Author: Bethany Blankley | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Despite reaching no quorum on Tuesday, Texas House members worked on disaster recovery bills in response to the July 4 Hill Country flood. The House Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness heard five bills on Tuesday, House Bills 1, 2, 18, 19, and 20. The bills focus “on emergency response, flood mitigation,…

(The Center Square) – Another major company is expanding its corporate headquarters from California to Texas, worldwide hair styling brand leader John Paul Mitchell Systems. The company is building a new global product distribution center in Wilmer, in Dallas County. JPMS is the largest family-owned professional hair care brand that distributes hair care products in…

(The Center Square) – Four bills have been sent to the governor to strengthen military service programs at Texas higher education institutions, including the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program. One of the bills includes expanded funding for career and technical education programs identified as a legislative emergency priority by Gov. Greg Abbott. The bills…

(The Center Square) – A Gulf of America Homeland Security Task Force has shut down an illegal cock fighting and gambling ring in Alabama primarily involving illegal border crossers. The task force is comprised of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, FBI, IRS and ATF, supported by the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Customs…

(The Center Square) — Florida law enforcement authorities continue to crack down on crime related to noncitizens and illegal immigration. The latest is an illegal driver’s license scheme involving Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles employees. On Thursday, Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford announced that a multi-agency investigation led to the arrest of eight…

(The Center Square) – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers continue to be assaulted carrying out federal search warrants and orders from federal judges. While rioters are targeting ICE agents carrying out official duties in local communities, assaults are also occurring during worksite enforcement actions. Nationwide, assaults on ICE officers are up 413%, The Center…

(The Center Square) – An FBI Dallas-led multiagency law enforcement operation spanning multiple counties in north Texas targeting online sexual predators resulted in hundreds being arrested. The operation was conducted as FBI Director Kash Patel warned last month that federal agents would “hunt down” online child sexual predators. The priority of the Justice Department and…

(The Center Square) – The Texas Secretary of State has referred the names of 33 potential noncitizens to the Office of Attorney General to investigate alleged voter fraud. The referral was made after the SOS was given access to a federal database to check its voter rolls after suing the previous administration to have access.…

(The Center Square) – A Florida sheriff has been charged in a public-corruption related investigation that involved an illegal gambling operation. Attorney General James Uthmeier’s Office of Statewide Prosecution charged Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez and others in a massive Central Florida gambling operation on Thursday. The charges allege that Lopez initially got involved in…

(The Center Square) – In the last few legislative sessions, the governor and leaders of the Texas legislature claim they passed a conservative budget and “the greatest property tax relief” in state history. In 2023, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the property tax relief bill the legislature passed was “the largest property tax relief package…