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  • MRT 5/18-22/26 (free): Cornyn, Paxton Battle Goes Right to the End // Roy Catching Up to Middleton? // Corpus Gets Modest Rain Reprieve // Today is Final Day to Early Vote in Runoff

MRT 5/18-22/26 (free): Cornyn, Paxton Battle Goes Right to the End // Roy Catching Up to Middleton? // Corpus Gets Modest Rain Reprieve // Today is Final Day to Early Vote in Runoff

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  • TOP NEWS  

“Texas leads the way as nation adds record amount of battery storage” via San Antonio Express-News‘s Kelsey Brown – A Solar Energy Industries Association report found that Texas installed more energy storage than any other state, accounting for 27% of the nationwide growth.

A record amount of battery energy storage was installed nationwide during the first quarter of the year, with Texas playing a key role in the surge, according to a Solar Energy Industries Association report.

There was enough storage installed across the country in the first four months of the year to deliver 10 gigawatts of energy over an hour, a 32% increase compared with the first quarter of 2025.

Texas is installing more utility-scale storage than any other state, accounting for 27% of the growth. The added storage is capable of generating 2.7 gigawatts over an hour — enough to power 675,000 homes during a sunny day. (SAEN)

“Rain gives Corpus Christi a small break, delaying projected water crisis by 3 months” via The Texas Tribune‘s Colleen DeGuzman – A projection for when Corpus Christi expects to reach a water crisis was pushed back by three months after a wet April brought enough rain to delay an emergency but too little to quench a brutal drought.

The city was initially bracing for a Level 1 emergency — the point when water demand is projected to be six months from exceeding supplies — to hit by September.

Rain that the community has long prayed for fell last month, delaying the Level 1 projection to December and buying the city a few more months to plan for the expected emergency.

Still, the delay provided “some very encouraging news,” Nick Winkelmann, chief operating officer of Corpus Christi’s water department, told the City Council on Tuesday. (TX TRIB)

“Exclusive: FEMA may add hundreds of Houston industrial sites to high-risk zones” via Houston Chronicle‘s Caroline Ghisolfi – At the edge of the Ship Channel in Pasadena, children playing at a 122-unit housing complex have a front-row view of a forest of industrial facilities — tank farms, a chemical processor, a gas manufacturer, a fertilizer-maker — that federal officials have tentatively moved to higher-risk flood zones.

“It’s very risky to live here in this area,” said Esmeralda Sifuentes, who moved to the building recently but has lived in Pasadena for years. Chatting in Spanish at the end of a long workday, she said she appreciates the convenience and quiet community where she lives, but worries about her family’s exposure to pollution from industrial neighbors.

“It’s difficult to sleep. Anything can happen. It could flood, something could explode,” she said.

Sifuentes knew to be wary of flooding but was unaware that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had released drafts of updated flood maps for Harris County this spring, factoring in new data for a more realistic look at the risks communities face. The plants she can see from her home would move into the 100-year floodplain or even the floodway, FEMA’s highest-risk designation, if the draft maps take effect. (HOU CHRON)

“Why Texas public school enrollment is shrinking after years of growth” via Austin American-Statesman‘s Keri Heath – Last week, state lawmakers balked at predictions that public schools could lose 100,000 students by 2030 and the news that a long-anticipated downward enrollment swing had arrived.

Public school enrollment in 2025-26 dropped to 5.47 million students, down from a 2024-25 peak of 5.54 million students.

Across Texas, this trend has contributed to budget deficits and school closures as districts grapple with how to scale their resources and continue educating students.

The vast majority — 81% — of the students who left between last school year and 2025-26 are Hispanic, according to a report released last week from public policy think tank Texas 2036. Hispanic students make up about half of Texas public school enrollment. (AAS)

“Texas summer camps have closed, scaled back operations due to state’s new regulations” via The Texas Tribune‘s Stephen Simpson – After almost 20 years of bouncing from campground to campground, Orr Family Ministries finally found its home in 2022 on a 12-acre tree-filled campground located on a hill in Colorado County. Kids played in the swimming pool, worshipped by the fire pit, and watched the sunset over the hill while learning about Bible stories. They called it Camp Oak Haven, providing refuge for about 100 children from surrounding low-income and rural communities.

But, this summer, Camp Oak Haven won’t be reopening. Orr Family Ministries has sold the land because it could not meet sweeping regulations the state abruptly placed on the camp industry.

“We are sad. It’s terrible. We had church groups coming, and we had to give back deposits, and I don’t know where those kids will go,” said Cynthia Royal, Orr Family Ministries board president. “The dent is in these rural communities where kids or parents don’t have huge incomes to send them to a huge mega camp miles away.”

After the deadly July 4 Hill Country floods that killed 27 children and counselors at Camp Mystic, Texas lawmakers required youth camps to implement a slew of new safety requirements, including weather warning systems and having fiber optic internet, and pay thousands of dollars more in licensing fees. (TX TRIB)

“Texas SNAP participation drops by 14% in the past year” via The Texas Tribune‘s Terri Langford and Dan Keemahill – The number of Texans receiving food assistance dropped 14% in a year, reflecting a national decline, the result not only of stricter new work requirements imposed last year by the Trump administration but also rising fears of deportation, according to advocates.

State data shows that in April, there were nearly 500,000 fewer eligible Texans participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, than in April 2025. Enrollment has slipped since October after Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which introduced multiple restrictions on SNAP. At the end of April, Texas reported 3.1 million eligible SNAP individuals.

The greatest declines occurred in the Gulf Coast, North and South Texas regions. SNAP participation dropped between 10% and 20% in more than two-thirds of all Texas counties.

Nationally, participation dropped 10% — about 4 million fewer people — between July 2025 and February 2026, the latest data available at that level, and participation in the program fell in every state. (TX TRIB)

“Texas board faults Camp Mystic leader for inaction during deadly flood” via AP — A Texas board has suspended the nursing license of Camp Mystic’s co-director in a scathing order that accused her of not helping children evacuate during last year’s catastrophic floods that killed 25 girls and two teenage counselors.

It’s one of the state’s first actions against a member of the family that owns and operates the all-girls Christian camp since the July 4 flood. Last month, Camp Mystic canceled plans to reopen this summer in the face of outrage from victims’ parents.

Mary Liz Eastland, a registered nurse, served as the camp’s medical officer. She has previously acknowledged in court that she never tried to reach children and staff in the low-lying area of the camp as the predawn flooding along the Guadalupe River worsened. Her father-in-law, Camp Mystic owner Richard Eastland, also died in the flood.

Allowing Mary Liz Eastland to keep practicing nursing would constitute a “continuing and imminent threat to public welfare,” according to an order signed Tuesday by Kristin Benton, executive director of the Texas Board of Nursing. (DMN)

“Texas Public Radio and San Antonio Report to combine operations” via San Antonio Report‘s David Martin Davies – Texas Public Radio and the San Antonio Report will combine operations beginning July 1, creating what leaders say will be the largest nonprofit newsroom in San Antonio’s history.

The two organizations announced the move as local journalism faces financial pressure, shrinking newsroom staffs and major changes in how audiences get news.

Under the plan, the San Antonio Report’s assets will be donated to Texas Public Radio, while both organizations continue to publish on their separate websites and platforms for now.

TPR and San Antonio Report leaders said the goal is to share resources, expand coverage and reach more people across the San Antonio region. (SA REPORT)

2026  

“A Republican Bloodbath in the Texas Senate Primary Is Giving Democrats Hope” via The New Yorker‘s Rachel Monroe – In late April, a group of women with jangly earrings and effervescent energy sat in a beer garden in San Antonio with plastic cups of red wine in front of them. They introduced themselves as Carol, Mona, and Susan. “We call each other the Golden Girls, because we do so much together,” Susan said. The evening’s entertainment was a meet and greet with Republicans running for elected office. The women had already checked out Brandon Herrera, a congressional candidate, in more ways than one. (“This might be the one time I vote for somebody by the way he looks,” Mona said.) But the night’s main draw was the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, the far-right agitator who hopes to wrest a Senate seat away from the incumbent, John Cornyn. Earlier this spring, Cornyn eked out a win in the primary, but, because neither candidate earned a majority, the two men will compete in a runoff, on May 26th. On Tuesday, Trump endorsed Paxton, giving him a significant boost. But prolonged Republican infighting, combined with growing anti-Trump sentiment, has resulted in a Senate race that seems more competitive than anyone would have predicted a year ago. Texas Democrats, wary after years of predictions that a blue Texas is just around the corner, are allowing themselves to hope again, cautiously.

Cornyn, who is currently serving his fourth term in the Senate, has the kind of voting record you’d expect from a Texas Republican: anti-abortion, anti-immigration, pro-gun. In 2012, the National Journal listed him as the second most conservative member of the Senate. But, according to the Golden Girls, Cornyn was a “RINO”—Republican in name only. “I’m very anti career politician, and especially, I’m sorry, but I feel like he’s not one hundred per cent behind our President,” Carol said.

That may technically be true—according to Cornyn’s campaign, he has voted with President Donald Trump only 99.2 per cent of the time. The Golden Girls dismissed Cornyn’s showy embrace of Trump—he recently called him “the most consequential President of our lifetime,” and proposed renaming an around seventeen-hundred-mile stretch of road “Trump Interstate”—as “just talk.”

Although the Golden Girls were more enthusiastic about Paxton, they were aware that he wasn’t a perfect candidate, either. Carol held up her phone to show me that she had just been asking ChatGPT about the attorney general’s controversies. Since riding the Tea Party wave to prominence in Texas politics, Paxton has been plagued by financial allegations, personal scandals, and whistle-blower complaints from his employees. In 2023, after being accused of abusing the power of his office to support a donor, he was impeached by the Texas House. The majority of Republicans there voted to oust him, but he was acquitted by the Texas Senate. Paxton’s wife, Angela, a state senator, listened to the proceedings, which included testimony about her husband’s alleged extramarital affair, but was barred from voting. Then, last year, Angela—who once snuck her husband out of their house to avoid his being served a subpoena—announced that she was divorcing him “on biblical grounds.” (Paxton has also been accused of having an affair with an aspiring Christian influencer.) The Golden Girls were bothered, but not overly so. “That’s not a good decision that he’s made, but what matters is what he’s doing for the state and for the country,” Carol said. “That outweighs his personal indiscretions.” (The New Yorker)

“Chip Roy gets $2.75 million infusion from GOP megadonor Alex Fairly in attorney general runoff” via The Texas Tribune‘s Eleanor Klibanoff – GOP megadonor Alex Fairly recently gave $2.75 million to U.S. Rep. Chip Roy’s attorney general campaign, a much-needed shot in the arm as early voting begins in the Austin congressman’s runoff against state Sen. Mayes Middleton.

The donation, first shared by Fairly with The Texas Tribune, makes the Amarillo businessman Roy’s biggest financial supporter. Fairly gave Roy $1.75 million in new money since the runoff began, and forgave a million-dollar loan he’d provided during the primary.

It comes at a critical time in Roy’s fight for the Republican nomination against Middleton, a Galveston oil and gas executive who has put more than $15 million of his own money into his campaign. Much of that self-funding came ahead of the first round of voting in March, propelling Middleton to a first place finish. Neither candidate cleared 50%, so they will face each other again on May 26.

Pushing his “MAGA Mayes” message, Middleton more than doubled Roy’s $5 million in ad buys before the March 3 contest — still a significant amount for a state attorney general’s race, yet a big enough disparity for Middleton to overtake Roy’s initial polling lead. (TX TRIB)

“Texas Railroad Commissioner race funded by billionaires” via The Texas Tribune‘s Carlos Nogueras Ramos – Historically, the Texas Railroad Commission has been an obscure agency in Austin that the public knows little about. Now, amid a contest for a high-ranking role on the agency’s three-panel board of commissioners, it has become a battleground for wealthy political donors.

Billionaires, big oil companies and trade groups have poured a tremendous amount of wealth into the two primary campaigns for incumbent Jim Wright and his runoff opponent, Bo French, according to the latest round of campaign finance reports. Since Feb. 22, campaign contributions soared to more than $3.4 million between the two, a large but not unusual amount for races involving the commission. The latest round of financial reports, however, shows a striking proxy battle between conservative megadonors in Texas, the state’s oil and gas industry and prominent national figures.

“For the most part, it is a low-profile office,” said Nancy Sims, a political scientist at the University of Houston. “It’s not been that competitive for the last 30 years. But in this case, there is an element of concern about having a commissioner who has issues far beyond the oil industry that they want to focus on.”

The winner of the Republican primary runoff election will determine who faces Democrat Jon Rosenthal in November. No Democrat has won statewide in Republican-dominant Texas in decades, so the outcome of this month’s election will likely determine who presides over the regulatory agency overseeing the Texas oil and gas industry, which generates billions for the state and whose decisions can shake markets and upend local economies. For years, it scarcely drew interest — let alone fanfare. This election has become a hotly contested and remarkably expensive endeavor. (TX TRIB)

“Democrats threaten to expel TX-35 candidate Maureen Galindo over antisemitic remarks if elected” via Texas Public Radio | TPR‘s Dan Katz – SAN ANTONIO — Prominent Democrats are increasingly closing ranks in condemning Texas congressional candidate Maureen Galindo over remarks widely criticized as antisemitic, escalating tensions inside the party ahead of the May 26 runoff in Texas’ 35th Congressional District.

U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Jared Moskowitz of Florida said Wednesday they would repeatedly push for House votes to expel Galindo if she wins election to Congress.

“If for some reason Maureen Galindo wins the Congressional election in TX-35, as soon as she is sworn in, we will force a vote to expel her every single day we are here,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement posted by Gottheimer on X.

The lawmakers called Galindo’s comments antisemitic and said views like imprisoning “American Zionists” have “no place in our Party or country.” (TPR)

STATE GOVERNMENT  

“Paxton files lawsuits in courts that could have more favorable outcomes” via The Texas Tribune‘s Zach Despart and Misty Harris – In October, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued pharmaceutical companies tied to Tylenol in state court, repeating claims made a month earlier by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that the pain relief drug was linked to autism and ADHD in children.

Paxton, a close ally of the Trump administration who had already announced a U.S. Senate bid, accused drugmakers of marketing Tylenol to pregnant mothers without disclosing its dangers. “The reckoning has arrived,” the state’s attorneys wrote in the lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson, Kenvue Brands and Kenvue Inc.

“By holding Big Pharma accountable for poisoning our people, we will help Make America Healthy Again,” Paxton proclaimed in a news release that echoed Kennedy’s slogan.

Paxton hired the Chicago law firm Keller Postman to argue the case in state court. The firm had served as lead counsel in a similar case about Tylenol’s safety that was dismissed a year earlier by a New York federal judge who found the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses unreliable. (TX TRIB)

“Texas sues WhatsApp, Meta over alleged privacy violations” via The Texas Tribune‘s Paul Cobler Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General, added WhatsApp to the growing list of companies he has accused of violating Texans’ data privacy, announcing a lawsuit against the messaging app and its parent company, Meta, on Thursday.

The lawsuit states WhatsApp is deceiving its users by claiming to offer “end-to-end encryption,” or a software that conceals the contents of a message to anyone, including the company, except to the sender and receiver. This follows Paxton’s lawsuit against Netflix, also over privacy issues, earlier this month and a recent settlement with smart TV maker LG electronics, all while he pursues the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in a heated runoff against incumbent John Cornyn.

“Texans deserve to know whether their private communications are indeed truly private,” Paxton wrote in a statement. “WhatsApp markets its services as secure and encrypted, but it does not deliver on those promises. I am suing to protect Texans’ privacy and ensure that WhatsApp by Meta does not mislead Texans by unlawfully accessing private conversations and data.”

For years, Meta has faced allegations and lawsuits that it can, in fact, view private messages sent on WhatsApp. The company, which acquired WhatsApp in 2014, has consistently denied the claims. (TX TRIB)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT  

“Dallas City Hall overhaul could take decade if building stays occupied, consultants say” via Dallas Morning News‘s Everton Bailey Jr. and Devyani Chhetri – The interior of Dallas City Hall in April 2026.

Dallas faces two main ways to repair its aging City Hall: move employees out for a full three- to five-year overhaul or keep the building open during a slower phased renovation that could take about a decade and cost more.

That is the central message of a newly released consultants’ review, offering another look at how the city might confront long-deferred maintenance needs inside the nearly 50-year-old I.M. Pei-designed building.

The findings go before the City Council on Wednesday as it debates whether to preserve and repair City Hall or move operations and redevelop the property, possibly for an entertainment district that would include a new sports arena for the Mavericks. (DMN)

“D-FW area officials split votes on future data center projects” via Dallas Morning News‘s Lana Ferguson – Texas is divided over data centers, and that was made clear during several recent local government meetings. Though the debate isn’t new, city and county officials have reached a critical juncture where they’re making decisions that either halt data center projects or clear the path for them to continue building.

Last week, at least two county commissioners courts made efforts to slow these kinds of developments while one city council cleared the way for its latest data center campus and approved a tax break for the project.

On May 11, Somervell County Commissioners Court unanimously approved a resolution and letter to state leaders asking for a pause on new data center developments until lawmakers can address concerns over water, energy reliability and impacts on infrastructure. “These facilities have a significant impact on the local community,” the letter reads. “It remains a continuous challenge for local governments to prepare for and support the needs of the community these facilities require.”

Later that day, during a meeting that lasted past midnight, Red Oak City Council voted 4-1 to rezone a nearly 830-acre property to be used for a data center campus. More than 130 people attended the meeting in opposition. “I know people think that this has been a one-month period of time that we’ve been working on this,” Red Oak Mayor Mark Stanfill told the crowd immediately before the vote. “This has actually been about 6 years in the making and that is a lot of investigative work, trips to see things and commitments.” (DMN)

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION  

“Texas Sen. Brian Birdwell gets U.S. Senate green light for Pentagon post” via The Texas Tribune‘s Ayden Runnels – The U.S. Senate confirmed Texas Sen. Brian Birdwell to serve as an assistant secretary of defense on Monday, a return to the Pentagon for the five-term Granbury Republican.

Birdwell was confirmed on a 46-43 vote in the Senate alongside several dozen other nominees. He previously worked as staff for the Department of the Army at the Pentagon, where he suffered severe burns during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks when a plane crashed yards away from his office.

Birdwell announced in June that he would not seek reelection to Senate District 22, where he has served for 15 years. The White House announced Birdwell’s nomination in October.

In a statement, Birdwell thanked his constituents and Texas’ U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn for assisting with his nomination through committee and full Senate. (TX TRIB)

“Defense Department delays 54 wind projects in Texas, citing national security concerns” via The Texas Tribune‘s Brandon Mulder – Dozens of wind projects in Texas are in limbo after the U.S. Department of Defense paused issuing routine federal permits citing national security concerns, a move that experts say expands the Trump administration’s crusade against wind energy.

According to data collected by the American Clean Power Association, 54 Texas wind projects are waiting for the department to review development plans to ensure that turbines don’t interfere with military operations. It’s part of a broader nationwide logjam that has ensnared 165 onshore wind projects, a figure first reported by the Financial Times.

Federal law requires any structure 200 feet or taller — such as antennas, smokestacks or wind turbines — to be reviewed first by the Federal Aviation Administration, then the military, which must determine whether a structure may interfere with military airspace.

Federal law requires the Department of Defense to conduct those reviews within 60 days of receiving an application from the FAA. But “right now, the entire process has just ground to a halt,” said Dave Belote, a wind energy consultant who helped design the review system when it was established more than 15 years ago. (TX TRIB)

BUSINESS NEWS  

“What SpaceX’s IPO means for jobs, housing and startups in Texas” via Houston Chronicle‘s Andrea Leinfelder – SpaceX is seeking to sell shares on Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas in what could be the world’s largest IPO, unlocking cash that could generate more jobs, home sales, startup companies and tax revenues in Texas.

The rocket giant, headquartered outside of Brownsville in a company town dubbed Starbase, ended months of speculation on Wednesday by officially filing its registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

SpaceX did not say how many shares it would sell, and it did not list the expected price of its shares. But media outlets have previously suggested it could be a record-breaking initial public offering.

“More money for SpaceX will drive more investment into Texas,” Goran Calic, a professor of strategy at McMaster University in Canada, said in an email. (HOU CHRON)

“Elon Musk’s SpaceX seeking incentives for major expansion near Austin” via Austin American-Statesman‘s Andrea Guzmán Elon Musk properties are seen last year on FM 1209 in Bastrop. SpaceX, which already has fast-growing operations at the site, now is seeking state and county tax breaks for a facility where it could build outer-space solar panels.

SpaceX is planning to expand in Bastrop with a project that could be related to its plans to launch artificial intelligence data centers in space.

Few details about the project at Elon Musk’s multi-company complex 30 miles east of Austin are known, but a public notice for a hearing related to the commercial space company’s request for tax breaks suggests it will create at least 500 jobs.

The notice says the Bastrop County Commissioners Court will meet May 26 to consider a project at 858 FM 1209 that could qualify for the highest level of incentives under the Texas Enterprise Zone Program. Known as triple jumbo projects, such plans must create at least 500 jobs to be eligible for nearly $3.8 million in refunds of state sales and use taxes. (AAS)

“Worker dies in accident at SpaceX’s Starbase complex; OSHA investigating” via San Antonio Express-News‘s Brandon Lingle – Federal safety regulators are investigating the death of a worker at SpaceX’s Starbase complex that occurred just days before the company plans to launch its Starship rocket for the 12th time.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration confirmed Monday that it is investigating the death that happened early Friday at the private rocket plant and test facility outside Brownsville.

Local officials haven’t identified the victim. They referred queries to Elon Musk’s space company. Neither it nor officials with the city of Starbase have commented about the incident that got attention on social media over the weekend.

The Browsnville Fire Department was dispatched to Starbase at 4:17 a.m. Friday, according to Chief Jarrett Sheldon, but they were waived off seven minutes later after being advised SpaceX’s emergency medical services were handling the situation. (SAEN)

“Texas’ nuclear boom needs workers as data centers drive demand” via Austin American-Statesman‘s Karoline Leonard – Texas is home to two nuclear power plants: the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant and the South Texas Project. The state is looking to invest in more nuclear energy to help power the state’s growing energy demand.

When nuclear energy leaders gathered in Austin last month for the Texas Nuclear Symposium, they were faced with a stark reality: Their industry, which has languished for decades, is in the midst of a boom its workforce isn’t ready to meet.

It comes amid a surge of construction of the power-hungry data centers needed to support rapidly increasing demand for artificial intelligence — and broad concerns about how the energy industry is going to serve them.

The solution increasingly includes nuclear. “We’re trying to build all these data centers, but we need the power,” said Danielle Zigon, director of strategic initiatives for the University of Texas’ nuclear and radiation engineering program. “I’m not just selling nuclear energy. I’m selling solutions to a power problem in this state. I am selling solutions to the water problem. We need it, and it’s happening fast.” (AAS)

“How Austin-tied investor funds became part of a $300M Ponzi case” via Austin American-Statesman‘s Paul Flahive – The Clean Energy Technology Association Inc. claimed it could sell revolutionary carbon capture technology. It was found by federal regulators to be the basis of a Ponzi scheme.

Victims of an alleged Ponzi scheme run through dozens of Austin-based investment funds are in federal court going after the institutions, including Wells Fargo Bank, and people they say made it possible.

Regulators have already shut down Clean Energy Technology Association Inc. and Freedom Impact Consulting LLC for selling fraudulent investments based on carbon capture technology for the oil and gas industry.

They said they had patented technology that would capture drillers’ hydrocarbon spill-off and inject it back into the ground, providing a green return for energy-industry clients. They falsely told investors they had contracts with ExxonMobil Corp. and other oil companies for hundreds of its carbon capture units and promised a 10% quarterly return. (AAS)

QUICK LINKS  

SAEN: “Texas is running out of cheap water. Will we learn from Corpus Christi?” SAEN

Texas Border Business: “Abbott Declares Texas America’s New Financial Hub” Texas Border Business

Texas Border Business: “Trump Signs Law Including Funds to Reimburse State Border Costs” Texas Border Business

TX TRIB: “NOAA predicts a below-normal 2026 hurricane season” TX TRIB

SAEN: “SpaceX’s most powerful rocket ever built is now even bigger and more powerful. But will it work?” SAEN

Reuters: “SpaceX scrubs upgraded Starship Texas launch, to retry Friday” Reuters

DMN: “Opa! American Airlines launches service from DFW Airport to Athens, Greece” DMN

TX TRIB: “In Democratic runoff, Reps. Al Green and Christian Menefee clash over influence of big money in politics” TX TRIB

Texas Standard: “Bo French talks more about DEI than oil and gas. But he could soon regulate the industry in Texas.” Texas Standard

TX MONTHLY: “After Uvalde, Texas Spent Over $1 Billion “Hardening Schools.” Did It Work?” TX MONTHLY

TX TRIB: “In the Permian Basin, AI takes on big oil’s dirty water problem” TX TRIB

SAEN: “Texas attorney general sues San Antonio solar company over ‘deceptive’ practices” SAEN

The Killeen Daily Herald: “Texas leaders outline future growth strategy during Central Texas summit” The Killeen Daily Herald

DMN: “Gov. Abbott talks up big business connections ahead of midterms” DMN

HOU CHRON: “’Outages will happen’: Houston leaders urge preparedness for hurricane season” HOU CHRON

Texans for Fiscal Responsibility: “Billions in New Debt Approved in May Election Bond Measures” Texans for Fiscal Responsibility

FWST: “Arlington’s mayor primary concern for FIFA World Cup is not hotels. It’s security” FWST

AAS: “Austin Energy outages leave nearly 16,000 without power amid storms” AAS

AAS: “HBO ‘Yogurt Shop Murders’ finale revisits case after DNA breakthrough” AAS

SAEN: “CPS found gas leak hour before second house explosion, NTSB report reveals” SAEN

KCENTV.com: “Texas Rangers investigating two Coryell County elected officials” KCENTV.com

HOU CHRON: “Houston storms return for Memorial Day weekend after brief Friday break” HOU CHRON

HOU CHRON: “H-E-B eyes land deal in Houston’s East End, fueling hopes for grocery store” HOU CHRON

HOU CHRON: “’Rainbow Station’ opens in Montrose as a facility to support Harris County public health program” HOU CHRON

EXTRA POINTS 

Recent Texas sports scores:
Monday 5/18
> NBA: San Antonio 122, Oklahoma City 115 (2 OT) (SA 1-0)
> MLB: Colorado 7, Texas 6
> MLB: Minnesota 6, Houston 3
> WNBA: Dallas 92, Washington 69
Tuesday 5/19
> MLB: Texas 10, Colorado 0
> MLB: Houston 2, Minnesota 1
Wednesday 5/20
> NBA: Oklahoma City 122, San Antonio 113 (tied 1-1)
> MLB: Texas 5, Colorado 4
> MLB: Minnesota 4, Houston 1
Thursday 5/21
None.
Today / Tonight’s Texas sports schedule:
> 1:20pm: MLB: Houston at Chicago (Apple TV)
> 6:30pm: WNBA: Dallas at Atlanta (ION)
> 7:30pm: NBA: Oklahoma City at San Antonio (NBC) (tied 1-1)
> 8:38pm: MLB: Texas at LA Angels (CW 33)

Tomorrow’s Texas sports schedule:
> 1:20pm: MLB: Houston at Chicago
> 1:45pm: MLS: Austin at St. Louis (Apple TV)
> 8:30pm: MLS: Dallas at Colorado (Apple TV)
> 9:05pm: MLB: Texas at LA Angels
> 9:30pm: MLS: Houston at LA Galaxy (Apple TV)

TEXAS SPORTS HEADLINES / LINKS

DALLAS MAVERICKS: Dallas Mavericks part ways with head coach; ‘new direction’ sought” (FWST)

TEXAS SOFTBALL: “Why Texas softball coach Mike White always advances to Super Regionals” (AAS)