Tag: texas

The Much-Hyped Texas Measles Outbreak Is Over.

Texas health officials have officially declared the end of a much-hyped measles outbreak. While the virus did infect 762 people statewide, the situation was ultimately controlled, with the last case reported on July 1. No new infections have emerged in the affected areas for over six weeks, surpassing the standard threshold to declare an outbreak contained.

Initial headlines painted a dire picture, as cases tied to measles outbreaks in Canada and Mexico began to pop up across U.S. states, including Texas. Much of the epidemic was limited to local Mennonite communities in Texas.

The reaction was swift and widespread, with public warnings, emergency measures, and a renewed push for vaccinations. Around 100 hospitalizations were recorded—but only two deaths, for a fatality rate of just 0.26 percent out of the 762 recorded infections.

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Far-Left Anarchist Group Formed During BLM Riots Behind Texas ICE Shooting Ambush

Suspects arrested in connection with a brazen attack on a Texas ICE detention facility have been linked to a secretive far-left Antifa anarchist group that emerged after meeting during the violent Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.

The group, which included transgender activists, allegedly orchestrated a military-style ambush that left one police officer wounded on July 4 at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas.

During the attack, which authorities have called a coordinated ambush, a group of assailants dressed in black military-style clothing opened fire on ICE agents. One officer was shot in the neck.

Following an intensive investigation, 11 individuals were arrested, facing serious charges including attempted murder of federal officers, discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence, and obstruction of justice for trying to conceal evidence, according to a report from the New York Post.

Leading the suspects is Benjamin Hanil Song, a former U.S. Marine Corps reservist, who was charged with three counts of attempted murder and three counts of discharging a firearm. Song is accused of purchasing four firearms used in the attack and hosting weekly training sessions focused on close-quarters combat and large-scale gunfights. He was apprehended in Dallas after a weeklong manhunt.

Among the other suspects are Autumn Hill and Meagan Morris, both identified as transgender.

The group initially focused on “social justice” demonstrations, the far-left extremists later shifted their attention to targeting ICE enforcement operations. It’s unclear exactly how many of the attackers were core members, but the group operated out of Dallas and attracted young, impressionable leftists.

Corey Lyon, a libertarian who attended some of the sessions but later cut ties with Song, told The Post, “The people that were showing up to learn from him — a lot were very young, naïve leftists.”

“They were scared. And Ben was offering them a solution for their fear.”

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Is She Drunk? Kamala Harris Sounds Sloshed as She Weighs in on Texas Redistricting Efforts

Kamala Harris sounded drunk as she weighed in on the GOP’s redistricting efforts in Texas.

Harris met with young Latino leaders earlier this month to discuss the redistricting efforts by Republican legislators in Texas.

The video of the meeting was posted to Kamala Harris’ social media this weekend.

“It’s going to take all of us to fight back against Republican redistricting efforts in Texas. I’m so proud of the Democrats in the state legislature. They have shown immense courage and are putting up one hell of a fight,” Harris said.

As usual, Kamala Harris made no sense whatsoever. There was no enthusiasm during the meeting and the young Latino leaders were not impressed with Harris.

“When things don’t go the way Republicans want, they cheat and lie,” Harris said.

Of course, this is projection.

“This is not a census year but this is a year with the Big Beautiful Bill! And the unpopularity of it and so [the Republicans] want to bend the rules!” Harris said.

Harris praised the AWOL Texas Democrats as the video ended.

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Texas Is Preparing To Cut Off Power To Data Centers During Grid Emergencies

Over the Fourth of July, deadly floods swept across central Texas, disrupting infrastructure and causing widespread outages. Meanwhile, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has already seen multiple price spikes and conservation alerts — not because there wasn’t enough power, but because we couldn’t move it where it was needed.

These aren’t isolated events. It’s not just a Texas problem.

Just days after the shutoff planning was announced, the U.S. Department of Energy warned that blackout risks across the country could rise 100-fold by 2030.

All of this points to a deeper vulnerability: We’re still running the grid with tools and assumptions built for a different era — one with fewer storms, slower load growth and no massive data centers. 

Texas’s new normal demands smarter, faster and more adaptive grid operations. Long-term infrastructure investments are critical, but they won’t arrive in time to manage the next three summers.

Texas has made real progress in building new generation capacity, especially in solar, storage and wind. But the wires that carry that power haven’t changed. More importantly, the way we operate the grid hasn’t evolved to match the demands of either changing weather patterns or electrical load growth.

Now, surging demand from industrial expansion, electrification and AI data centers is doubling the strain. ERCOT’s own projections show that power demand in Texas may nearly double by 2030. And, other regions aren’t immune.

  • The Midcontinent Independent System Operator recently green-lit a $22 billion transmission buildout to relieve rising congestion.
  • The California Independent System Operator saw renewable curtailments surge nearly 30% last year.
  • The PJM Interconnection anticipates 3% to 4% annual peak load growth through 2035 driven by data centers and expects up to 70 GW of demand over the next 15 years.
  • Nationally, U.S. demand is projected to climb about 16% in five years — a pace not seen since the 1980s. 

That means more stress on an already-congested transmission system — one still being managed with decades-old assumptions about heat, wind and demand.

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Texas Crime Labs Say They Don’t Have Enough Resources To Test Hemp Products For THC As Lawmakers Consider Ban

As Texas lawmakers debate whether to regulate or ban THC products, officials with the state’s crime labs say they don’t have the resources currently to enforce whatever law is passed.

“From a crime lab perspective, mercifully, we don’t have a dog in that fight. I really don’t care. Just tell me what I need to test, and then I need resources to be able to provide that result,” Peter Stout, president and chief executive officer for the Houston Forensic Science Center, told The Texas Tribune after he testified before the House Public Health Committee on Wednesday. “Otherwise, I become the reason the wheel falls off this wagon, which has basically been the last six years now.”

Wednesday’s committee hearing centered on House Bill 5, which would create a blanket ban on products containing any “detectable amount of any cannabinoid” other than cannabidiol and cannabigerol, better known as CBD and CBG, non-intoxicating components of cannabis. This bill would eliminate the majority of hemp products, including those that are legal under the federal definition.

”There’s been countless reports of artificial and synthetic cannabinoids and their effects on the consumer, and these products have become readily available,” said Rep. Gary VanDeaver, R-New Boston, the committee’s chair and HB 5’s author. “Some of these products are marketed in a way that is attractive to children, for example common food products, like candy.”

The Senate’s version of the bill also calls for a ban, but since Gov. Greg Abbott (R) earlier this year vetoed similar legislation that would have banned THC, some lawmakers have signaled they’d support more regulations over a ban.

Kim Carmichael, spokesperson for House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, told The Texas Tribune that the House hasn’t committed to a ban.

“HB 5 was filed as a similar bill to what the House passed in the regular session, because that’s the most logical starting point for negotiations,” Carmichael said. “Since it passed in that form, members believed they should resume debate where it ended up. It would still go through the process of a public hearing and floor debate, so where it ends up is unknown at this time.”

Experts invited by lawmakers on Wednesday to talk about THC largely focused on the health dangers of THC, the possible criminal networks that underlie the industry, and the impossible task of enforcement.

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AWOL Texas Democrats Unveil New Plan to Strongarm GOP Amid Redistricting Fight

AWOL Texas Democrats unveiled a new plan to strongarm Republicans amid a redistricting fight.

The Democrats fled to Illinois last week to block the Republicans from voting on a new congressional redistricting map.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatened the derelict Democrats with arrest and removal from office if they didn’t return to the Capitol.

Texas Democrats will reportedly return to the Capitol for Governor Abbott’s 2nd special session to vote on the GOP’s redistricting effort, however, the timing is unclear because now they are making new demands.

According to the Associated Press, Texas Democrats won’t return home unless “Texas Republicans end a special session and California releases its own redrawn map proposal.”

The Associated Press reported:

Texas Democrats on Thursday moved closer to ending a nearly two-week walkout that has blocked the GOP’s redrawing of U.S. House maps before the 2026 election and put them under escalating threats by Republicans back home.

The Democrats announced they will return so long as Texas Republicans end a special session and California releases its own redrawn map proposal, both of which were expected to happen Friday.

Democrats did not say what day they might return.

On Wednesday, an Illinois judge denied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request to enforce arrest warrants against derelict state House Democrats.

Judge Scott Larson said Paxton failed to “present a legal basis for the court to obtain subject matter jurisdiction over this cause of action…”

Governor Abbott laughed at the Democrats as they made all kinds of demands for a second special session from Chicago.

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Jasmine Crockett’s Racist Redistricting Comments Get Fact Checked by Greg Abbott

Texas Governor Greg Abbott responded Sunday to Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett’s claims that the state’s new redistricting maps would silence minority voters, pointing to recent Republican gains among Hispanic, Black, and Asian voters as evidence to the contrary.

Appearing on Fox News Sunday with host Shannon Bream, Abbott addressed remarks Crockett made a day earlier on MSNBC, where she argued the GOP proposal would strip minority communities of political influence.

Democrats in the Texas Legislature have left the state for Democratic strongholds such as New York and Illinois in an effort to block the Republican-backed redistricting plan, which analysts say could result in the GOP gaining as many as five additional seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“First of all, it wouldn’t be a day that ends in the letter Y if Jasmine Crockett didn’t say something racist,” Abbott told Bream.

“But second, her ‘facts’ are wrong, because the facts in Texas are under the maps that we are drawing, four of the new seats will be predominantly Hispanic seats. The problem that Democrats have in the state of Texas is Hispanics, black voters and other voters, they have learned now that the ideas that Democrats stand for are contrary to the ideas that the Hispanic community and black community stand for. They all want secure borders, they don’t want men and women’s sports and they want support for law enforcement.”

Abbott said GOP outreach has increasingly resonated with minority voters in recent election cycles.

“What we are finding is these Hispanics are voting for Republicans,” Abbott said.

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Report: Texas Democrat Fugitives Concede, Will Return to Austin

The Texas House Democrats who abandoned their state in protest of the Republican-led redistricting effort will return home after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) took “emergency action” to begin removing the absent legislators as they refused to show up for work.

Multiple sources revealed the news to ABC13 on Tuesday, though the exact date the Democrats will return to the state capitol in Austin was not confirmed. 

The state House had only 95 members present for the second day in a row on Tuesday, with Speaker Dustin Burrows (R) predicting that the session will end and a new one will start assuming there is no quorum on Friday, the outlet noted.

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Rep. Jasmine Crockett Says Republicans Want to ‘Systemically’ Remove Black ‘Electeds’

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) claimed Monday that Republican-led redistricting efforts are aimed at reducing the number of Black members of Congress, asserting that these moves violate constitutional protections and the Voting Rights Act.

Speaking during an appearance on CNN’s The Lead, Crockett alleged that Republican lawmakers in multiple states are working to “systemically get rid” of Black elected officials as part of their strategy to secure political victories.

“When it comes to our base, they want to see a fight,” Crockett said.

“They don’t want to see us just lay down and say, OK, well, the Republicans want to do whatever they want to do. They want to minimize voices. They want to systemically get rid of those black electeds.”

Crockett pointed to several states she says are already engaged in these tactics.

“When I look at the numbers, and to be clear, Florida is already in this thing. We know that Texas is in this thing. We know that they’re putting pressure on Indiana as well as Missouri,” she said.

According to Crockett, these efforts are part of a broader Republican plan to win elections by altering congressional maps in ways that reduce minority representation.

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Texas DA known for naked stunts faces five years in prison after posting video of herself smoking weed in her garden

Best known for a viral video in which she straddled an oil pumping jack while topless and bottomless, a Texas elected official now faces jail time after smoking a joint on TikTok.

District Attorney Sarah Stogner, 41, could be incarceration after she posted a social media video of herself smoking weed in protest of a state ban on THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. 

The Republican made headlines in 2022 when she posted the viral clip of her riding the oil pump jack at the time she was running to be the state’s railroad commissioner.

Stogner, now the DA of Texas’s 143rd judicial district near Pecos, hopes her latest stunt might shame Texas into legalizing weed – especially if she is arrested and made a martyr for the cause. 

‘I did this to raise attention,’ she told Newsweek. 

‘Its silly that our elected officials want to completely ban THC when that’s not what our constituents want.’

Medical marijuana is legal in Texas, but recreational use of the drug is not. 

And in recent weeks, Lone Star State lawmakers passed a bill banning any products containing any ‘detectable amount of any cannabinoid.’

If signed into law, the bill would outlaw the majority of hemp products, including those that are legal under the federal definition in Texas. 

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