Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Good morning! On this day in 1922, anti-Klan Democrats met in Dallas and picked Houston lawyer George Peddy to challenge the Ku Klux Klan-backed Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate. Kept off the ballot, Peddy still drew 130,744 write-in votes.

You'll find an article in Et Cetera about a math teacher who used the Heimlich maneuver to save a choking sixth-grader. Our Poll asks if you've ever been present when the maneuver was used to save someone. Hit reply to tell us your story.

Millions of Americans may have prediabetes and not even know it. Your body sends warning signs years before prediabetes shows up, and doctors say most people miss them completely. Researchers point to five key findings that change how we think about the condition, including one small change that could slash your risk by more than half. Join Ayla on The Flyover Podcast to hear what your body may be trying to tell you. Tune in here!

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Trump Taps Hunt for Saudi Post

President Trump nominated Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia on Monday, a post that has lacked a full-time appointee since the end of the Biden administration and requires Senate confirmation.

The 44-year-old West Point graduate flew Apache helicopters for eight years and spent two deployments in the kingdom as a diplomatic liaison. Hunt called the nomination the "honor of a lifetime" and said his family has given more than 60 years to the military.

Iran has been firing on Saudi Arabia and blockading its energy shipments since February, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman asked Trump to strike the Iran-backed Houthis. Trump declined to do so.

Hunt leaves the House in January after two terms, following a third-place finish in March's Senate Republican primary won by Attorney General Ken Paxton. He announced the nomination with an AI-generated image of himself in mirrored aviator sunglasses against the Riyadh skyline.

Abbott Launches Space Academy Bid

Gov. Greg Abbott named a seven-member leadership team Tuesday to make a bid for Texas as the permanent home of the new United States Space Academy.

President Trump signed an executive order at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston last month, creating a presidential commission that will recommend a permanent site. House Appropriations Chairman Greg Bonnen of Friendswood will lead the Texas team, which is working with the Texas Space Commission on a statewide proposal.

"No state can match what Texas brings to this mission," Abbott said, pointing to Johnson Space Center, the state's universities, and its commercial space industry. Speaker Dustin Burrows cited the state's 15 military installations and research universities as reasons to put the academy here.

The team includes UTEP President Heather Wilson, a former secretary of the Air Force, and two former NASA astronauts, Nancy Currie-Gregg and Jack Fischer. Texas A&M's Space Institute and UT-Austin's Center for Space Research also have directors on the team.

Texas Children's Hospital Leads Rankings

Texas Children's Hospital in Houston earned the nation's No. 1 ranking for pediatric heart care for the 10th straight year in U.S. News & World Report's new Best Children's Hospitals rankings.

The hospital also took No. 1 in diabetes and endocrinology, No. 2 in kidney care, lung surgery, and urology, and No. 3 in neurology and neurosurgery. All 11 specialties U.S. News evaluated earned national rankings.

Texas Children's has been No. 1 in Texas for 18 straight years and No. 1 in the Southwest for six. President and CEO Debra Sukin said the honors reflect "the skill, compassion, and relentless commitment" of the hospital's physicians, nurses, and researchers.

Children's Medical Center Dallas ranked No. 2 in Texas and the Southwest, followed by Dell Children's in Austin at No. 4 and Cook Children's in Fort Worth at No. 5. Scottish Rite for Children in Dallas led the country in pediatric orthopedics.

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➤ Presidio County: A working ranch horse tested positive for New World screwworm on Sept. 9, the first case in a horse anywhere in the U.S. The flesh-eating fly larvae turned up in its hind leg. Texas has logged 49 cases. (See Details)

➤ Houston: Doctors at Ben Taub and other public hospitals are treating men in their 20s and 30s for kidney failure with none of the usual causes. Heat, dehydration, and pesticide exposure are among the suspects. (More)

➤ Fort Hood: A 1st Cavalry Division soldier died in a vehicle rollover during training Sept. 14, and a second soldier was hurt. The Army will release his name once his family is notified. The crash remains under investigation. (More)

➤ Knippa: A Border Patrol dog sniffed out three illegal immigrants on Sept. 7 who had been locked inside a train freight car by smugglers. Agents pulled eight more from the same rail siding Aug. 30. (See Details)

➤ Statewide: Federal prosecutors charged more than 160 people nationwide in a summer sweep of COVID-era small business loan fraud, with at least $15.4 million tied to Texas cases. A former Austin accountant pleaded guilty to taking $905,264. (See Report)

➤ El Paso: A Mexican national pleaded guilty in federal court to running a cartel smuggling tunnel under the border from Ciudad Juárez, charging up to $30,000 per crossing. (More)

➤ Balcones Heights: Police released video of a young man with a bowl haircut who they say walked the neighborhood overnight Sept. 1-2, testing car doors and breaking into several vehicles. Multiple cameras caught him. (See Video)

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➤ One bettor wagered $1.2 million on Texas football to beat Ohio State last weekend, then watched the Longhorns erase a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit and won a $2.1 million payout. (More)

➤ SMU volleyball climbed to No. 5 in the national poll, the highest ranking in program history, after back-to-back wins over top-10 opponents Texas and Kentucky last week. (More)

➤ No. 13 Texas Tech football has sold out Friday night's Big 12 opener against No. 22 Houston at Galaxy Stadium. It’s the program's 10th consecutive home sellout dating back to 2025. (More)

Yesterday’s Results: MLB | Soccer | NCAA Volleyball

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➤ AI-generated cattle photos are turning up in online livestock listings, and one Texas producer lost about $70,000 in a fake sale. Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller told buyers to study an animal's ears, legs, and tail for distortion. (See Details)

➤ Airbnb is giving Austin $6.4 million for the St. Johns redevelopment, a 19-acre project on a former Home Depot site with 500-plus housing units. Austin is the first city tapped under the company's $250 million housing fund. (More)

➤ A surf resort with cliff diving and lazy rivers is planned for 35 acres at Stacy Road and Highway 121 in McKinney. The $200 million Cannon Beach project, aided by city incentives, could begin opening in phases by mid-2027. (See Details)

➤ Three AI companies handed Colorado City a $10 million check Monday to help rebuild the water system that failed in July. Cipher Digital, Fluidstack, and Anthropic are funding a new well field, water tower, and replacement main. (See Details)

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➤ A sixth-grader choking on a grape at lunch turned purple before a LaPoynor ISD math teacher and baseball coach spotted her, asked if she was choking, and performed the Heimlich. Chris Burroughs credits the district's summer emergency training. (More)

➤ Sixty-four horned lizards hatched at Tyler's Caldwell Zoo this season, the sixth year of its breeding program for the state reptile, run in coordination with Texas Parks and Wildlife. (See Details)

➤ SpaceX's Starship has a tentative date of Tuesday, Sept. 22, for its 14th flight from Starbase, the first aiming to reach orbit. The window opens at 7:15 a.m., and the launch will close Highway 4 and Boca Chica Beach. (More)

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