Medicaid funding restored to Texas hospitals

Nearly $12 billion in Medicaid funding to Texas hospitals will be restored after a nearly year-long stalemate between the state and the federal government ended, the Texas Standard reported.

Gov. Greg Abbott hailed the end to the impasse.

Senate GOP opens wallet for Paxton’s campaign

The Senate Republican leadership is pouring tens of millions of dollars into the U.S. Senate campaign of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is locked in a tight race with Democratic nominee James Talarico.

Customer service is paramount in business. At newspapers, that means being attentive to details in all aspects of operations from prompt service for advertisers to quick turnaround on news releases to on-time delivery of products.

By JIM PUMARLO, consultant

Does your newsroom have customers in mind? Are you focused on substantive content? When has your staff last evaluated news reports? Those conversations should be center stage as newspapers compete for market share in today’s fragmented media landscape.

I don’t remember the exact quote, so I will paraphrase.

It was from a book by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. He was discussing how to be more involved in your community.

Essentially, he said, “If you want to know what’s going on in your community, go to your city council meeting or go to your school board meeting,” but, he warned, “don’t go too often because then you might want to run.”

By AUSTIN LEWTER, Director, Texas Center for Community Journalism

EDITORS: This is an early bulldog edition of Capital Highlights to accommodate early holiday deadlines. It will be updated Sunday if needed.

Texas hospitals could lose $27 million daily in Medicaid funding

Border barrier construction halted in Big Bend

Amidst mounting public outcry, the federal government last week halted construction of border barriers through state park property in far West Texas, The Texas Tribune reported.

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodeny Scott personally stopped construction until he could visit the region.

Election season is in full swing. Newsrooms have their hands full navigating coverage.

By Jim Pumarlo, consultant

It makes sense to devote resources to those contests with greatest familiarity to your staff and relevance to readers – city council, school board, county board, other local governing boards Next in line are applicable legislative and congressional races. Depending on circumstances and issues, specific statewide races may prompt a closer look.

I urge you to also put judicial races on your radar.

SpaceX, Tesla make Grimes plant official

What CEO Elon Musk says will be the world’s largest computer chip manufacturing plant is planned for Grimes County, east of College Station, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

Every few years, our industry finds itself chasing the next thing.

First it was websites. Then Facebook. Then Twitter. Then video. Then SEO. Then newsletters. Now it’s artificial intelligence.

By AUSTIN LEWTER, TCCJ director

Each innovation arrives with promises that it will either save newspapers or destroy them. Sometimes, depending on who’s making the pitch, it’s somehow both.

I’ve found myself thinking lately about Neil Postman.

Texas newspaper publishers in 2026 find themselves in the midst of another election season. And we know that in Texas, politics is a contact sport.

By DON RICHARDS, Richards, Elder and Frost, PLLC

Therefore, it’s a good time to go over a few of the basic Texas laws and considerations applicable to election news coverage, letters to the editor and political advertising.

1. The legal rights of a ‘free press’