Minggu, 26 Juli 2026

No Drugs in Houston Shooting Van, Paxton's Discord Win, and Azzi Challenges Steph

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1863, Sam Houston died of pneumonia in a rented Huntsville house built to look like a riverboat, two years after Texas ousted him as governor for refusing to swear loyalty to the Confederacy.

In case you missed it, this week on The Flyover Podcast, Ayla tackled the weather pattern that could rewrite the entire winter. Forecasters now put the odds at 81% that El Niño reaches "very strong" status by winter, potentially one of the largest on record, and every corner of the country will be affected. When a pattern this powerful takes over, it doesn't just tweak the forecast, it decides which states get soaked and which dry out. Ayla broke down the five ways forecasters say this El Niño will shape the months ahead. So which side of the split does your state land on? Tune in here!

Today's sponsor, BluSky AI, is sharing how it aims to address the growing demand for AI infrastructure by developing data centers designed to come online faster and support the computing power behind modern AI applications.

No Drugs in Houston Shooting Van

The crystal-like substance that FBI agents spotted in Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's work van after an ICE agent shot him fatally tested negative for narcotics, the Harris County District Attorney's Office confirmed Friday.

Salgado Araujo's family said all along that the bags held a homemade electrolyte mix of granulated salt, lemon, and water that outdoor crews use in Texas heat. Their attorney, Ruby Powers, said full lab results are due Monday.

Homeland Security has said the 52-year-old tried to run over an agent during a targeted enforcement operation in Magnolia Park on July 7. Men riding in the van dispute that account, saying the agents' vehicles struck them first.

District Attorney Sean Teare had already said the drug question had no bearing on whether deadly force was justified. The FBI has not released its own results.

Paxton Wins Discord Child-Safety Order

A Collin County judge ordered Discord to give every Texas user the same age verification and default safety settings the company already provides in the United Kingdom within 90 days.

Attorney General Ken Paxton's office sued Discord on May 22 under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, arguing the platform told parents it was safe by design while defaulting children's accounts to its weakest settings. The agreed injunction followed a two-day hearing.

Under the order, messages from strangers route to a separate request inbox, sensitive content stays locked for Texas teens unless Discord confirms an adult, and adult-only spaces close to anyone not age-verified.

Discord said it agreed with the attorney general's office on steps that support a safer experience for teens. The company filed 489,782 reports of suspected child exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children last year.

Starship Nails Its Softest Splashdown Yet

SpaceX Starship released 20 Starlink satellites on Friday, then settled into the Indian Ocean so gently that the spacecraft stayed afloat.

Thousands of spectators lined South Padre Island to watch the 407-foot rocket lift off from Starbase, with one exclaiming, “I was speechless, I was actually just astonished, like awe-struck. Couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”

The launch came after two scrubbed attempts, a July 16 engine abort and a Thursday delay for clouds off Tropical Storm Bertha.

SpaceX swapped multiple booster engines after the July 16 abort. The company said the reentry was Starship's best yet.

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The $7.6 Trillion Flowing Into AI Is Not What You Think

Goldman Sachs is projecting $7.6 trillion in AI investment by 2031.

The common assumption is that all of the AI money flows to names like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. But that is not where the infrastructure dollars are going.

Every AI model, chatbot, and recommendation engine needs compute power to run. And compute power needs physical infrastructure. Data centers. Lots of them.

The problem: AI demand has increased 1 million times in the last two years, stated Jensen Huang, NVIDIA’s CEO. Meanwhile, traditional data centers take 3 to 7 years to build. The infrastructure cannot keep up.

BluSky AI has developed a premanufactured solution ready in months, not years. They have a robust portfolio of sites with negotiated power ready for deployment. BluSky AI utilizes less power, smaller footprints, little to no water, and minimizes the impact on communities.

For the first time, everyday investors can back BluSky AI as they build the backbone of AI.

➤ Cotulla: Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed a third death from this month's flooding, a driver swept away July 20 in Val Verde County. Abbott said the Nueces River crested above 29 feet here, damaging at least 48 homes. (See Details)

➤ Del Rio: A federal grand jury indicted 11 people over a smuggling ring that loaded migrants into a locked, unventilated shipping container in May. Six died in a Laredo rail yard and a seventh body was found near railroad tracks in San Antonio. (See Details)

➤ Statewide: The USDA will reopen the Douglas, Arizona, port to Mexican cattle in phases starting Aug. 24, more than a year after closing southern ports over New World screwworm. Texas has 41 of the 42 U.S. animal cases. Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said the call came too late. (More)

➤ Frisco: Jeff Metcalf launched the Austin Metcalf Foundation on Friday to teach young people de-escalation, six weeks after a Collin County jury gave Karmelo Anthony 35 years for stabbing his son. Bruce Carter, who called the sentence too harsh, joined the board. (See Details)

➤ Laredo: Three veterans in the city are living unsheltered, down from 10 a year ago, according to street outreach coordinator Javier Rito De Anda. One of the three veterans has repeatedly refused help. (More)

➤ Montgomery County: Four members of one family have tested positive for measles, with a woman in her 20s hospitalized. None were vaccinated, and county health officials said all four were exposed to an infected traveler from out of state. (See Details)

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➤ Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd scored 30 of a possible 40 points in the final round Friday night to become the first rookie to win the WNBA 3-point contest, then challenged Stephen Curry: "I've been asking for a rematch since high school." (More)

➤ Texas was picked to finish second in the SEC preseason media poll. Georgia received 88 votes to win the conference championship, while the Longhorns received 57. (More)

➤ Dallas native Sha'Carri Richardson won her third U.S. outdoor 100-meter title Friday night in New York, finishing in 10.77 seconds at the USA Track and Field Championships. (More)

➤ Austin FC academy players are under investigation by Austin police and the FBI over allegations of youth-on-youth sexual abuse. The club said it learned of the allegations in December and has since suspended and expelled players. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: MLB | WNBA | Golf

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Data Centers Built For Coexistence

Communities across the country are pushing back on data centers, and for good reason. Massive facilities are draining local water supplies, straining power grids, and disrupting neighborhoods, all while offering little in return.

BluSky AI took a different approach.

Their SkyMod prefabricated, AI-ready data centers use less power, require little to no water, and fit onto smaller footprints. This minimizes the impact on the communities they're built near, from Colorado to Texas. This is AI infrastructure designed to coexist, not compete, with the people around it.

BluSky AI's model is a unique solution to meet the high market demands that aren’t being met by the industry.. Become a BluSky AI shareholder as they open the door to everyday investors.

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➤ College Station's City Council unanimously approved a $7 million construction contract Thursday for Texas Independence Park, a 68-acre park on Rock Prairie Road, ending years of delays. Plans include a bike track, disc golf, fishing, trails and a playground. (See Details)

➤ Ishmael Thorns of Cedar Hill needed a B-positive kidney and, unable to find a match, put a call out on TikTok. Brandy Laman, of Houston, saw the video, volunteered, and gave him a kidney at Methodist Dallas on July 7. (More)

➤ NASA is taking applications for four people to spend a year sealed inside simulated spacecraft and habitats at Johnson Space Center. No plumber, no haircuts, and no video calls home. The mission starts as soon as August 2027. (See Details)

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes, straight from the heart of the country. Clicking the link will take you directly to these stories:

➤ Delivery giants are rushing to keep weight-loss drugs cold. (Hear More)

➤ Thousands celebrated the birthday of the internet's favorite little monkey. (Listen Now)

➤ A beloved honey farm teetered on collapse, but one beekeeper refused to quit. (Podcast Available)

A Thursday morning crash left an 18-wheeler dangling over the edge of the Katy Freeway at Highway 99 in west Harris County.

Interested in spending a year in a space simulator?

Yesterday's Results:

Would you use an AI-powered toilet camera to track your health?

Never, that crosses a line: 53%
Maybe, with doctor approval: 17%
Only if completely private: 17%
Yes, health comes first: 13%

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Keeping Weight-Loss Drugs Cold, A Viral Monkey's Birthday, and Saving a Honey Farm

Good Morning!

Today’s sponsor is FinanceBuzz.

Car insurance rates keep climbing, but comparing quotes could help you save hundreds per year. Check out how FinanceBuzz makes it easy to compare top insurance options in just a few minutes.

Today’s episode of The Flyover Podcast with Amy Hess has a few stories you won’t find in today’s emailed edition, only in the podcast episode, because not everything fits in an inbox.

Here's a sneak peek of what we're diving into in today's Podcast Extra section:

➤ Delivery giants are rushing to keep weight-loss drugs cold. (Hear More)

➤ Thousands celebrated the birthday of the internet's favorite little monkey. (Listen Now)

➤ A beloved honey farm teetered on collapse, but one beekeeper refused to quit. (Podcast Available)

Hit play and get the full scoop.

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ICE Plans Detention Center, The Situation Opens Rehab, and Wolf Pups Named

SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1922, Hall of Fame knuckleball pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm was born in Huntersville. Wilhelm had a 21-year MLB career between 1952 and 1972 with eight teams. A dominant reliever and occasional starter, he won two ERA titles, made two All-Star teams, and pitched effectively into his late 40s before retiring. He died in 2002.

A judge ruled that an unfinished castle on Red Mountain, the passion project of sculptor Robert Mihaly, will not have to be sold. Learn more in Around North Carolina.

ICE Plans Detention Center in Winton

ICE plans to reopen the shuttered Rivers Correctional Institution near Winton this fall as North Carolina's first dedicated immigration detention center, with about 1,400 beds.

Internal agency documents reported by The New York Times show the Hertford County site would be run by GEO Group, which operated it as a federal prison until 2021. It employed about 300 people.

Gov. Josh Stein opposed the project Friday, saying the site isn't state-owned and he never approved the transaction. He said ICE and Border Patrol "have not earned our trust."

House Speaker Destin Hall's office pointed to the Border Protection Act, which became law over Stein's veto and expands cooperation between ICE and state agencies. Spokeswoman Demi Dowdy said dangerous offenders are being removed from the streets and communities are safer as a result.

A 2016 Justice Department review found Rivers among the worst private federal prisons for violence and contraband.

Rain Hits Drought-Stricken Coast, Floods Roads

Forecasters expect up to 6 inches of rain across the Cape Fear region through the weekend, and the first rounds already closed N.C. 12 on Pea Island Friday and pushed water onto roads in Brunswick County.

The drought has been building since last fall. Wilmington is running 10 to 11 inches below normal rainfall, and Brunswick County sits in exceptional drought, the worst category on the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The dry ground is part of why water is pooling. Months without rain hardened the soil, so runoff collects instead of soaking in.

Klaus Albertin, who chairs the state's Drought Management Advisory Council, said one wet weekend won't fix it. "It's going to take more than this week and this weekend's rain to get us out," he said.

Drought now covers all 100 counties, though fire danger remains low to moderate and no burn bans are in effect.

License Plate Cameras Now Permanent Statewide

A provision in the state budget Gov. Josh Stein signed July 7 made North Carolina's highway license plate reader program permanent and opened every state-maintained road to the cameras.

The State Bureau of Investigation had run the readers as a pilot since 2023 under a program set to expire July 1. Any law enforcement agency can now petition NCDOT to place a camera on a state right-of-way.

The pilot grew to 32 agencies and more than 140 cameras that recorded over 150 million plate scans. The SBI credited the readers with recovering stolen cars, finding missing people, and helping arrests in homicide and drug-trafficking cases.

The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina warns of mission creep, arguing the cameras could expand beyond their original purpose. The SBI says no pilot data was kept past 90 days.

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The $7.6 Trillion Flowing Into AI Is Not What You Think

Goldman Sachs is projecting $7.6 trillion in AI investment by 2031.

The common assumption is that all of the AI money flows to names like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. But that is not where the infrastructure dollars are going.

Every AI model, chatbot, and recommendation engine needs compute power to run. And compute power needs physical infrastructure. Data centers. Lots of them.

For the first time, everyday investors can back BluSky AI as they build the backbone of AI.

➤ Fayetteville: A Ukrainian drone maker is weighing the city against sites in Nevada and Oklahoma for its U.S. headquarters and first American factory. The 162 jobs would average $70,759 a year and fill part of the Black+Decker plant that closed in 2006. (See Details)

➤ Hickory: Heavy rain pushed an estimated 11,305 gallons of untreated wastewater into the Henry Fork River on Thursday, officials said. The Henry Fork is part of the Catawba River basin. (See Details)

➤ Mecklenburg County: Mike Sorrentino, the Jersey Shore cast member known as The Situation, cut the ribbon Friday on Archangel Centers, an addiction recovery facility in Matthews. He has said he wants the center to reduce the stigma around treatment. (More)

➤ Asheville: Police have identified several persons of interest in the July 19 shooting on Biltmore Avenue that killed two people and wounded seven. Interim Chief Jackie Stepp said the shooting appears to be retaliation. (More)

➤ Greensboro: The Teacher Supply Warehouse drew 250 Guilford County Schools teachers in its first week open, where educators load up on paper, pencils and classroom basics for free before the school year starts. (Read Story)

➤ Person County: A judge dismissed the lawsuit over Castle Mont Rouge, the unfinished castle sculptor Robert Mihaly has been building on Red Mountain for nearly three decades. Julie Seel had sought a lien and forced sale to recover $200,000; Mihaly's counterclaim was dismissed too. (See Castle)

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➤ Duke men’s basketball has scrapped its plans to play Michigan next season after issues with broadcasting rights. The game had been considered one of the most anticipated non-conference games of the season. (More)

➤ The Carolina Panthers have reached an agreement on a long-term deal with Bank of America to extend its stadium naming rights amid plans to renovate the stadium to enhance its fan experience. (More)

➤ Charlotte Hornets second-year forward Kon Kneuppel, who finished second in NBA Rookie of the Year voting for the 2025-2026 season, referred to the team’s trade of Lamelo Ball as “a shock” in his first public comments since the controversial deal. (More)

➤ NC State landed a commitment from three-star in-state cornerback AK Crumel, who chose the school over other finalists Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: MLB | WNBA | Golf

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Data Centers Built For Coexistence

BluSky AI took a different approach.

BluSky AI's model is a unique solution to meet the high market demands that aren’t being met by the industry.. Become a BluSky AI shareholder as they open the door to everyday investors.

This is a paid advertisement for BluSky AI Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.bluskyaidatacenters.com/

➤ Five red wolf pups born at Durham's Museum of Life and Science have been named Cane, Champ, Puck, Stormy, and Whaler, a nod to the Carolina Hurricanes. The museum picked from hundreds of public submissions. (See Pups)

➤ Carowinds' 325-foot giga coaster is running again after a two-week shutdown that began July 7, when a routine inspection found a shift in the foundation around one of its support columns. (See Video)

➤ A new exhibit at the Burgwin-Wright House in Wilmington pairs portraits of 20 area veterans with photos of them in uniform. Photographer Charlie Baggett's It's Not Black and White includes George Van Vekoven, 102, who served on a bomber plane in World War II and flew fighter planes in Korea and Vietnam. (See Photos)

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