Eight years ago, at the height of the shale-oil boom, a committee of industry giants and public officials unveiled a bold plan to make Corpus Christi “drought proof.”

With this plan, a consultant explained to city officials at the time, their semi-arid stretch of coastline in South Texas could finally overcome the economic limitations of its scarce water supply.

“Industry can continue to operate,” said a slideshow the consultant, Frank Brogan, presented to Corpus Christi City Council. “Industry can justify expansion. Community can attract new industry.”

The plan seemed simple. The region’s largest water users — Texas-based titans like OxyChem, Valero and Citgo — would pay Corpus Christi to build the state’s first-ever seawater desalination plant, which would produce millions of gallons of freshwater per day at minimal cost to the public. In exchange, the companies wouldn’t face pressure to throttle back operations at their refineries and chemical plants during future dry spells.

“We don’t want to have the reputation of having a water problem,” said Brogan, a former executive at the Port of Corpus Christi, the top U.S. port for crude-oil exports, in the August 2018 presentation.

City leaders unanimously approved the plan, hailing it as a breakthrough: Giant corporations had agreed to front the money for an innovative project that other communities could only dream of affording.

But instead of securing Corpus Christi’s water future, the plan pushed Texas’ eighth-largest city to the brink of a water-supply disaster, burned through tens of millions of public dollars, and engulfed the city in political turmoil.

The city has spent at least $50 million on the promised desalination plant, but it has yet to materialize — a victim of political dysfunction, the coronavirus pandemic, rapid inflation and frequent turnover in the city’s political leadership, among other factors. And the companies that had originally agreed to pay for it now contribute only a fraction of what the plant is expected to cost. Residents would have to pay for the rest.

Meanwhile, Corpus Christi has honored the commitment it made back in 2018: It has not pressured the companies to cut back on water consumption, even when the area slipped into a punishing drought.

By this spring, the region’s main reservoirs almost dried up entirely. The industrial giants raced to drill emergency water wells, the city’s credit ratings slipped, and local business leaders raised the specter of mass layoffs if the water ran out.

In the face of an unprecedented emergency, city officials debated meager measures like closing public pools and fining residents for washing cars, rather than imposing restrictions on the chemical plants and refineries that use more water than all 500,000 residents of the seven-county Coastal Bend region combined.

For years, 7-year-old Israel Solis couldn’t communicate with the world around him. Born with autism and nonverbal, he would bite and scratch himself in frustration when someone couldn’t understand his needs. Therapy through a state-subsidized program gave him a voice: using a picture system he’s learned from his providers in Houston, he’s now able to convey his desires.

But Texas wants to eliminate the state program, which allows some families to pay nothing for services, because of state budget cuts. In its budget request to the Legislature for the 2028-2029 biennium, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) proposed eliminating funding for the Children’s Autism Program (CAP) entirely, stunning advocates, providers and parents.

“If the doors just completely close to access that at all, you just feel like it’s all caving in on you, like ‘how am I going to get some help?’” said Israel’s mother Elizabeth Solis, who has another son who obtains services through a CAP-funded program at the University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities; she pays nothing for their services.

CAP, which started in 2008, contracts with 16 providers across Texas to provide focused applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy to autistic children at a reduced cost based on their families’ incomes and insurance coverage. Children are eligible for up to 720 hours of ABA therapy, which advocates consider the gold standard for autism treatment, over their lifetime.

Over the last two years, the state spent $13.7 million on the program, and this year even expanded the program, extending eligibility to those up to 21 years old and removing a cap on yearly hours. In fiscal year 2026, the state autism program funded treatment for 583 children, but contractors report there are at least 1,000 more children on waitlists statewide.

“We were really shocked to see nothing, and it’s just blank where the line item should be,” said Jacquie Benestante, executive director of the Autism Society of Texas. “We’re used to having to fight for funding, but to actually have a program just slashed and canceled is pretty shocking.”

Crossposted from https://lemmy.zip/post/72867356

Crossposted from https://lemmy.world/post/52799423

Dallas Fire-Rescue crews extinguished the fire in less than 20 minutes Tuesday morning before the fair opened.

A fire significantly damaged a midway game at the State Fair of Texas on Tuesday morning, but no injuries were reported, Dallas Fire-Rescue said.

Dallas Fire-Rescue said investigators believe an electrical short caused the fire.

The State Fair of Texas remained scheduled to open at 10 a.m. Tuesday, with the midway opening at 11 a.m.

Tejano singer Bobby Pulido, left, stands with James Talarico, center, and Gina Hinojosa, right, during a rally in Beeville, Texas. Credit: X / Bobby Pulido for Texas

Tejano singer-turned-Democratic congressional candidate Bobby Pulido is surging in the polls, the latest of which shows him leading the GOP incumbent in South Texas’ 15th Congressional District by 13 points.

A survey released Thursday by the House Majority PAC, a political action committee that works to help Democrats get elected, shows the Latin Grammy winner leading Republican U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz 54% to 41%.

“The polls confirm what we already know and have felt on the ground since we launched this campaign. South Texas is with us,” Pulido said in a statement. “When I think of the people of South Texas, I think of their courage. They deserve leadership that’s just as courageous as they are – and that is not Monica De La Cruz.”

Even so, it’s probably best to view the new poll with some skepticism.

The House Majority PAC didn’t immediately include vital details, including when the poll was conducted or how many likely Texas voters were surveyed.

Still, it comes days after the nonpartisan Cook Political Report changed its forecast for the district from “Leans Republican” to a “Toss Up.” That’s significant, considering Trump won the district, which the GOP-controlled Texas Legislature redrew last year, by 18 points in 2024.

“Monica has turned her back on her people, taking votes to cut our healthcare, raise our grocery and gas bills, and make life harder, all while never holding a single town hall to answer for her terrible record,” Pulido said. “South Texans have had enough, and on Nov. 3, they’re going to make that clear.”

While De La Cruz’s track record may not be ideal to some South Texas voters, Pulido’s campaign has also been the target of negative headlines. The singer has a history of crass social media posts, and a convicted sex offender once played in his band.

Even so, attacks from De La Cruz and her allies haven’t stuck as they’d hoped.

Texas voters have until Oct. 5 to update their voter registration in the upcoming 2026 midterms. Early voting runs Oct. 19-30. Election Day is Nov. 3.