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Independent Journalism for East Texas & the World
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Feature
The Government Run by Algorithms
Artificial intelligence is quietly moving into the machinery of American government. The question is no longer whether agencies will use it—but how much authority Americans are willing to give it. WASHINGTON — For generations, Americans dealing with the government encountered clerks, investigators, police officers, auditors and bureaucrats. Increasingly, another participant is entering those interactions: an algorithm. Artificial intelligence is spreading through government a
Matthew Cox & Inside True Crime
3 hours ago4 min read
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The Government Run by Algorithms
Artificial intelligence is quietly moving into the machinery of American government. The question is no longer whether agencies will use it—but how much authority Americans are willing to give it. WASHINGTON — For generations, Americans dealing with the government encountered clerks, investigators, police officers, auditors and bureaucrats. Increasingly, another participant is entering those interactions: an algorithm. Artificial intelligence is spreading through government a
Four Deaths in Six Weeks: The Mystery That Shook the Harris County Sheriff’s Office
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — In early 2025, four current or former members of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office died by suicide within just six weeks. The extraordinary concentration of deaths stunned one of the nation's largest sheriff's departments and quickly generated an uncomfortable question online: Could four deaths involving people connected to the same agency really be unrelated? Authorities say they were. The sequence began on Feb. 6, 2025, when retired Deputy Long Nguye
The Prison Capital of Texas Is Changing
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — For generations, Huntsville has carried an identity unlike almost any other city in America. Home to the headquarters of the Texas prison system and several correctional facilities, the city has long been known nationally as the “Prison Capital of Texas.” But Huntsville is changing. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice remains one of the area's defining institutions and employers. The historic Huntsville Unit, commonly known as the “Walls Unit,” sits o
Texas Is Booming — But Can Its Infrastructure Keep Up?
Texas has spent decades selling itself as a place where businesses can build, families can prosper and economic growth has room to run. Now that success is creating a new problem: The state may be growing faster than its infrastructure can keep up. Nowhere is that challenge more apparent than on the electric grid. Population growth, new manufacturing plants, oil and gas operations and a massive wave of artificial-intelligence data centers are creating unprecedented demand for
America Heads Toward a Midterm Election That Could Reshape Washington
WASHINGTON — With fewer than three months remaining before the 2026 midterm elections, Americans are preparing to decide far more than who represents them in Congress. The November vote is rapidly becoming a referendum on President Donald Trump’s second term — and a battle that could determine whether he governs his final two years with a Republican Congress or faces a Democratic-controlled chamber determined to challenge his agenda. Every one of the 435 seats in the House of
Luigi Mangione and the Killing That Became a National Rorschach Test
NEW YORK — The killing lasted only seconds. The argument it unleashed has lasted nearly two years. On the morning of Dec. 4, 2024, UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson was walking toward an investor conference at the New York Hilton Midtown when a gunman approached and shot him. Surveillance footage of the attack quickly spread across the country, setting off a nationwide manhunt and transforming what might otherwise have been remembered as the murder of a corporat
Texas Politics Enters a New and Unpredictable Era
AUSTIN — For decades, Texas politics followed a dependable formula: Republicans dominated statewide elections, Democrats controlled the largest cities, and national campaigns viewed the state primarily as a reliable source of Republican electoral votes. In 2026, that formula is being tested. Texas remains firmly Republican at the state level, but November's elections are unfolding amid unusual political crosscurrents involving redistricting, property taxes, immigration, publi
Robots at Work: Where Automation Is Actually Happening vs. Where It's Still a Demo Reel
Every few weeks, a viral video shows a humanoid robot folding laundry or flipping a burger, and the internet declares the robot takeover has arrived. The reality, according to the people actually deploying this technology, is far more uneven — genuinely transformative in a couple of industries, and mostly theater in others. Warehousing: the real deal If there's one place humanoid and industrial robots have moved decisively past hype, it's the warehouse floor. Agility Robotics
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Local News
What's Coming to Huntsville: New Restaurants, Entertainment and Businesses on the Way in 2026
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Huntsville's commercial landscape is continuing to expand in 2026, with several new restaurants, entertainment concepts and specialty businesses either preparing to open or moving through the development process. From drive-thru coffee and specialty cakes to indoor golf and a major new restaurant project, the latest additions reflect a city attracting businesses interested in serving both Huntsville's permanent population and the thousands of students asso
David Johnston
1 day ago3 min read
Government
Texas Is Booming — But Can Its Infrastructure Keep Up?
Texas has spent decades selling itself as a place where businesses can build, families can prosper and economic growth has room to run. Now that success is creating a new problem: The state may be growing faster than its infrastructure can keep up. Nowhere is that challenge more apparent than on the electric grid. Population growth, new manufacturing plants, oil and gas operations and a massive wave of artificial-intelligence data centers are creating unprecedented demand for
Christopher Todd
6 days ago3 min read
World News
Is the World Drifting Toward a U.S.-China Showdown Over Taiwan?
As Taiwan rehearses for invasion and China increases military pressure around the island, a decades-old dispute is becoming one of the world's most dangerous geopolitical flashpoints. TAIPEI, Taiwan — For 10 days this month, Taiwan practiced for a war it desperately hopes will never come. Soldiers moved through cities and coastal positions. Reservists reported for duty. Fighter bases practiced operating after simulated attacks. Civilians participated in air-raid exercises. Au
James Lawson
Aug 173 min read
Economy
What's Coming to Huntsville: New Restaurants, Entertainment and Businesses on the Way in 2026
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Huntsville's commercial landscape is continuing to expand in 2026, with several new restaurants, entertainment concepts and specialty businesses either preparing to open or moving through the development process. From drive-thru coffee and specialty cakes to indoor golf and a major new restaurant project, the latest additions reflect a city attracting businesses interested in serving both Huntsville's permanent population and the thousands of students asso
David Johnston
1 day ago3 min read
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Entertainment
In Binghamton, a Fictional Death Becomes a Real Tradition
Every Sept. 1, readers of “Thirty-Three Cecils” gather at a neighborhood pub to remember two men who never existed — and to celebrate the strange way a novel became part of a city. BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — On Sept. 1, people make their way to the Belmar Pub, order drinks and raise their glasses to two men who died years ago. There is only one complication. Neither man ever existed. They are characters from Thirty-Three Cecils, a novel by Everett De Morier whose fictional world is r
Jessica Harrison
Aug 163 min read
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