Talarico was complimentary of her during the conversation described on TikTok.

    Crockett said she couldn’t speak to Allred and Talarico’s relationship on the campaign trail before Allred exited the Senate race.

    “But have I ever experienced Talarico say anything like this? Absolutely not,” Crockett said.

    Earlier in the interview, Crockett said that, generally speaking, the Senate race has been “racially charged.”

    “There’s been some racial overtones as it relates to podcasts, pundits and things like that,” Crockett said. “And frankly, I do believe that one of the reasons that our country is in the position that it is right now is because of divisiveness.”

    Eleanor Dearman

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Eleanor (Elly) Dearman is a Texas politics and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She’s based in Austin, covering the Legislature and its impact on North Texas. She grew up in Denton and has been a reporter for more than six years.
    Support my work with a digital subscription

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    Eleanor Dearman

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  • Texas Special-Election Shocker Signals Big Trouble for GOP

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    Photo: Desiree Rios/The New York Times/Redux

    It’s definitely possible to overreact to special-election results. These episodic contests, often far downballot, tend to attract low, sometimes skewed voter turnout. But the special elections held since Donald Trump’s 2024 victory add to the evidence that his party is headed for some real problems in November.

    The latest Democratic win is quite the shocker: In a very large (larger than a U.S. House district) state-senate district deep in the heart of Texas that Trump won by 17 points, local union leader and Democrat Taylor Rehmet trounced veteran conservative activist Leigh Wambsganss by 14 points (it was technically a runoff election for the two candidates who finished first and second in the first round in November). There’s nothing about this traditionally very conservative Fort Worth–area district that made it particularly susceptible to an upset of this depth, which contributes to the sense that it’s part of a national vibe shift, as this account of recent state legislative special-election trend lines indicates:

    CNN number cruncher Harry Enten summed up the situation and what such trends have meant in the past:

    A closer look at the Texas results, moreover, makes it difficult to attribute them just to a temporarily skewed pro-Democratic turnout pattern that won’t hold in November. Yes, turnout was very low, possibly because the election was, unusually, held on a Saturday. But not only Democrats turned out:

    Wambsganns, incidentally, “vastly outspent Rehmet as Republicans including Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick mounted a furious funding push in a bid to tilt the election in their favor in the final days,” noted the Texas Tribune.

    Another rationalization Republicans sometimes offer for special-election (or, for that matter, midterm) losses is that some Trump fans feel no particular need to vote if his name isn’t on the ballot. That, indeed, is why he has been much more engaged in preparations for the 2026 midterms than was the case in 2018, when Republicans lost pretty badly. But as Aaron Blake observed at CNN, Trump and his allies were very focused on this race:

    The race was important enough to earn the involvement of the national committees, top statewide Republicans and even Trump.

    Trump posted three times about the race in recent days, in clear hopes of juicing Election Day turnout for Republicans.

    But it didn’t work. In fact, in a pretty rare occurrence these days, Democrats actually did better on special Election Day than in early voting. While Rehmet won early voting 56-44, he won day-of voting 58-42, according to results from Tarrant County.

    Trump’s call clearly wasn’t heeded.

    The two candidates will compete for a full term in the Texas state senate in the March primaries and November general election. But the special election is setting off alarm bells among Texas Republicans, who face a potentially difficult U.S. Senate race (incumbent John Cornyn has two primary opponents, including MAGA favorite Ken Paxton) and are counting on major gains in U.S. House races in the state after the legislature conducted a mid-decade partisan gerrymander at Trump’s request. And if the GOP is in trouble in Texas, there could be trouble everywhere.


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    Ed Kilgore

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  • ICE halts

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    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement halted “all movement” at a detention center in Texas for families and quarantined some migrants there after medical staff confirmed two detainees had “active measles infections,” the Department of Homeland Security said Sunday.

    The measles cases at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center were detected Friday, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to CBS News. The ICE facility houses parents and children taken into federal custody over alleged violations of immigration law. It is located in south Texas, roughly an hour drive from San Antonio.

    “ICE Health Services Corps immediately took steps to quarantine and control further spread and infection, ceasing all movement within the facility and quarantining all individuals suspected of making contact with the infected,” McLaughlin said.

    McLaughlin said medical officials were monitoring detainees and taking “appropriate and active steps to prevent further infection.”

    “All detainees are being provided with proper medical care,” she added.

    Before McLaughlin’s statement on Sunday, immigration lawyers had reported concerns about a potential measles outbreak at the Dilley center.

    Neha Desai, a lawyer for the California-based National Center of Youth Law, which represents children in U.S. immigration custody, said she hopes the measles infections at Dilley are not used to “unnecessarily” prevent lawmakers and attorneys from inspecting the detention center in the near future, citing broader concerns about the facility.

    “In the meantime, we are deeply concerned for the physical and the mental health of every family detained at Dilley,” Desai said. “It is important to remember that no family needs to be detained — this is a choice that the administration is making.”

    In 2025, the United States saw the most measles cases in decades. Overall, the nation recorded more than 2,200 measles cases, including 762 people in a West Texas outbreak, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. Two young children died and 99 people were hospitalized, according to state data.

    Dilley is the detention complex where ICE had been holding 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, both detained in Minnesota during an operation that garnered widespread outcry, until the family was released over the weekend due to a court ruling. Liam and his father returned to Minnesota on Sunday.

    ICE’s detention population has ballooned under the second Trump administration, which has vowed to stage a deportation crackdown of unprecedented proportions.

    ICE is currently holding more than 70,000 individuals facing deportation in detention centers across the U.S., according to government data obtained by CBS News. The vast majority are single adults accused of being in the U.S. illegally. The number is a massive jump from a year ago, when ICE was holding around 40,000 detainees. 

    In:

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  • Is a Democrat’s Tarrant County flip a midterm election bellwether?

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    Texas’s first major election of 2026 saw Democrat Taylor Rehmet flip a state Senate seat that has long been held by Republicans. The parties disagree on what that means for the November midterm elections.

    The race garnered national attention, including from President Donald Trump who pushed voters to get out to the polls for Rehmet’s Republican opponent, Leigh Wambsganss.

    Rehmet is a union leader and an airplane mechanic at Lockheed Martin. He now represents most of Tarrant County in Kelly Hancock’s unexpired Senate District 9 seat. He will hold the office until January 2027, when the November general election winner will take over after a rematch between himself and Wambsganss.

    Wambsganss works at Patriot Mobile, a phone company that describes itself as Christian and conservative. She said her team will start immediately on the campaign for November.

    As the candidates look ahead, some are looking to the Tarrant-county based race as a bellwether for other 2026 races.

    “There’s the old statement, ‘As Tarrant County goes, so goes Texas, so goes Texas, and as Texas goes, so goes the nation,’” said Jim Riddlesperger, a TCU Political science professor. “Is that true? I guess we’ll find out in November.”

    ⭐ More Star-Telegram SD 9 coverage

    The district is both urban and suburban, making it a “cross-section” of where most voters in the United States are.

    “And the result of that is that the Republicans are really engaged in looking in the mirror and figuring out what they have to do to turn the tide in the fall,” Riddlesperger said.

    Tim Davis, the Tarrant County GOP chair, said he doesn’t think Saturday’s loss means anything in relation to the November general election, though it’s disappointing.

    “Did we lose? It looks like it,” Davis said before the results had been finalized. “But what do we learn from that? And how do we go forward from that? That’s what we’re going to learn tonight. I don’t think it’s a bellwether, because Tarrant County really is ruby red.”

    Tarrant Democratic Party Chair Allison Campolo said the win is “absolutely a marker of what’s to come” in November for the county and state alike.

    Campolo said despite being outspent “10-to-1,” Rehmet flipped a district by 14 points in a special runoff election when Hancock won it in 2022 by 20 points. Trump won the district by 17 points in 2024.

    “It’s the future, and it’s here,” Campolo said, promising a blue county in November.

    ‘Wake up call for Republicans’

    As a referendum on Trump, Saturday’s election was a big one, even if it’s for an abbreviated term while the Texas Legislature isn’t in session, Riddlesperger said.

    “Yes, Leigh Wambsganss and Taylor Rehmet’s names were on the ballot, but everyone understood what this was, and so this has ramifications, I think, are not just limited to Tarrant County, but are also national,” he said.

    Still, it’s important not to overstate the significance of a special election, Riddlesperger cautioned.

    Wamganss and other Republicans have cast Saturday’s outcome as a cautionary tale that shouldn’t be repeated in November.

    “Tonight is a wakeup call for Republicans in Tarrant County, Texas, and the nation,” she said in an election night statement. “The Democrats were energized. Too many Republicans stayed home.”

    Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican from Houston, agreed with Wambsganss’s statement that the results should be a wakeup call.

    He said low turnout special elections are “always unpredictable” and voters can’t take anything for granted.

    The race saw roughly 95,000 ballots cast, according to unofficial election results. In November 2025, about 119,000 ballots were cast in the race between Rehmet, Wambsganss and Republican John Huffman.

    “I know the energy and strength the Republican grassroots in Texas possess,” Patrick said. “We will come out fighting with a new resolve, and we will take this seat back in November.”

    Asked about the significance of the seat flipping red and contributing factors at his election night watch party, Rehmet said he doesn’t see the race as “red vs. blue.”

    “This is right versus wrong,” he said. “This is about public school funding. This is about helping working folks. This is about lowering costs.”

    Rehmet said he couldn’t speak to whether the race is a bellwether for November.

    “All I can speak to is the hard work that my campaign, the community here, put into this,” Rehmet said.

    Democrats tee up for November

    The candidates and Republicans and Democrats across the state are already looking to November.

    The race is also attracting national attention for both Saturday’s outcome and future implications ahead of the 2026 midterm election

    Amanda Litman, co-founder and president of Run for Something, which works to recruit progressive candidates, said the outcome shows that “every seat is winnable” when candidates are embedded in their community and focused on issues that matter most to voters.

    DNC Chair Ken Martin highlighted Rehmet’s focus on issues related to rising costs for families, and cast the outcome as a rebuke of Trump.

    “Tonight’s results prove that no Republican seat is safe,” Martin said in a statement. “From now until November, Democrats are keeping our foot on the gas and organizing and competing everywhere, including in Texas and the rest of the Sun Belt.”

    Fort Worth City Council member Chris Nettles predicted that a Saturday win for Rehmet could also have a trickle-down effect locally, where County Judge Tim O’Hare is up for election in 2026, as are county commissioner seats.

    “I think tonight in a highly red area in North Fort Worth turning blue – for whatever reason that may be, Republicans not coming out or Democrats overly coming out – that is going to give us the wisdom and the IDs to help elect people Tarrant County-wide.”

    Is there a blue shift happening in Tarrant County?

    Riddlesperger said voters do distinguish local politics from national politics, to some degree. That said, Tarrant County has been at a “tipping point” for several years, and Democrats could see success in November if their voters are more energetic in 2026 than Republicans.

    “I think we have always had it, but it was always for a higher elected office,” Nettles said Saturday after early voting results were out, pointing to Biden’s 2024 win in Tarrant County as an example. “We just didn’t win local seats, and I think today is a change in that.”

    This story was originally published February 1, 2026 at 11:07 AM.

    Eleanor Dearman

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Eleanor (Elly) Dearman is a Texas politics and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She’s based in Austin, covering the Legislature and its impact on North Texas. She grew up in Denton and has been a reporter for more than six years.
    Support my work with a digital subscription


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    Rachel Royster

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Rachel Royster is a news and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, specifically focused on Tarrant County. She joined the newsroom after interning at the Austin American-Statesman, the Waco Tribune-Herald and Capital Community News in DC. A Houston native and Baylor grad, Rachel enjoys traveling, reading and being outside. She welcomes any and all news tips to her email.

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    Eleanor Dearman,Rachel Royster

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  • Political upset: Democrat Taylor Rehmet defeats Republican Leigh Wambsganss in North Texas state senate race

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    In what is a major political upset, Democrat Taylor Rehmet defeated Republican Leigh Wambsganss for the open Texas Senate District 9 seat in Tarrant County, the largest Republican county in the nation, according to complete but unofficial returns.

    With 100% of the vote in, Rehmet, a union president in Fort Worth, captured 54,267 votes – about 57% – while Wambsganss, a longtime conservative activist, garnered 40,598 votes, or roughly 43%.

    In a statement, DNC Chair Ken Martin said, “It’s clear as day that this disastrous Republican agenda is hurting working families in Texas and across the country, which is why voters in red, blue, and purple districts are putting their faith in candidates like Taylor Rehmet. This victory is a warning sign to Republicans across the country… Tonight’s results prove that no Republican seat is safe. From now until November, Democrats are keeping our foot on the gas and organizing and competing everywhere, including in Texas and the rest of the Sun Belt.”

    The special runoff in this Republican‑majority district – which includes Fort Worth and its surrounding suburbs – is being held after Sen. Kelly Hancock resigned last year to become the acting Texas comptroller. Both parties have been energized, with the national political environment helping drive turnout.

    CBS News Texas


    The race has drawn national attention since Rehmet won 46% of the vote in November’s special election, a three‑way contest involving two Republicans: Wambsganss and John Huffman, who finished third and did not advance. Since then, both Wambsganss and Rehmet have campaigned aggressively.

    The Democratic National Committee has helped boost turnout for Rehmet. On Friday, DNC Deputy Communications Director Abhi Rahman released a statement saying, “The DNC is supporting the Texas Democratic coordinated campaign by recruiting volunteers and bringing our message to more voters. Democrats are building infrastructure in Texas, and the January 31 special election is a crucial test to keep Fort Worth moving forward.”

    On Truth Social the same day, President Donald Trump urged Republicans to vote for Wambsganss. State and county GOP leaders have echoed that message. At a recent campaign event, Gov. Greg Abbott told CBS News Texas he is not worried about Republican turnout.

    “I’m not concerned, and it does come down to what you say, and that is it’s a matter of getting our voters energized,” Abbott said. “That’s exactly what we’ve been working to do. This is a voter turnout operation. We know there are more Republican voters there than Democratic voters there, and we’re going to turn out all our voters, and Leigh is going to win.”

    Several polling locations reported long lines on Tuesday, with waits of about 45 minutes, according to the Tarrant County elections website. Locations in Keller, Southlake and North Richland Hills were among the busiest. In North Richland Hills, some voters who did not want to be identified told CBS News Texas they were willing to wait.

    “About 20 minutes, 20–30 minutes,” one voter said. “It’d be better if it were two minutes, but it’s still your duty. I would have waited an hour, that’s how important this is. I would have waited two hours.”

    More than 45,600 voters cast ballots early, braving cold temperatures and wintry weather. To win, Wambsganss will need to outperform Rehmet in today’s vote. In November, she and Huffman combined for more total votes than Rehmet during the early vote and on Election Day. But when it came to the number of votes cast on Election Day itself, Rehmet won more votes than both Republicans combined.

    The winner of the runoff will serve the remainder of Hancock’s term, which expires at the end of December. The Legislature is not in session this year. Rehmet and Wambsganss are expected to face each other again in November in the race for a full four‑year term beginning in January 2027, when the next legislative session convenes.

    Follow Jack on X: @cbs11jack

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  • Democrat flips Texas district Donald Trump won by 17 points

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    Democrat Taylor Rehmet flipped a historically Republican district of Texas during a special election on Saturday to claim a closely watched state Senate seat.

    The military veteran and union leader comfortably won the race for Texas Senate District 9, which includes the Fort Worth area, beating the Republican candidate, conservative activist Leigh Wambsganss.

    Rehmet had a lead of more than 14 percentage points after almost every vote was counted, the Associated Press reported.

    President Donald Trump had won the district by 17 points back in 2024.

    “This victory is a warning sign to Republicans across the country,” Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin said in a statement late on Saturday. “Tonight’s results prove that no Republican seat is safe.”

    This is a breaking story; updates to follow.

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  • Democrat Christian Menefee wins special election for U.S. House in Texas

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    Democrat Christian Menefee won a Texas U.S. House seat in a special election Saturday that will narrow Republicans’ already-slim majority, telling President Trump that the Democratic district “topples corrupt presidencies.”

    Menefee, the Harris County attorney, prevailed in a runoff against Amanda Edwards, a former Houston City Council member. He will replace the late Rep. Sylvester Turner, a former Houston mayor, who died in March 2025.

    The seat representing the heavily Democratic Houston-based district has been vacant for nearly a year.

    Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott didn’t schedule the first round of voting until November. Menefee and Edwards were the top vote-getters in a 16-candidate, all-parties primary. They advanced to a runoff because no candidate won a majority of the vote.

    Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, a candidate for the open House seat in the 18th congressional district, speaks to his supporters during an election night watch party in Houston, on Nov. 4, 2025. 

    Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images


    Speaking to supporters at his victory party, Menefee promised to fight for universal health insurance, seek to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations and “tear ICE up from the roots.”

    He also addressed Mr. Trump directly after noting that one of the district’s most storied representatives, Democrat Barbara Jordan, was an eloquent voice for President Richard Nixon’s impeachment ahead of his 1974 resignation.

    “The results here tonight are a mandate for me to work as hard as I can to oppose your agenda, to fight back against where you’re taking this country and to investigate your crimes,” Menefee said.

    Menefee will fill the remainder of Turner’s term, which ends when a new Congress is sworn into office in January 2027.

    After Saturday, yet another election lies ahead in little over a month. Both Menefee and Edwards are on the ballot again on March 3, when they will face Democratic Rep. Al Green in another election — this one a Democratic primary in a newly drawn 18th congressional district, for the full term that starts in 2027. Green currently represents the 9th congressional district. 

    GOP lawmakers who control Texas state government drew a new map last summer for this year’s midterms, pushed by Mr. Trump to create five more winnable seats for Republicans to help preserve their majority.

    Abbott had argued that Houston officials needed the six months between Turner’s death and the first round of voting to prepare for the special election, but Democrats criticized the long wait as a move designed to give the GOP a slightly bigger cushion in the House for difficult votes.

    While campaigning Saturday, Edwards, 44, referenced the long vacancy in a video she posted to social media, saying voters have gone too long without a voice in Washington. Later, she told supporters at her watch party that the race “never was about winning a particular seat.”

    “This journey has always been about creating a community where every single person in it, no matter what their background, no matter where they were from, no matter where they lived, would have the opportunity to thrive,” she said. “That means access to health care. That means education. That means economics.”

    Menefee, 37, was endorsed by several prominent Texas Democrats including former congressman Beto O’Rourke and Rep. Jasmine Crockett. He was joined Saturday by Crockett, who is running for the U.S. Senate.

    Menefee ousted an incumbent in 2020 to become Harris County’s first Black county attorney, representing it in civil cases, and he has joined legal challenges of Mr. Trump’s executive orders on immigration.

    Edwards served four years on the Houston City Council starting in 2016. She ran for U.S. Senate in 2020 but finished fifth in a 12-person primary. She unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in the 2024 primary, and when Lee died that July, local Democrats narrowly nominated Turner over Edwards as Lee’s replacement.

    Menefee finished ahead of Edwards in the primary, but Edwards picked up the endorsement of the third-place finisher, state Rep. Jolanda Jones, who said Edwards had skills “best suited to go against Trump.”

    Winter weather added to voters’ confusion, forcing local officials to cancel two days of advance voting this week, prompting civil rights group to go to court to win a two-day extension, into Thursday.

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  • The Uplift: Landman lesson

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    The Uplift: Landman lesson – CBS News









































    Watch CBS News



    A professor in Texas cleverly incorporates the popular Paramount+ show “Landman” into his lesson plan. A stranger becomes a friend after he heroically saves an elderly couple. Plus, more heartwarming news.

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  • Some Tarrant voters may need a new mail-in ballot application for primaries. Why?

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    A woman in a grey sweater fills out a form while seated at a table. She is wearing a name tag that says "Visitor" on it.

    Tarrant County resident Janet Jones fills out a mock mail-in ballot at the public test of the county’s elections on Sept. 16, 2024.


    CODY COPELAND

    ccopeland@star-telegram.com

    More than a thousand Tarrant County voters who have requested a mail-in ballot may still need to submit a new application ahead of the March primaries.

    A mail-in ballot application sent by the Texas Democratic Party was missing information related to the March 3 primary elections, Tarrant County Democratic Party chair Allison Campolo said in a Friday text message.

    The forms are acceptable for every election this year, including Saturday’s runoff, except for the primaries, where voters must select which party’s primary they want to vote in, said Campolo and Tarrant County Election Administrator Clint Ludwig.

    “The application had everything but a box for the primaries to select what party you wanted,” Ludwig said.

    The state party said the mailers were specific to the runoff election, and that an additional mailer has been sent to voters with a primary ballot application.

    Campolo called the issue “very serious” and said Tarrant County Elections is notifying voters out of courtesy, rather than not sending the voters a primary ballot, and allowing them to submit an application for the primary if desired. Ludwig said the affected voters are being sent a letter and new application from the county.

    Campolo and Ludwig estimated that more than 1,000 voters in the county have been affected. The Texas Democratic Party said it sent out 30,000 mailers to elgible mail-in voters living in Senate District 9.

    “Our Vote by Mail program in Tarrant County was specifically targeted at the SD9 special election runoff,” said Terri Burke, the executive director of the Texas Democratic Party in a Saturday statement. “Those voters received mail-in ballot applications for today’s runoff and all other elections this year except for the primary. An additional mailing has been sent to individuals who require primary ballot applications.”

    Asked about the party’s statement, Campolo said in a Saturday text that she’s “grateful to the state party for sending these vote by mail applications to our voters.

    “The barrage of elections this year combined with Texas election laws has made this inherently confusing for voters no matter what the applications looked like or included,” Campollo continued. “This will be a tremendous year of voter education and outreach to make sure that all voters have the information they need at every election.”

    Eleanor Dearman

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Eleanor (Elly) Dearman is a Texas politics and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She’s based in Austin, covering the Legislature and its impact on North Texas. She grew up in Denton and has been a reporter for more than six years.
    Support my work with a digital subscription

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  • Cooper Flagg breaks NBA teen record with 49 points in Mavs’ loss to Hornets

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    DALLAS (AP) — As Dallas rookie Cooper Flagg set the NBA record for points by a teenager with 49 on Thursday night in a 123-121 loss to Charlotte, he broke the franchise rookie scoring record he shared with Mark Aguirre — whose jersey was retired at halftime.

    “Mark Aguirre is special. Such a special night for him and the whole organization,” said Flagg, who turned 19 in December. “I just feel blessed. It’s a pretty cool thing.”

    “You saw history,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “We saw history at halftime, and we got to see a young man play the game at a very high level. To have Mark in the building and break his record was pretty special.”

    Also special for the No. 1 draft pick last summer from Duke was playing his first NBA game against Kon Knueppel, his roommate as Blue Devils freshmen last season. Knueppel, drafted fourth, set his own career record with 34 points and hit the two winning free throws with 4.1 seconds left after being fouled at the rim by Flagg.

    “Cooper, he played like the best player we’ve played all season,” said Knueppel, who set a franchise rookie record hitting eight 3-pointers. “He had a heck of a game, he’s a heck of a player, and he’s going to have a heck of a career.”

    Flagg referred to Knueppel as his “brother for life.”

    Cliff Robinson set the previous NBA teen record of 45 at age 19 for New Jersey in a game against Detroit on March 9, 1980. Flagg’s previous high of 42 points also came in a defeat — 140-133 at Utah on Dec. 15. As did Aguirre’s, in a 118-112 loss to Golden State on Nov. 14, 1981.

    It didn’t start out looking like a historic night for Flagg. He shot 1 for 4 in the first quarter as the Mavericks fell behind by 15 points. He caught fire in the second period, hitting 8 of 9 including 2 of 3 from downtown plus 5 for 5 at the free-throw line. His 23 points in the period and 25 at halftime were both Dallas individual highs this season.

    Knueppel conversely came out hot. He hit his first three shots from behind the arc, 4 for 5 in the first period and added another in the second quarter.

    “When he sees some easy ones go in to start the game, it’s never a good thing (for an opponent),” Flagg said of Knueppel, who turned 20 in August. “That’s how it is for a lot of great shooters.”

    Any trash talk?

    “Chirping back and forth,” Flagg said. “Just having fun.”

    The two leading candidates for Rookie of the Year finished the night with Flagg averaging 19.5 points per game, Knueppel 18.9. They’ll meet again on March 3 in Charlotte.

    It will be difficult to match their collective effort on Thursday night.

    “We’ll both be looking back on this night and this whole year in general the rest of our lives,” Flagg said.

    Follow us on Instagram at spectrumnews1nc for news and other happenings across North Carolina.

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  • Could the Bible become required reading in Texas public schools? What to know

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    Bible on a school desk in a classroom. religion public education

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    Texas education leaders are considering a major change that would require public school students to study passages from the Bible as part of their English Language Arts curriculum.

    The proposal is part of a statewide reading list the Texas Education Agency created under House Bill 1605, a 2023 law that aims to give students a more consistent set of texts across grade levels.

    The State Board of Education will take its first vote next week. If the plan moves forward this spring, Texas would become the first state in the country to write specific Bible stories into required reading for multiple grade levels.

    Here’s what to know.

    🔥 In case you missed it…

    Why is Texas adding Bible passages now?

    State officials say students often encounter very different texts depending on where they live, and this list is meant to create a shared foundation.

    The TEA also says the selections were chosen because of their cultural and literary influence, not to promote a particular faith tradition.

    Supporters say a unified list also helps publishers create simpler materials, so districts aren’t piecing together lessons on their own.

    The broader goal, they say, is to streamline what schools teach without raising the workload for teachers.

    Which Bible passages would Texas students be required to read?

    The draft list includes hundreds of literary works for grades K-12. Among them are 11 passages from the Christian Bible that would become required reading if approved.

    Some examples include:

    • Do Not Be Anxious (Matthew 6:25–34) – Grade 6
    • The Definition of Love (1 Corinthians 13) – Grade 7
    • The Shepherd’s Psalm (Psalm 23) – Grade 7
    • Jonah and the Whale (Book of Jonah) – Grade 7
    • The Eight Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1–12) – Grade 8
    • David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17) – English I
    • Lamentations 3 – English I
    • The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1–9) – English II
    • To Everything There Is a Season (Ecclesiastes 3) – English III
    • The Book of Job (selected chapters) – English IV

    The TEA notes that many classic texts contain biblical references, and students may need to understand the stories behind them to fully grasp larger themes.

    Are these readings connected to the Bluebonnet Learning curriculum?

    Not directly. Bluebonnet Learning is a full reading curriculum 17 Texas school districts have adopted on their own, including Fort Worth ISD. It includes a few biblical retellings and became a flashpoint in Fort Worth ISD last year.

    The statewide literary list is separate, but TEA pulled three biblical retellings from Bluebonnet as optional texts for the new canon.

    Those retellings are:

    • The Golden Rule

    • The Parable of the Prodigal Son

    • The Road to Damascus

    So the statewide list isn’t the same thing as Bluebonnet, but it borrows pieces of it.

    How have Texas districts responded to religious content in curriculum?

    Fort Worth ISD is one of the clearest examples. In 2025, the district adopted the Bluebonnet Learning reading curriculum, which contains several Christian stories, in its early grade units.

    That decision drew weeks of public comment from parents, pastors, and community groups who worried it blurred the separation of church and state.

    The curriculum is now in its first year of classroom use for the 2025-26 school year.

    Fort Worth’s experience may offer a preview of how communities respond if the statewide list moves ahead with required Bible passages.

    When would Bible readings start in Texas schools?

    The SBOE will take a preliminary vote next week. If it passes, the board will spend the next few months reviewing public feedback and making revisions before a final vote in April 2026.

    Even then, the change would not show up in classrooms right away. Publishers need about two and a half years to update materials, and the state must also adjust standardized tests to match the list.

    Because of that timeline, the earliest students would see the new required readings is the 2030-2031 school year, according to the TEA.

    Parents and educators can review the full proposed list on TEA’s website and submit comments directly to the board.

    Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Tiffani Jackson

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Tiffani is a service journalism reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She is part of a team of local journalists who answer reader questions about life in North Texas. Tiffani mainly writes about Texas laws and health news.

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  • The first impactful winter storm of the year

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    It was a relatively quiet start to 2026, with winter storms bringing heavy snow to the typical snow belts. The hardest-hit states included Michigan and New York, where lake-effect snows have added up, with some areas seeing well over 100 inches.

    What You Need To Know

    • Snow was reported from New Mexico and Texas to Maine

    • Freezing rain and sleet brought icy conditions to Mid-South and South

    • Five tornadoes touched down in Alabama and Florida on Sunday



    However, the Mid-South, Mid-Atlantic, and even the Northeast hadn’t seen as active a start. In fact, these regions began the year with temperatures above average, some even having top ten warmest starts to January. But all of that changed on Jan. 23. 

    At one point, a large storm stretched over two-thousand miles, with millions of people under a weather alert.

    Southern snow and ice totals

    Two storm systems merged as arctic air surged south across much of the U.S. By Jan. 23, snow began falling in New Mexico. The highest snowfall accumulated near Bonita Lake, NM., where 31 inches of snow fell. 

    As the storm emerged east of New Mexico into Texas, it picked up moisture from the Gulf. Snow, sleet and freezing rain fell across the South. Dallas and Fort Worth, TX., picked up 1 to 2 inches with bitter cold that followed. 

    Northern Arkansas and Oklahoma saw higher totals, ranging from 6 to 8 inches, with a mix of sleet and freezing rain in parts of Arkansas. 


    Mid-South snow and ice

    By Saturday, Jan. 24, snow and ice moved through the Mid-South, with the heaviest snow occurring Saturday night into Sunday across Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois. 

    With cold air in place in Missouri, snowfall totals range from 5 inches around Kansas City to over a foot of snow south of St. Louis. Kentucky saw snow at the onset before switching to a mix of snow and sleet, which limited the totals. 

    As the storm moved through Illinois, Indiana and Ohio Saturday into Sunday, it was mainly a snow event. Totals ranged from 6 to 9 inches across the region.


    The Northeast and New England snow

    With cold air in place in the north, it was an all-snow event in this region. The storm dumped over a foot of snow onto New York City, with the Boston area picking up nearly two feet of snow Sunday through Monday evening.

    York, Maine, in the southern part of the state, accumulated 20 inches of snow. 


    Mid-Atlantic snow and ice

    Snow fell in parts of the Mid-Atlantic before changing to sleet. Washington D.C. saw nearly 7 inches of snow before it mixed with and changed to sleet. 

    Central North Carolina picked up a few flakes before it mixed with and changed over to sleet. While not as icy as freezing, sleet still caused treacherous road conditions.


    Southeast snow and ice totals

    The colder air was in place in the northern parts of Alabama, Georgia and Upstate South Carolina. Some snow fell at the onset of the storm before mixing with and changing to sleet and freezing rain. Ice Storm Warnings were posted on Sundy and Monday across the region.


    Severe side of the storm

    The National Weather Service confirmed that five tornadoes touched down on Sunday. Four of them in Alabama and one in Florida. The highest rated tornado was an EF2 with winds estimated of 115 mph in Geneva County, Ala. 


    Airport delays

    With all of the intense weather of the pass few days, airport delays and cancelations are prevalent. Here’s the latest below. 


    Cold air remains locked in place for the eastern two-thirds of the country. 

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Meteorologist Stacy Lynn

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  • Texas Governor Bars State Employees From Using Alibaba, Temu Products

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    WASHINGTON, Jan ‌26 (Reuters) – ​Texas ‌will bar ​its employees ‍from using Alibaba, ​Temu ​and ⁠TP-Link hardware and software, the governor said ‌in a statement, ​saying ‌his state ‍made the ⁠decision to protect the “privacy of Texans” ​from the Chinese government.The list also includes Shein and CATL, according to the statement from Texas ​Governor Greg Abbott. 

    (Reporting by Courtney Rozen, Editing ​by Franklin Paul)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – January 2026

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  • Jasmine Crockett: ICE agents in Minneapolis are ‘turning us into Nazi Germany’

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    NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 13: Rep. Jasmine Crockett speaks onstage during Storytellers - Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett during the 2025 Tribeca Festival at SVA Theater on June 13, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)

    NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 13: Rep. Jasmine Crockett speaks onstage during Storytellers – Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett during the 2025 Tribeca Festival at SVA Theater on June 13, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)


    Cindy Ord

    Getty Images for Tribeca Festiva

    Texas congresswoman Jasmine Crockett compared the actions of federal agents in Minnesota, where an agent shot dead a man Saturday, to “Nazi Germany” during a Democratic debate for the U.S. Senate.

    Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico are the leading candidates in the Democratic primary, hoping to win in March and be on the ticket in November for Sen. John Cornyn’s seat.

    The two Democrats took the stage in Georgetown, north of Austin, shortly after federal immigration agents in Minneapolis had shot 37-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive-care nurse for a VA hospital. The shooting came just weeks after Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer in the same city.

    The Saturday killing was recorded by bystanders from different angles, showing a group of federal officers tackle Pretti as he appeared to be using a phone to record them. Pretti was legally carrying a handgun, according to Minnesota authorities, and was shot multiple times after he was on the ground. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters that the fact that Pretti carried a weapon “looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement,” contradicting video evidence of the encounter.

    At one point during Saturday’s debate, the moderators asked Crockett and Talarico about how they’d balance their feelings toward ICE while also representing Texans who support deporting undocumented immigrants.

    “As it relates to the enforcement that we see right now, let me be clear: They are supposed to do immigration and customs enforcement,” Crockett said. “Not going after U.S. citizens. Not going after people that are documented. That is not what they are supposed to do, but that is what they’re doing. They are turning us into Nazi Germany by saying they’re going to go door to door.”

    She continued, “They’re going after people because of their accent or the color of their skin, because this Supreme Court gave them carte blanche ability to do so. So all we want ICE to do is to do what ICE was created to do, and unfortunately, that’s not what they are doing.”

    Asked the same question, Talarico said the southern border should be like a front porch.

    “There should be a giant welcome mat out front and a lock on the door,” he said. “We can welcome immigrants who want to live the American dream. We can build a pathway to citizenship for those neighbors who have been here making us richer and stronger, and we can keep out people who mean to do us harm.”

    Earlier in the debate, Talarico also had sharp words about ICE, when asked whether he thinks the agency should be abolished or defunded.

    “ICE shot a mother in the face,” he said. “ICE kidnapped a 5-year-old boy. ICE executed a man in broad daylight on our streets just this morning. It’s time to tear down this secret police force and replace it with an agency that actually is going to focus on public safety.”

    Pressed again on whether he’d abolish or defund ICE, Talarico responded that the country has seen a historic increase in ICE funding.

    “That money has come out of our health care, so what I would say is that we should take that money back and put it in our communities where it belongs,” Talarico said.

    Crockett said “we absolutely have to clean house.”

    “Whatever that looks like, I am willing to do it,” she said. “Because if there are truly Proud Boys that are currently in ICE, that’s a problem.”

    Both candidates said they support impeaching United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

    ICE isn’t following the law, Crockett said.

    “They’re killing people in the middle of the street,” she said. “They decided to execute a mother of three in broad daylight. I don’t understand how we are sitting here and acting like this is normal.”

    Eleanor Dearman

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Eleanor (Elly) Dearman is a Texas politics and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She’s based in Austin, covering the Legislature and its impact on North Texas. She grew up in Denton and has been a reporter for more than six years.
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    Eleanor Dearman

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