Why some North Texas Republicans are against school vouchers

FORT WORTH – The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Hollie Plemons took her seat before a panel of lawmakers in Austin to make her conservative case against school vouchers. “This is going against everything that a Texas Republican is,” said Plemons, a mother of three and Tarrant County GOP precinct chair from Fort Worth who has been outspoken in her opposition. She was one of hundreds in a marathon hearing on March 11 to testify before the House Public Education committee as they considered House Bill 3, the House’s version of an education savings accounts program, a voucher-of-sort that supporters say would give parents more choice in their child’s education. A similar proposal passed in the Texas Senate on Feb. 5. The details are different, but both would let parents use state dollars for their child’s private or home schooled education.

The issue has historically been a tension point for Texas Republicans, facing opposition from some within the party, particularly among rural House members who have feared for their local public schools. As the legislation is debated there are also Republicans — like Plemons — whose opposition stems from what they see as a breach of traditional Republican principles opposing government subsidies and supporting small government. This is despite support for vouchers from many in the Republican Party’s upper-most ranks. “In a way, for these conservatives, vouchers are big government,” said University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus. “Vouchers are basically setting the table for winners and losers. That’s something that many conservatives, fiscal conservatives, are adamantly against.” Plemons said she’s been attacked by Republican groups and called a Democrat, communist and Marxist for her stance. “I’m none of those, but the bill is,” she said. Dallas County GOP Chair Allen West mulled the idea of “school choice” in a recent post on the local party’s website. The former Texas GOP chair ran against Abbott for governor in 2021, challenging him from the right. “I do not think we have a very clear understanding of what ‘school choice’ means,” the post reads. “When I hear people use language such as ‘universal school choice,’ well, it sends chills down my spine because of the word ‘universal,’ which was also used to describe Obamacare as “universal healthcare.” West addresses the Senate’s proposal, saying it goes against a party platform item that calls for funding that follows a child with “no strings attached” and opposes “regulations on homeschooling or the curriculum of private or religious schools.” “Instead of issuing a voucher, why not enable Flexible Education Savings Accounts that are tax credits, not vouchers?” West said in the post.

Dallas Fed: Texas employment forecast strengthens for 2025

DALLAS — The Texas Employment Forecast released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas indicates jobs will increase 1.9 percent in 2025, with an 80 percent confidence band of 1.2 to 2.6 percent.

This is an increase from the previous month’s forecast of 1.6 percent for 2025.

The forecast is based on an average of four models that include projected national GDP, oil futures prices,?and the Texas and U.S. leading indexes. In addition, this forecast utilizes Texas employment data that have been adjusted to include anticipated downward revisions by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“January job growth was strong and broad based, led by increases in the energy and education and health sectors. Only employment in the information sector dropped,” said Jesus Cañas, Dallas Fed senior business economist. “Additionally, employment rose in all major metropolitan areas of the state, with Houston outpacing the other major metros.”

Additional key takeaways from the latest Dallas Fed report:

The forecast suggests 275,000 jobs will be added in the state this year, and employment in December 2025 will be 14.5 million.

Texas employment increased by an annualized 3.4 percent month over month in January, an increase from December’s growth of 2.9 percent.

The unemployment rate, which takes into account changes in the total labor force along with other factors, decreased in Austin–Round Rock, Brownsville–Harlingen, El Paso, Fort Worth–Arlington, Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, Laredo and San Antonio–New Braunfels, according to?seasonally adjusted numbers?from the Dallas Fed.

The rate remained flat in Dallas–Plano–Irving for the month.

The Texas statewide unemployment rate decreased slightly to 4.1 percent in January.

TWU hosts public meeting for District 1 on Thursday

TYLER – On Thursday, March 20, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Tyler Water Utilities (TWU) will conduct a come-and-go community meeting in District 1 at the South Tyler Police Station, Meeting Room, 574 W. Cumberland Rd. This come-and-go event will feature information stations staffed by Department Directors and the opportunity for individuals to speak directly with Councilmember Stuart Hene. Water Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) will also be available to assist with individual account questions. Customers are encouraged to attend the event in their district and speak one-on-one with subject matter experts to learn more about TWU, utility billing, and improvement projects, voice questions or concerns, and provide feedback on these topics. Residents should bring a copy of their water bill for specific billing questions. (more…)

Gas prices are down, but it could be a warning

TEXAS – The nation’s average price of gasoline has fallen for the fourth straight week, declining 1.3 cents compared to a week ago and stands at $3.02 per gallon, according to GasBuddy® data compiled from more than 12 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country. The national average is down 10.6 cents from a month and is 42.4 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has decreased 5.0 cents in the last week and stands at $3.558 per gallon.

“As concerns over tariffs and policy uncertainties grow, gas prices have continued to decline across much of the country, raising the possibility that the national average could slip below $3 per gallon and approach some of the lowest prices seen in years,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “However, this decline shouldn’t necessarily be celebrated, as it comes with strong warning signs. When the economy slows, gasoline demand drops — along with demand for other refined products like diesel and jet fuel. We’ve already seen some signals that the months ahead could be challenging. All of this suggests that gas prices are likely to remain low for now. However, if economic conditions improve, gas prices could eventually follow suit and start rising again.”

Former Texas pastor surrenders to police

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A former pastor of a Texas megachurch accused of child sexual abuse surrendered to Oklahoma authorities Monday.

Robert Preston Morris, 63, turned himself in to officials in Osage County, where he was charged last week with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child, Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, told The Associated Press.

Court records show an Osage County judge set a $50,000 bond and ordered Morris to surrender his passport.

Morris is expected to make an initial appearance before a judge at 10 a.m. on May 9, Bacharach said.

Attorney Mack Martin declined to comment on the charges but said he anticipated entering a not guilty plea on Morris’ behalf.

Morris resigned last year as pastor of Gateway Church in the Dallas suburb of Southlake after a woman accused him of sexually abusing her in the 1980s.

The victim, referred to in the indictment as C.C., told authorities the abuse started when she was 12 years old and Morris was a traveling evangelist staying in Hominy, Oklahoma, with her family, according to the attorney general’s office. She said the abuse continued for four years.

Cindy Clemishire, Morris’ accuser, said in a statement that she is very grateful to the authorities who have worked to make the indictment possible and is hopeful “justice will ultimately prevail.”

“After almost 43 years, the law has finally caught up with Robert Morris for the horrific crimes he committed against me as a child,” said Clemishire, now 55. “Now, it is time for the legal system to hold him accountable.”

The AP typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted, but Clemishire said she would like her name included.

Morris was known to be politically active. The church hosted President Donald Trump on its Dallas campus in 2020 for a discussion on race relations and the economy.

Morris could face up to 20 years in prison for each of the five charges, according to the attorney general’s office.

Texas moon lander goes silent

CAPE CANAVERAL (AP) — It’s lights out for the first private lunar lander to pull off a fully successful moon mission.

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander fell silent over the weekend, wrapping up two weeks of science experiments for NASA. The end came as the sun set at the moon, no longer providing energy for the lander’s solar panels.

“Mission is completed,” Firefly CEO Jason Kim said via X late Sunday night. “But the Ghost still lives on in our hearts and minds for the journey it’s taken us on!”

The lander operated five hours into the lunar night as planned before it died Sunday evening. Photos of the lunar sunset and glow will be released on Tuesday, Kim said.

Blue Ghost launched from Cape Canaveral in January as part of NASA’s commercial lunar delivery program. It landed at the moon’s far northeastern edge on March 2. It carried a drill, vacuum and other science and tech instruments for NASA. Firefly confirmed Monday that all 10 experiments worked.

Late last week, Blue Ghost observed a total solar eclipse from the moon — a total lunar eclipse as seen from Earth.

The Texas-based Firefly became the first private company to land on the moon without falling or crashing after a string of failed missions by other companies over the past few years. Only five countries — the United States, Russia, China, India and Japan — have achieved a successful landing.

A Japanese company’s lunar lander shared the SpaceX rocket ride, but took an even longer route to get to the moon. That lander from ispace is targeting an early June touchdown.

Another Texas company, Intuitive Machines, ended up sideways in a crater near the moon’s south pole earlier this month, dooming the mission. It was the second incomplete mission for Intuitive Machines. Its first lander put the U.S. back on the moon last year for the first time since the Apollo era after a less-than-perfect landing that hampered communications.

Firefly is already working on its next lunar lander and striving for one moon landing a year.

Person crushed to death in workplace incident near Winona

WINONA – Our news partners at KETK report the Smith County Sheriff’s Office said a person was killed on Friday near Winona after equipment fell on them while at work. A spokesperson with the sheriff’s office said dispatchers received an emergency call about a workplace incident where a piece of equipment had fallen on someone at around 12:43 p.m. while working on Southside Circle near Howell Club Lake. CPR was performed on the victim until 12:56 p.m. and they were pronounced dead at 1 p.m., the sheriff’s office said. Local firefighters and EMS responded to the scene along with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, who is actively investigating the incident.

Restricting Texas colleges is focus of priority bill

AUSTIN – The Dallas Morning News reports that Texas colleges and universities could face more oversight — including over who is hired, what is taught and how they are following the law — under a wide-ranging priority bill filed Thursday. The Senate proposal would give governor-appointed boards of regents more power to overturn decisions made by campus leaders and review curriculum. The bill also would reduce the role of faculty senates and create a new office to investigate concerns at state schools. Introduced by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, Senate Bill 37 is of one Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s top 40 priorities. Patrick has long said he wants to roll back the “woke left” that is rampant on college campuses. “By reaffirming the authority of the Board of Regents, SB 37 clearly defines university governance roles while increasing transparency in policies, hiring, curriculum, and financial decisions,” Creighton said in a statement.

“With taxpayer dollars and students’ futures at stake, universities must operate with accountability,” he added. Others saw the bill as “an attack on faculty’s role in governance in colleges and universities,” the University of Texas at Austin chapter of the American Association of University Professors said in a statement. “Shared governance is one of AAUP’s top priorities and central to the protection of academic freedom and faculty’s status as professionals,” the statement read. In a statement, the Texas Conference of AAUP said the legislature is “attempting to micromanage and overregulate universities that are already thriving.” The group noted that Gov. Greg Abbott bragged about Texas leading the nation in top research universities on social media Thursday. The state recently significantly expanded the number of schools reaching tier 1 status. “This happens because we have top-notch faculty,” AAUP’s statement read. Under the bill, governing boards would have expanded authority that includes the ability to overrule decisions made by school administrators. The boards would have to send annual reports to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the House and each state lawmaker on their hiring, curriculum and other issues.

Survey: Texas workers are miserable.

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that while Texas has long been considered one of the nation’s top states for business, workers in the state are among the nation’s most miserable, a new study finds. The state’s workforce is the 12th-most miserable in the nation, according to a ranking from Final Round AI, maker of an AI interview virtual assistant, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The analysis focused on four factors: average hours worked, average wages, fatal work injury rates and the rate of nonfatal work injuries and illnesses causing missed workdays. “Not all factors that contribute to a worker’s happiness can be quantified, but paying workers well, providing a good work-life balance and making sure their health is prioritized goes a long way to alleviating a lot of the stress in their lives, allowing them to perform their best when they are at work,” said Michael Guan, CEO of Final Round AI.

Mississippi has the most miserable workers in the nation, the company concluded, standing out for having the lowest average wage in the nation, at $47,570 per year, and the 6th-highest rate of workplace fatalities. Wyoming had the second-unhappiest workforce, with 15.14 fatal injuries per 100,000 employees in 2023, according to BLS data. West Virginia ranked third in this context. By contrast, New York has the happiest workforce in the nation, thanks to a combination of relatively high wages, relatively low hours worked and relatively few workplace fatalities. Texas scored second-worst in the nation, the study found, when it came to workload. On average, workers in the state put in 36.5 hours a week. Texas also has middling wages, with an annual average of $61,240. And in 2023, the most recent data available, the state saw 3.94 fatalities for every 100,000 workers, according to the BLS data. The state’s overall score in Final Round AI’s ranking was 42.8 out of 100, compared to 30.2 for Mississippi and 79.7 for New York. Guan suggested that when workers are unhappy, that can take a toll on the overall business climate. “Happy workers are better workers as they will work harder, smarter, and make fewer mistakes while working,” he said. “Having happy workers is also a glowing recommendation for your company.”

Louisiana man sentenced for trafficking meth

TYLER – A Shreveport, LA, man has been sentenced to over 21 years in federal prison for drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr. Darren Tremaine Jackson, 41, was convicted at trial in March 2024 of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Jackson was sentenced to 260 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker on March 12, 2025. According to information presented in court, on February 13, 2020, Jackson, and co-defendant Gary Wayne Sepulvado, were stopped by law enforcement officers for a traffic violation in Smith County. After observing a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle, a search was executed, and a kilogram of methamphetamine was discovered. Sepulvado pleaded guilty to related charges on November 15, 2023, and is awaiting sentencing.

Immigration accounts for entire US population growth for first time

TEXAS – Newsweek reports that immigration was the sole driver of the United States’ population growth in a single year for the first time since records began, a new study released Wednesday said. The nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute (MPI) looked at U.S. Census Bureau data for 2022-2023, the latest available, finding that falling American birthrates factored into the change. The findings come at a time when immigration, particularly illegal immigration, is a key focus of the current White House administration. While plans for mass deportations are being carried out, the other obstacle — a collapsing fertility rate — has been far more vexing for officials, both in the U.S. and other developed nations suffering from the same dynamic. The U.S. immigrant population grew by 1.6 million between 2022 and 2023 to 47.8 million, according to the MPI analysis, with immigrants now representing a 14.3 percent share of the overall population—the highest ever. The Census Bureau started collecting data in 1850 and has tracked immigrant arrivals through the boom in the early 1900s, the bust in middle of the century, and then a steady rise from the 1970s onward.

In 2023, birth rates among American women reached a record low for those aged between 20 and 24, while the rate also dropped overall for the larger group of 20-39 year olds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The shift has been noted in other reporting in recent months, including from the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), which found that more immigrants were entering the workforce than American-born workers because of an aging population and the declining birthrate. Immigrants made up around 18 percent of the total workforce in 2023, the last year for which complete data is available. In a separate study, the nonpartisan Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) looked at estimates from January 2025, finding an even larger rise in the immigrant population. It now stands at around 15.8 percent, according to the CIS analysis. Among the largest nationalities represented in the U.S. immigrant population in 2023 were Mexicans at 23 percent, followed by Indians (6 percent) and Chinese (5 percent).

Greg Abbott cites debunked claim that public schools catered to ‘furries’

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday resurrected debunked rumors that public schools were putting litter boxes in classrooms for students dressed as cats, amplifying right-wing criticism of some educators as he pushes for a statewide private school voucher program. The Texas Republican told a gathering of pastors at a Baptist church in Austin that the so-called furries trend is “alive and well” in communities across the state, and that lawmakers needed to ban it. He endorsed newly filed legislation by state Rep. Stan Gerdes called the “Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education (F.U.R.R.I.E.S) Act,” which would prohibit any “non-human behavior” by a student, “including presenting himself or herself … as anything other than a human being” by wearing animal ears or barking, meowing or hissing. The bill includes exceptions for sports mascots or kids in school plays.

Gerdes’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The bill didn’t have any immediate cosponsors. Abbott’s remarks appeared to call back unfounded rumors from 2022 that public schools across the country were catering to students who identified as animals. In one instance, the GOP chair in Williamson County falsely claimed Round Rock schools were lowering cafeteria tables for furries. “In some small rural sections of school districts in the state of Texas, they have in their schools, what are called furries. Y’all know what this is?” Abbott asked the crowd, which responded with a smattering of “yeahs.” “Kids go to school dressed up as cats with litter boxes in their classrooms,” Abbott said. Abbott referenced two rural school districts but did not name them in his address to the Texas Pastors Policy Conference. When asked about the claims, his office sent a statement saying he has “heard from countless parents growing frustrated at the quality of schools, the substance of what is taught, and failures of ISDs leading to an unwelcoming learning environment for their children. “The Governor recommends concerned parents report any potential issues to the Texas Education Agency for investigation,” said Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesman for the governor. The governor has ratcheted up his criticism of public schools in recent weeks as he pitches a program allowing public money to be spent on private education, which the governor has made his signature policy push this session. The governor has cast private school vouchers as an option for parents turned off by what he called “the pervasive woke leftist agenda that’s being forced on our kids in our public schools.”

California man sentenced for cryptocurrency money laundering

TYLER – A California man has been sentenced to federal prison for his role in a cryptocurrency money laundering conspiracy in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr. John Khuu, 29, of San Francisco, California, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, and was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker on March 12, 2025. According to information presented in court, Khuu conspired with others to launder the proceeds of his drug trafficking organization through cryptocurrency.  Khuu illegally imported counterfeit pharmaceutical and MDMA (“ecstasy”) pills from Germany then distributed them to customers across the United States, primarily on dark web markets (DWMs).  Customers paid for their purchases by transferring cryptocurrency, usually Bitcoin (BTC), from their DWM customer accounts to one of Khuu’s vendor accounts.  Khuu and his co-conspirators traded the BTC for U.S. currency and laundered and transmitted the proceeds through hundreds of transactions and dozens of financial accounts. (more…)

Immigrants fuel growth in major US urban counties

HOUSTON (AP) – Immigrants kept the largest urban counties in the U.S. growing last year.

Core counties in the Houston, Miami and Phoenix metropolitan areas grew more than any others in the country primarily because of people moving in from outside the United States, according to population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday.

Without the international migration, Harris County, Texas, Miami-Dade County, Florida, and Maricopa County, Arizona, would have had nobody moving there last year. That’s because more people already living in the country moved out of than into those counties. Miami-Dade County would have lost population without the immigrants, since the number of births outpacing deaths wasn’t enough to overcome the tens of thousands of residents who moved out.

Immigration in 2024 drove the overall U.S. population growth to its fastest rate in 23 years as the nation surpassed 340 million residents. The Census Bureau changed how it counted immigrants last year by including more people who were admitted to the U.S. for humanitarian, and often temporary, reasons.

“A substantial excess of births over deaths has long been the primary driver of U.S. population growth, but as this surplus dwindled in the last four years immigration provided the bulk of the nation’s population increase,” Kenneth Johnson, a senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire, said in an email.
Domestic vs. international migrants

The 2024 estimates reflect a continued dissonance this decade between where current U.S. residents and immigrants choose to live. Immigrants last year moved to the urban cores of metro areas, while those already living in the country preferred counties in the far suburban reaches of metro areas.

The most popular counties for international migrants last year were Miami-Dade and Harris counties, followed by Los Angeles County and Cook County, Illinois, which is home to Chicago.

The most popular counties for domestic residents last year were Montgomery County, Texas, north of Houston; Pinal County, Arizona, southwest of Phoenix; and Pasco County, Florida, northeast of Tampa. Also at the top ranks were Polk County, Florida, located between Orlando and Tampa, and Collin County, Texas, in the far northern suburbs of metro Dallas.
New York is on the rebound

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. in 2020, the New York metro area and others with some of the densest populations in the U.S. lost tens of thousands of residents to relocation.

But the region has been on the rebound since the pandemic subsided. The New York metro area — the largest in the U.S. with 19.9 million people — added more people than any other metropolitan area in the country last year. As 147,000 residents moved out, nearly 288,000 immigrants moved in, including tens of thousands who arrived on buses provided by the state of Texas. San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are other metro areas that have gained population through international migration, after initially losing them during the pandemic.

The New York metro area also had the nation’s largest natural growth last year, with nearly 214,000 births outpacing 141,000 deaths.

South Florida last year jumped two spots over metro Washington and metro Atlanta to become the sixth most populous metropolitan area in the United States. Metropolitan Charlotte, North Carolina, bypassed metro Baltimore for the 21st spot. Among counties, Tarrant County, Texas, home to Fort Worth, leapfrogged over San Bernardino County in South California as the nation’s 15th most populous county.

Deaths outpace births
in two-thirds of U.S. counties

Nearly two-thirds of the United States’ 3,144 counties grew last year. At the same, deaths outpaced births in two-thirds of U.S. counties, reflecting the reliance on immigration for growth throughout the United States in the years since the start of the pandemic. Nationwide, last year’s natural growth was less than half the average gain of 1.2 million people that the country experienced in the five years before the pandemic, Johnson said.

“These recent levels of natural decrease are unprecedented,” Johnson said.

Lunar eclipse visible tonight

TYLER – Our news partners at KETK report a total lunar eclipse will be visible for all of the United States Thursday Night & Friday Morning. The moon will be in its full moon phase and appear as a distinct reddish color in the skies over East Texas Thursday night. The Eclipse will begin around midnight central Daylight Time (CDT). The total lunar eclipse will be between 1:30 AM CDT and 2:30 AM CDT. You don’t need any special equipment like a telescope. We could see cloud cover in East Texas Thursday Night. However, there will be cloud breaks every so often for this stargazing treat. A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth passes between the sun and moon and earth’s shadow is cast directly on the surface of the moon. The moon will appear a reddish color and described as a “blood moon.” The last total lunar eclipse was visible in the United States on November 8th, 2022, the next lunar event won’t be visible in North America until March 2026.

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