Austin, TX
Texas ban on selling smokable cannabis takes effect March 31
Smokable cannabis products must be removed from Texas stores by the end of the month under new rules adopted by the state’s health department.
Virtually all edible hemp products will still be allowed with stricter packaging and testing requirements. But sharply higher fees on retailers and manufacturers, while lower than initially proposed, could lead to more expensive products or force some companies out of business.
The sweeping regulations for the state’s hemp industry were first recommended in December. They were created based on an executive order issued by Gov. Greg Abbott after the Texas Legislature couldn’t agree whether to regulate THC products more strictly or ban them entirely.
Last week, the Texas Department of State Health Services adopted its final version of the rules and said they would take effect March 31.
The new regulations effectively ban the sale of smokable hemp and extracts by changing how DSHS measures Delta-9 THC, the primary psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT News
Under the state’s 2019 hemp law, cannabis with no more than 0.3% Delta-9 by dry weight is considered legal hemp.
The adopted DSHS regulation includes a new “total THC” rule, which counts a cannabis compound known as THCA in the Delta-9 calculation. THCA converts to Delta-9 when heated or smoked, which is why a product known as THCA flower has become widely popular in Texas.
During the public comment period, hundreds of people told DSHS they oppose counting THCA as Delta-9. THCA is not explicitly banned by state or federal law.
In its response, DSHS said the “total THC” policy follows existing state and federal regulations, which are the rules written by government employees tasked with interpreting law.
The Texas Agriculture Commission adopted regulations in 2020 requiring that tests account for the potential conversion of THCA to Delta-9. The U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed a similar rule on the last day of President Trump’s first term. The rule was adopted two months later by the Biden administration.
The state’s new hemp regulations slash a proposed 10,000% increase in the annual fees charged to retailers and manufacturers of what Texas calls “consumable hemp products.” But the adopted fees — $5,000 per year for each retail location and $10,000 per year for each manufacturing facility — are still 33 and 40 times higher, respectively, than existing levies.
More than 9,100 retail locations in Texas are registered to sell consumable hemp products, according to state health records.
Michael Minasi
/
KUT News
Some retailers say the fees are still crippling, especially coupled with the new prohibition on smokable products.
“It’s a high rate, but it would still be feasible, but then we come into the [THCA] regulations,” said Estella Castro, owner of the hemp store Austin Cannabis Co. “If you don’t have the flower, and the flower is going off completely, I don’t think you’re going to have the $5,000.”
Castro said smokable products account for about 40% of her sales.
Cannabis advocates say they are glad to see new product recall standards and a process to track consumer complaints, but they believe high licensing fees and a ban on flowers and extracts will power up the unregulated market.
“We know that consumers will be able to still acquire these products either from out of state operators who are not restricted by DSHS regulations or from the illicit market, which causes the most concern for us,” said Heather Fazio, who leads the Texas Cannabis Policy Center. “The illicit market doesn’t have age restrictions. It doesn’t have safety mechanisms and consumer protection.”
The new DSHS rules only affect the manufacture, distribution and sale of hemp products. They don’t affect state law allowing for possession of them.
Mark Bordas, head of the Texas Hemp Business Council, compared the $10,000 fee annual on hemp manufacturing facilities to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s fee on distillers: $3,000 every two years.
“Our concern is some of these measures are so draconian that you are going to drive people out of the business and then folks’ access to the products,” Bordas said. “Invariably, we’re going to have to bring forth a [lawsuit], and the state has to defend what it’s done, and that’s taxpayer money, and it’s a waste.”
Texas is a land that revels in its idiosyncratic history and associated iconography. On bar signs, brand logos, T-shirts, and tattoo sleeves, the Western-outfitted cowboy and land-roping barbed wire feature heavily. These tangled symbols aren’t easily sorted politically, but when it comes to talking about the Texan past, more often than not, that past is associated with conservative, right-leaning political values.
The resilient trail of leftist ideologies that David Griscom traces through the state’s history in The Myth of Red Texas: Cowboys, Populism, and Class War in the Radical South aim to trouble that assumption. The author’s debut work doesn’t craft an idealized ancestral politic that left-leaning Texans can saunter on home to, but instead lassos the many worker-led movements that’ve impacted Texas history into a traceable path, complicating simple assumptions about the Lone Star State and its people and crafting a loosely tethered intergenerational community of Texas radicals.
In his pages, Griscom attempts to reassociate cowboy individualism with cowboy solidarity in the strikes of late 1800s, and the rural, tough-living pride of said barbed wire with property-hungry landowners that strangled the open range, despite resistance from fence-cutting cowpokes, farmers, and neighbors.
Following these fence-cutters through the populist movement, labor unions, and socialists, Griscom drops in on different casts of characters each cut in the rugged shape of Texas who face variations of the same struggle. Though they differ in ideology and approach, these charismatic speakers and movement leaders grapple with the same temptations of political power and infighting. Griscom does not shy away from interrogating the pitfalls of these movements – particularly the racism and misogyny that manage to transcend solidarity more often than not – and the backstabbing dance of courting imagined moderates in a plea for reelection. The Brotherhood of Timber Workers and some German socialists prove to be exceptions to these common drawbacks, Griscom reveals.
The author’s debut work doesn’t craft an idealized ancestral politic that left-leaning Texans can saunter on home to, but instead lassos the many worker-led movements that’ve impacted Texas history into a traceable path.
As staunchly as conservatives want to turn the wagon around, liberals can fix their eyes on the horizon too closely. In an introductory analysis of recent Democratic defeats in Texas, the writer argues that colloquial assumptions about history deeply impact contemporary campaigns and grassroots organizing. No modern movement is reinventing the wheel, and moving forward with a knowledge of the successes and missteps that came before could embolden today’s organizers. As Texas once led the country in socialist party sign-ups, the Houston chapter remains the organization’s largest branch and, as Griscom notes, the Texas AFL-CIO was the first statewide labor association to advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza. The legacy of collective movements and outspoken groups persists in Texas, even when the overarching narrative doesn’t celebrate them.
Unique though it may be, Texas is also something of a microcosm, a laboratory, and a weather beacon for the politics and culture that ripple throughout the United States – a fact that Griscom, a writer and podcaster for Jacobin and host of Left Reckoning, knows well. A return to the past has been the great call of the political right in America for the past decade, and its leaders have revised and reshaped that past to suit their current intentions. As Griscom writes, recalling Texas’ rich and undertaught liberalist history makes it “difficult for the GOP to remake the state in its own image completely.” As Texas leads the country in enacting conservative policies in education, reproductive rights, and voting legislation, it stands to reason that muddying its narrative can remind other states to look backward for ideas in imagining a radical future.
Griscom is clear-eyed in his introduction about this 177-page primer being a cursory introduction to the history of leftist movements in Texas, much less the history of Texas politics as a whole. But for those who have felt excluded by the mythologizing of Texas’ past, it serves as a galvanizing read for further education and collective action.
The Myth of Red Texas: Cowboys, Populism, and Class War in the Radical South
By David Griscom
OR Books
This article appears in April 10 • 2026.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Thirteen Texas cities were listed as the most delinquent on debt in the United States.
Financial resource outlet WalletHub recently compared proprietary user data in the 100 largest U.S. cities to find where people were having the most difficulty paying their bills.
“Being delinquent on debt payments can cause a lot of harm to your credit score, and late payments will remain on your credit report for seven years,” WalletHub said. “People who are delinquent on any debt should try to get current as quickly as possible in order to minimize credit score damage and avoid other consequences like additional late fees, closed accounts, or lawsuits.”
The data showed the Texas city that struggled the most was Laredo, which ranked No. 8 nationally. Laredo had a total score of 72.52 out of 100, with 18.31% of people being loan balance delinquent in Q4 of 2025.
“People in some cities will have a much harder time catching up on delinquent debt payments than others, though,” WalletHub said.
Nationally, the No. 1 city with the most delinquent debt was Detroit, Michigan, which had residents delinquent on 15.7% of all their loans and lines of credit. Detroit residents were also delinquent on 20.2% of their entire debt, according to the study’s data.
Other Texas cities in the top 20 included:
No. 11 – Garland, TX
- Total Score: 68.11
- Percentage of Tradelines Delinquent in Q4 2025: 13.42%
- Percentage of Loan Balance Delinquent in Q4 2025: 13.91%
No. 13 – El Paso, TX
- Total Score: 65.83
- Percentage of Tradelines Delinquent in Q4 2025: 12.86%
- Percentage of Loan Balance Delinquent in Q4 2025: 14.30%
No. 18 – Arlington, TX
- Total Score: 63.15
- Percentage of Tradelines Delinquent in Q4 2025: 12.87%
- Percentage of Loan Balance Delinquent in Q4 2025: 13.35%
No. 20 – Lubbock, TX
- Total Score: 61.07
- Percentage of Tradelines Delinquent in Q4 2025: 12.71%
- Percentage of Loan Balance Delinquent in Q4 2025: 12.96%
Other Texas cities in the top 100 included:
No. 26 – San Antonio, TX
- Total Score: 58.59
- Percentage of Tradelines Delinquent in Q4 2025: 12.05%
- Percentage of Loan Balance Delinquent in Q4 2025: 13.50%
No. 32 – Fort Worth, TX
- Total Score: 55.09
- Percentage of Tradelines Delinquent in Q4 2025: 11.96%
- Percentage of Loan Balance Delinquent in Q4 2025: 12.47%
No. 39 – Houston, TX
- Total Score: 50.71
- Percentage of Tradelines Delinquent in Q4 2025: 12.43%
- Percentage of Loan Balance Delinquent in Q4 2025: 9.92%
No. 47 – Corpus Christi, TX
- Total Score: 46.79
- Percentage of Tradelines Delinquent in Q4 2025: 10.72%
- Percentage of Loan Balance Delinquent in Q4 2025: 12.21%
No. 52 – Irving, TX
- Total Score: 44.37
- Percentage of Tradelines Delinquent in Q4 2025: 11.56%
- Percentage of Loan Balance Delinquent in Q4 2025: 9.57%
No. 68 – Dallas, TX
- Total Score: 38.36
- Percentage of Tradelines Delinquent in Q4 2025: 11.86%
- Percentage of Loan Balance Delinquent in Q4 2025: 6.83%
No. 83 – Plano, TX
- Total Score: 30.81
- Percentage of Tradelines Delinquent in Q4 2025: 10.79%
- Percentage of Loan Balance Delinquent in Q4 2025: 6.46%
No. 90 – Austin, TX
- Total Score: 21.40
- Percentage of Tradelines Delinquent in Q4 2025: 9.56%
- Percentage of Loan Balance Delinquent in Q4 2025: 5.80%
Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›
ABC Kite Fest, a beloved annual tradition in Austin, Texas, has announced the final details for its upcoming event on April 11th in Zilker Park. As the largest and longest-running kite festival of its kind, the one-day celebration will feature kite flying demonstrations, live music, food trucks, and a variety of family-friendly activities.
Why it matters
The ABC Kite Fest has been a cherished part of the Austin community for decades, drawing thousands of locals and visitors each year to enjoy the colorful displays of kites in the sky above Zilker Park. The festival celebrates the city’s vibrant outdoor culture and provides a fun, affordable day of entertainment for all ages.
The details
This year’s ABC Kite Fest will feature professional kite flying demonstrations, with expert kite pilots showcasing their skills and techniques throughout the day. In addition to the kite flying, the event will also include live music performances, a variety of food trucks offering local cuisine, and activity booths with games and crafts for children.
- ABC Kite Fest will take place on April 11, 2026 in Zilker Park, Austin, Texas.
The players
ABC Kite Fest
An annual kite festival in Austin, Texas that is the largest and longest-running of its kind.
Zilker Park
A popular urban park in Austin, Texas that hosts the ABC Kite Fest each year.
Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›
What’s next
Tickets for the ABC Kite Fest are available for purchase online, and the event is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own kites or purchase them on-site to participate in the festivities.
The takeaway
The ABC Kite Fest is a beloved annual tradition that celebrates Austin’s vibrant outdoor culture and provides a fun, affordable day of entertainment for the whole family. The festival’s return to Zilker Park is sure to be a highlight of the spring season in the city.
Closed Detroit behavioral facility faces lawsuit over alleged sex abuse of teen
Devers belts big HR to clinch Giants' series victory over Phillies
3 musings after Dallas falls to Phoenix, 112-107
Miami city officials are urging residents to prepare for planned implosion of Mandarin Oriental hotel
Protesters in Boston call for end to war in Iran
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
Video: Military Families Bear the Burden of War, Again
Fox News Poll: Record number say taxes are too high; government spending seen as wasteful
‘Even the street cats ran’: Inside Israel’s deadliest attack on Beirut
California Supreme Court halts GOP sheriff’s voter fraud investigation
AOC doubles down on call for Trump’s ouster even after ceasefire announcement
-
Atlanta, GA4 days ago1 teenage girl killed, another injured in shooting at Piedmont Park, police say
-
Culture1 week agoDo You Know Where These Famous Authors Are Buried?
-
Movie Reviews7 days agoVaazha 2 first half review: Hashir anchors a lively, chaos-filled teen tale
-
Georgia2 days agoGeorgia House Special Runoff Election 2026 Live Results
-
Pennsylvania2 days agoParents charged after toddler injured by wolf at Pennsylvania zoo
-
Education1 week agoVideo: We Put Dyson’s $600 Vacuum to the Test
-
Milwaukee, WI3 days agoPotawatomi Casino Hotel evacuated after fire breaks out in rooftop HVAC system
-
Entertainment7 days agoInside Ye’s first comeback show at SoFi Stadium