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

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

How Sam Houston State is reshaping the economy, housing market and future of a Texas city HUNTSVILLE, Texas — For nearly a century and a half, Sam Houston State University has been part of Huntsville's identity. But increasingly, the university isn't simply located in Huntsville—it is helping determine what Huntsville becomes. With more than 21,000 students and thousands of employees, SHSU now represents an economic and demographic force unusually large for a community Huntsv

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

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 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

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Huntsville’s commercial landscape continues to change as new restaurants, retailers and development projects move forward, offering another sign that the Walker County seat is attracting increased private investment. Among the most visible additions is a new Popeyes planned for 2032 11th Street. State construction records describe the project as a new 2,540-square-foot restaurant with an estimated construction cost of $1.3 million. The filing lists complet

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

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

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

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

Texas's hemp industry is fighting back in federal court after the state effectively criminalized most of the THC products it has sold legally for the past five years. The ban traces back to a Texas Supreme Court decision in May, which allowed the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to reclassify nearly all hemp-derived THC as a Schedule I drug — ending a 2021 injunction that had, for five years, allowed retailers to stock a wide range of hemp-derived products wit

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

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

Of all the ways the United States claims to be a global leader, this is one ranking no one wants to top: the U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate of any wealthy nation on Earth, and the gap isn't close. A widely cited Commonwealth Fund analysis comparing the U.S. to a dozen high-income countries found that American women died from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes at a rate of 22.3 per 100,000 live births in 2022 — a figure more than 55% higher than Chile, the co

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott — who has spent the past two years branding the state as the "epicenter" of AI development — reversed course this week, ordering a moratorium on new data center approvals until state regulators can audit the projects seeking to join Texas's power grid. In a Monday letter to the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which oversees roughly 90% of the state's grid, Abbott directed both agencies to conduct

Ozempic and its chemical cousins made their name as weight-loss drugs. Increasingly, that may turn out to be the least interesting thing about them. A massive VA-linked study led by researchers at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System, analyzing records from over 100 million U.S. patients, found that GLP-1 drugs were associated with reduced risks of substance abuse disorders, suicidal ideation, schizophrenia, and other psychotic disorders — alongside lower risk of

Podcasting has become one of the fastest-growing forms of digital media, attracting millions of listeners and creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs. One of its biggest advantages is the relatively low startup cost. A quality microphone, headphones, camera, lighting, and recording software can typically be purchased for $500 to $3,000, making podcasting far less expensive than starting many traditional businesses. However, launching a podcast is only the beginning. Whil

After spending an entire football season away from campus, the Sam Houston Bearkats are finally coming home. This fall, Sam Houston State University will welcome fans back to Elliott T. Bowers Stadium following a major renovation that represents one of the largest investments in athletic facilities in school history. The project is part of an approximately $90 million capital improvement initiative designed to strengthen the university's athletic programs as it continues esta

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence is driving demand for computing power at an unprecedented pace, and some of the world's largest technology companies are looking beyond Earth for the next generation of data centers. What once sounded like science fiction has become a serious industry, with several companies now testing orbital computing platforms. One of the pioneers is Starcloud, a Washington-based startup that launched its first orbital data center satellite in l