Texas Research Park in far-west Bexar County, established in 1986 as a biomedical research hub, has become home to at least six data center companies over the past decade. The shift occurred after VelocityTX, which developed the park, changed focus and UT Health San Antonio relocated operations.
$$1 billion for data center campus development cost
VelocityTX, developer of Texas Research Park; formerly Texas Research and Technology Foundation; Rene Dominguez, CEO of VelocityTX; UT Health San Antonio, partner with VelocityTX; relocated operations and 7 more
Chihuahua authorities reported seizing 5.7 million fentanyl doses over 61 months. Texas Department of Public Safety launched its One Pill Kills educational campaign in October, and federal authorities established an Overdose Task Force in San Antonio.
$5.7 million doses for fentanyl doses seized (cumulative)
Chihuahua Deputy Public Safety Secretary Luis Angel Aguirre, Presented enforcement totals; Texas Department of Public Safety, Shares educational videos and offers presentations about fentanyl risks; Gov. Greg Abbott, Launched One Pill Kills campaign in 2022 and 3 more
Governor Greg Abbott directed state agencies to stop issuing permits for data-center development while ERCOT audits over 474 gigawatts of pending requests to connect to the Texas grid. The interconnection queue requests are about 90% data centers and exceed Texas' record peak electricity demand by more than five times.
$Not specified for data center electrical infrastructure costs
Governor Greg Abbott, Directed pause on data-center permits and state regulatory approvals; ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas), Grid operator conducting audit of interconnection queue; Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Halted data-center permit issuance and 2 more
Houston County is replacing computer hardware for its court management system to support growing court operations and county growth. The upgrade follows a roughly $2 million system overhaul completed in 2019 that was funded by 2018 SPLOST.
$roughly $2 million for court management system overhaul cost
Katherine Lumsden, Chief Superior Court Judge, Houston County; Will Davis, Director of Management Information Systems, Houston County; Houston County, Local government entity performing the upgrade
The Texas Senate race between Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico has drawn endorsements from national political figures, sports stars, and celebrities. Both candidates have secured backing from prominent supporters.
$$250,000 for donation to Paxton joint fundraising committee
Ken Paxton, Republican Attorney General candidate; James Talarico, Democratic state Rep. candidate; Donald Trump, Endorsed Paxton and 11 more
The 2026 Texas Senate race between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico has drawn $445 million in TV, radio and digital ad spending as of October 9, with Republicans spending $326 million and Democrats $120 million. Since the May 27 primary, Republicans have spent $195 million compared to Democrats' $81 million.
$$445 million for TV, radio and digital ad spending in Texas Senate race
Ken Paxton, Republican state Attorney General, candidate for U.S. Senate; James Talarico, Democratic state Representative, candidate for U.S. Senate; Senate Leadership Fund, Republican super PAC supporting Paxton and 5 more
Texas Democratic members of Congress and national party leaders accused Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and the Democratic Governors Association of insufficient support for Democratic nominee Gina Hinojosa's race against Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The DGA announced $1 million in support, less than the $3 million Hinojosa allies requested.
$$10 million for funding for Hinojosa campaign
Andy Beshear, Kentucky Governor and Democratic Governors Association chair; Gina Hinojosa, Democratic nominee for Texas governor; Greg Abbott, Republican Governor of Texas and 3 more
San Antonio City Council voted 9-2 to have city utilities conduct impact studies on a proposed ICE processing facility on the East Side. City officials are also considering legal action against ICE and the federal government over the facility.
$$66.1 million for purchase price of warehouse for proposed ICE facility
Gina Ortiz Jones, Mayor of San Antonio; Andy Segovia, City Attorney of San Antonio; Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, San Antonio City Councilman, District 2 and 7 more
H-E-B named five winners of its 13th annual Quest for Texas Best competition for Texas-made products. The winners were selected from 978 entries representing more than 500 companies statewide.
Republican leaders ordered state agencies to make 3% budget cuts to help fund property tax changes in the 2028-29 spending cycle. State agencies warned that the cuts will cost hundreds of millions in revenue and harm services including prison security, child support, tax fraud investigations, and tax collections.
$Property tax cuts estimated to cost about $4 billion; state agencies say 3% budget cuts will not fully cover proposed property tax reform and will reduce services.
Greg Abbott, Governor; ordered budget reduction; Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor; ordered budget reduction; Dustin Burrows, House Speaker; ordered budget reduction and 6 more
An El Paso County Tax Assessor-Collector's Office deputy was arrested on 10 counts of tampering with governmental records. Investigators allege she altered more than 380 vehicle registration records in the state system to bypass inspection and emissions requirements between July 1, 2025, and July 1, 2026. She was booked into El Paso County Detention Facility on a $50,000 bond.
$$50,000 for bond
Jessica Marie Alonzo, El Paso tax office deputy at authorized contract office; El Paso County Tax Assessor-Collector's Office, Office that reported arrest and investigated altered records; El Paso County Tax Assessor-Collector's Office Enforcement Division, Made allegations of record alteration
Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas, expressed willingness to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to address the fiscal deficit in a leaked recording from a private meeting with donors and lobbyists last month. Paxton denied planning cuts to those programs in a statement to The Texas Tribune.
$Paxton said he would back cutting taxes further and rejected tax increases to close the fiscal gap; Talarico proposes raising Social Security taxes on those earning over $400,000 annually.
Ken Paxton, Texas attorney general; Republican U.S. Senate nominee; James Talarico, Democratic opponent in Texas U.S. Senate race; Jeanne Haggerty, Lobbyist at private meeting and 3 more
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for eliminating screens in schools during an event with Moms for Liberty in Dallas on Friday, Oct. 9. Abbott highlighted a 2025 law banning cellphones in classrooms and said he wants to expand technology restrictions in the next legislative session.
$$1.5 million for funds received by Houston ISD
Greg Abbott, Texas Governor, Republican seeking reelection for third time; Gina Hinojosa, State Rep., Democratic opponent running for governor in 2026; Moms for Liberty, Group that hosted Abbott's event
The Texas Department of Public Safety failed to send counties thousands of voter registration applications and updates submitted through its online portal, dating back to October 2025, creating a backlog of at least 200,000 records. DPS blamed a software update by a third-party vendor that omitted data from daily files sent to the Texas Secretary of State's office. The agency identified the problem in late August, resolved it September 13, and resent affected records to the secretary of state's office.
$amount not specified for grants for county processing costs
Texas Department of Public Safety, agency blamed for system error causing voter registration backlog; Texas Secretary of State's Office, notified counties of backlog and offered grants for processing costs; Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar Celia Israel, completed processing of 32,000 to 35,000 DPS records and 3 more
Five Central Texas school districts are calling for Voter-Approval Tax Rate Elections (VATRE) to increase their Maintenance and Operations tax rates. The districts cite budget deficits from inflation and inadequate state funding as reasons for the elections.
$If approved, Leander ISD's VATRE would provide $6.7 million in additional revenue; Georgetown ISD's Prop A would generate $8.4 million annually and result in a 3.5% to 4% pay increase for staff.
Bastrop ISD, school district seeking VATRE; Coupland ISD, school district seeking VATRE; Del Valle ISD, school district seeking VATRE and 2 more
Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones decommissioned all 61 Flock Safety license plate reader and security cameras in her jurisdiction after residents raised privacy concerns. The cameras were physically covered as of October 8, 2026.
$roughly $2 million for flock Safety contract renewal
Lesley Briones, Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner; Lina Hidalgo, Harris County Judge; Mark Herman, Precinct 4 Constable and 2 more
ProPublica and The Texas Tribune analyzed Ken Paxton's travel records since he assumed office in 2015 and found he took nearly 1,000 trips with a state-funded security detail. The analysis found that only 1 in 6 trips had a listed business purpose, and only 138 trips and $553,000 in security costs could be connected to state business.
$$3.3 million for State-funded security detail costs for all trips since 2015
Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General who took the trips; ProPublica, Nonprofit newsroom that conducted the analysis; The Texas Tribune, News organization that conducted the analysis and 1 more
Former President Barack Obama raised over $13 million for Democratic candidates ahead of the 2026 midterm elections through finance events and direct mail campaigns. Obama noted that polling shows James Talarico leading Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race.
$over $13.6 million for funds raised for Democratic candidates
Barack Obama, former President, fundraiser for Democratic candidates; Ken Martin, Democratic National Committee Chairman; James Talarico, Democratic candidate in Texas Senate race and 2 more
The Trump administration is moving forward with a $46 billion border wall project, including plans to spend $7.5 billion in the Big Bend region of West Texas. Landowners in the region are resisting the project through legal action, refusing to cooperate with government surveyors, and protesting at county meetings.
$$46 billion for border wall project budget
President Donald Trump, Administration head pursuing border wall project; David Keller, Landowner suing to stop Big Bend border plans; Yolanda Alvarado, Fifth-generation cattle rancher and regional director for Conserve Big Bend: No Big Bend Wall and 5 more
Energy Innovation, a nonpartisan think tank, released a report projecting that Texas households will pay an additional $45 billion for energy through 2035. The report attributes cost increases to Trump administration policy changes that slow clean energy deployment and increase fossil fuel use.
$$45 billion for additional energy costs for Texas households by 2035
Energy Innovation, nonpartisan think tank that conducted the analysis; Robbie Orvis, Senior director for modeling and analysis for Energy Innovation