Texas

Daily Briefing: Redrawing Texas

Published

5 months ago

July 21, 2025

Press Room

Good morning!🙋🏼‍♀️ I’m Nicole Fallert. Happy Shark Week! 🦈

Quick look at Monday’s news:

Texas’ congressional map on the drawing board

The Republican-controlled Texas Legislature is poised to consider a new set of congressional maps during a special session that kicks off Monday.

Here’s the latest from the Caller-Times, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Why this matters for America: After facing pressure from Trump’s political team, Gov. Greg Abbott has asked lawmakers to redraw some of Texas’ 38 U.S. House districts ahead of the 2026 midterms. Trump wants to disperse GOP voters across the state to help flip blue seats, rather then have them be consolidated in red districts.
Can the president pressure state politics? Democrats from the state’s congressional delegation said they expect the new districts to violate the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting the votes of racial minorities.
“I’m a Texan. How can I get involved?” Texans can follow the special session online, contact their lawmakers and testify at hearings to participate in the legislative process.

More from the USA TODAY Network: A special session could spark redistricting in Florida and Ohio is already scheduled to redraw maps this year.

Israel fire kills dozens more aid seekers in Gaza

At least 67 people were killed by Israeli fire while they waited for U.N. aid trucks Sunday in northern Gaza, the territory’s health ministry said, as Israel issued new evacuation orders for areas packed with displaced Gazans, some of whom began to leave. The ministry said dozens of people were also wounded in the incident in northern Gaza, in one of the highest reported tolls among repeated recent cases in which aid seekers have been killed. Much of Gaza has been reduced to a wasteland during more than 21 months of war and there are fears of accelerating starvation.

More news to know now

What’s the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

ICE detention is growing in the South

Republican-led Southern states increasingly lead in detaining and deporting millions of immigrants ‒ from “Alligator Alcatraz” in the Florida Everglades to the expansion of a sprawling Georgia immigration facility. Far from the U.S.-Mexico border, Mississippi has the ICE jail with the highest average daily population. Louisiana has more detention centers than any other state besides Texas – nine total – after it converted nearly half a dozen correctional facilities to immigrant detention. Most are remote, scattered near farms and forests. And other states might follow Louisiana’s example as more federal funds flow to ICE detention.

A $10 billion lawsuit. More documents coming. Here’s the latest on Trump and Epstein.

Trump has filed a $10 billion lawsuit for libel and slander against the Wall Street Journal, its publisher, two of its reporters, and News Corp founder and former friend Rupert Murdoch. At issue is its story that Trump sent a “bawdy” 50th-birthday letter to Epstein in 2003, decorated with a crude drawing of a woman’s naked body that used his distinctive signature. Trump called the article “false” and demanded damages. But his attempt to convince Americans that there is nothing to see here is likely to be an uphill battle.

Today’s talkers

WNBA Commissioner booed by crowd chanting ‘Pay Them!’

In case their message to the WNBA and its owners wasn’t already clear, the players sent another one ahead of Saturday night’s All-Star Game. Taking the court for warmups, every single player wore a black T-shirt with “Pay Us What You Owe Us” emblazoned across the front. The players’ unwavering stance stands in stark contrast to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s impression this is just the normal back-and-forth that occurs in every labor negotiation. The crowd booed Engelbert and chanted “Pay Them! Pay Them!” as she presented the All-Star MVP trophy to Napheesa Collier, whose team beat Team Clark 151-131.

Photo of the day: This is dad’s special cup

Scratch “cup.” It’s the Claret Jug. American Scottie Scheffler stole hearts celebrating his win of the 2025 Open Championship, the first British Open victory of his career, giving him career wins at three of the four major tournaments. Only the U.S. Open remains.

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.

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Texas A&M is reportedly close to hiring its new defensive staffer

Published

10 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Texas A&M is reportedly close to hiring its new defensive staffer

The staff shake-up continues amid CFP preparation, as Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko is reportedly adding another to his staff.

Soon after the news that the Aggies were expecting to hire former Arkansas defensive coordinator Travis Williams, Matt Zenitz of 247Sports reported that former Rutgers co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Zach Sparber would be added to the staff in some capacity. Sparber is very familiar with new Texas A&M DC Lyle Hemphill, having worked with him at JMU and Duke.

It is an interesting hire, as similar to Travis Williams, Sparber is also coming off a defensive staff that was let go after bottom-of-the-conference defensive performances. However, before joining the staff at Rutgers, he helped James Madison’s team rank 21st nationally in scoring defense as the linebackers coach. While his official role has not yet been announced, his experience with Hemphill should help with continuity heading into next season.

No. 7-seed Texas A&M hosts the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes (10-2) in a CFP first-round game at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 20, at Kyle Field. The game can be viewed on ABC/ESPN.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Jarrett Johnson on X: @whosnextsports1.

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How to get tickets for #7 Texas A&M vs. #10 Miami in College Playoff 1st round

Published

22 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

How to get tickets for #7 Texas A&M vs. #10 Miami in College Playoff 1st round

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The 10th-ranked Miami Hurricanes hit the road for College Station for a Saturday afternoon matchup against the No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies in the first round of the College Football Playoff. The game is scheduled for noon ET (11 a.m. CT) with tickets still available to watch live.

How to get Texas A&M vs. Miami tickets for the best prices: Tickets for the Texas A&M vs. Miami playoff game are available on secondary markets Vivid Seats, StubHub, SeatGeek and Viagogo.

The lowest prices are as follows (as of Dec. 15):

Vivid Seats starting at $375
StubHub starting at $388
SeatGeek starting at $315
Viagogo starting at $345

The Aggies own the homefield advantage and are listed as 3.5-point betting favorites to play their way into the second round. Texas A&M won its first 11 straight games of the 2025 season before falling to rival No. 16 Texas (27-17) in its regular-season finale. The Aggies were battle-tested in going 7-1 in a Southeastern Conference that put five teams into the College Football Playoff field. They also join Miami as teams to beat Notre Dame this season, winning a 41-40 shootout back in Week 3.

#10 Miami (10-2) at #7 Texas A&M (11-1)

College Football Playoff 1st round

When: Saturday, Dec. 20 at noon ET (11 a.m. CT)
Where: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas
Tickets: Vivid Seats | StubHub | SeatGeek | Viagogo
TV channel: ABC/ESPN
Streaming on: FuboTV (free trial) | DirecTV (free trial) | SlingTV (low intro rate)

The Hurricanes’ 27-24 win over then-No. 6 Notre Dame was the best line entry on the team’s résumé as the third-place finisher in the messy Atlantic Coast Conference. Miami rattled off four straight wins to close the season and showed the kind of explosive scoring offense required to stack up with Texas A&M, scoring 34-plus points in each of those four wins. The Canes closed the season with a 38-7 blowout win over then-No. 23 Pitt to strengthen their CFP case.

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14-year-old suspect in deadly North Texas shooting taken into custody in Dallas, police say

Published

1 day ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

14-year-old suspect in deadly North Texas shooting taken into custody in Dallas, police say

Updated on: December 15, 2025 / 10:07 PM CST
/ CBS Texas

The 14-year-old wanted in the deadly shooting of a man in Collin County over the weekend is in custody, police said.

Lavon police said Monday night that the teenage boy was taken into custody in Dallas without incident.

Police say the shooting happened Saturday night, just before 9 p.m. on Wellington Drive in Lavon, when an argument broke out between the 14-year-old suspect and a 24-year-old acquaintance.

Police say that the altercation turned deadly. The teen shot and killed the 24-year-old before fleeing the scene.

“A murder is a very rare thing in our city, so it’s shocking,” said J. Michael Jones, the Lavon Chief of Police. “And it’s even more shocking that this suspect is a 14-year-old.”

Community ISD confirmed the suspect is a student at Community Trails Middle School, where district leaders took extra precautions in case he is still in town.

Earlier Monday, Jones urged the suspect and anyone helping him to turn him in, saying, “I will find you. I will investigate you, and I will put you in jail.”

Lavon police thanked the community and several law enforcement agencies for their help with the investigation, including the Collin County District Attorney’s Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Louisiana State Police, the Collin County Sheriff’s Office, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, the Community Independent School District Police Department, the Lavon Fire Department, and many others.

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