🟪 Austin Mayor Kirk Watson reveals secret weapon against rising home costs (Realtor.com)

🟪 Record travel expected at Austin's airport on Monday (KVUE)

🟪 Trump says Cornyn and Paxton are both electable as he mulls endorsement in Texas Senate race (NBC News)

🟪 Corpus Christi cancels César Chávez march amid rumors; Dolores Huerta drops out (San Antonio Express-News)

🟪 FCC chair threatens to revoke broadcasters' licences over Iran coverage (BBC)

🟪 House GOP leadership silent as more members post anti-Muslim statements (NPR)

🟪 Trump says that he’s asked ‘about 7' countries to join coalition to police Iran’s Strait of Hormuz (Associated Press)

READ ON!

🏛️ Client Spotlight: Delta Air Lines & the SEC Mayors Alliance

Bingham Group client Delta Air Lines served as a proud sponsor of the inaugural in-person meeting of the SEC Mayors Alliance, hosted by Austin Mayor Kirk Watson at The University of Texas at Austin.

The gathering brought together mayors from across the Southeastern Conference footprint for what Mayor Watson called "a cool, fun evening" — capped off with a Delta-sponsored dinner on the Forty Acres.

Delta's sponsorship reflects the airline's ongoing investment in Austin and its commitment to building relationships with civic and regional leaders. We're proud to support Delta's continued engagement in the communities it serves.

✅ Austin Mayor Kirk Watson reveals secret weapon against rising home costs (Realtor.com)

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson says he's spreading the word that the key to the present and future of his city's success is housing supply.

The city has emerged as a shining example of how city reforms can drive affordability, and that's drawn the attention of other high-growth cities as they seek to address rising housing costs and increasing pressure on infrastructure.

“If [cities] don't have [housing] the supply, then it impacts affordability, it impacts generational wealth,” Watson said in a fireside chat with Realtor.com® CEO Damian Eales, at the Realtor.com® 2026 SXSW Open House.

Last year at SXSW, Mayor Watson identified housing as one of the key priorities for keeping Austin “weird.” Realtor.com sat down with Mayor Watson to hear more about the ways in which he sees the city hitting those goals and what work is left to be done… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Record travel expected at Austin's airport on Monday (KVUE)

Officials with Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) say they are expecting a record number of departing travelers at the airport on Monday.

Airport officials said they expect around 38,000 people to fly out on Monday, which would set a new airport record for the single busiest spring break travel day.

Airport staff are asking passengers flying domestically to arrive at least two and a half hours before their scheduled flight to allow for extra time to go through TSA security screening, while people flying internationally are asked to arrive three hours before.

TSA lines are expected to be longer than normal and even extend outside due to the ongoing partial government shutdown, which has put a strain on staffing levels.

U.S. Sec. of Transportation Sean Duffy said on Sunday that 300 TSA agents have quit their jobs since the shutdown began four weeks ago. He also said that the number of TSA "call-outs" have doubled from what they were prior to the shutdown, and that agents have already missed a partial payment and a full payment.

The airport said on social media that it expects the busiest time on Monday to be between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Red Flag Warning issued for all of central Texas as Austin faces major temperature swing (CBS Austin)

Central Texas is bracing for a dramatic weather shift over the next 36 hours with one of the largest temperature swings in Austin's history.

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning from Sunday at noon through Monday at 8 p.m. and a Wind Advisory from Sunday at 3 p.m. through Monday at 5 a.m. for all of central Texas.

The alerts come as a rare combination of a dryline and a powerful Arctic cold front are expected to bring extreme heat, dangerous wildfire conditions, and a rapid plunge in temperatures with the arrival of much colder air.

The NWS asks residents to avoid open flames or sparks outdoors, keep vehicles off of dry grass, and to properly discard cigarettes… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Esther's Follies launches foundation to preserve its history and educate young performers (KUT)

Esther’s Follies has spent nearly five decades turning the world's headlines into satire on its Sixth Street stage. Now the Austin comedy theater is launching a nonprofit foundation aimed at preserving that history while creating education programs and training opportunities for younger performers.

The newly created Esther's Follies Theater Foundation will focus on three main areas: preserving and documenting the theater's history, expanding arts education programs for young people, and creating new opportunities for emerging performers and writers. The initiative comes as the theater approaches its 50th anniversary and as organizers consider how to preserve its creative legacy.

“Our thinking about our 50th anniversary coming up has started that kind of ball rolling,” said Ellana Breedlove, a longtime Esther’s performer helping co-founder Shannon Sedwick lead the foundation’s rollout.

“We have a lot of people that love and have loved the Follies for so long,” she said. “So many supporters of Shannon and [her husband] Michael’s work, and so it kind of felt like a really great time to sort of combine all the talents and all the history and move forward with it.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Trump says Cornyn and Paxton are both electable as he mulls endorsement in Texas Senate race (NBC News)

President Donald Trump told NBC News on Saturday that he’s still mulling a potential endorsement in the competitive Republican primary for a Senate seat in Texas. Sen. John Cornyn is facing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a May 26 runoff after a close contest on the first ballot. “I’ll let you know that over the next week or so,” Trump said in a phone interview when asked if he’s going to endorse Cornyn.

“I like him. I always liked him.” He said he thinks he’ll make a decision in the next week. “A lot has to do with the SAVE America Act. A lot is going to determine — Republicans have to get that passed, because that will secure voting in this country,” Trump said. Both candidates are vying for Trump’s endorsement. Paxton has championed abolition of the legislative filibuster to pass the Trump-backed election bill.

Earlier this week Cornyn abandoned his long-standing support for the Senate filibuster, the 60-vote rule to pass most bills, saying he’ll support “whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary” to pass the SAVE America Act. “I very much appreciate that he is” in favor of nixing the filibuster, Trump said of Cornyn.

When asked if Cornyn’s move had won him over, he said, “I don’t know, but we have to get it passed.” Trump also said he’s not convinced Cornyn is the GOP’s best chance to hold the Senate seat. “I’ve heard that. I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know. I don’t know that to be a fact,” Trump said. “But I like him. I’ve always liked him. I like both candidates very much.” He said he isn’t worried about Paxton being unelectable. “No, I think they both win,” Trump said, while calling Democratic nominee James Talarico “so weak.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Corpus Christi cancels César Chávez march amid rumors; Dolores Huerta drops out (San Antonio Express-News)

The annual César Chávez march in Corpus Christi has been canceled after rumors about the late labor leader’s legacy spread and civil rights icon Dolores Huerta withdrew from the event, the Express-News has learned. The move mirrors a similar cancellation in San Antonio, where organizers earlier this month called off the city’s César E. Chávez March for Justice, citing a “sensitive matter” involving Chávez without providing further details. The César Chávez Foundation and the Dolores Huerta Foundation have not responded to requests for comment.

The march in Corpus Christi would have marked the 25th anniversary of the event in the Coastal Bend city, honoring Chávez, the civil rights leader who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Huerta and became one of the most influential labor organizers in the United States.

Founded in 1997, San Antonio’s César E. Chávez March for Justice has drawn thousands each year and would have marked its 30th anniversary this spring. In both San Antonio and Corpus Christi, march organizers said they acted after hearing rumors circulating within labor and activist networks that damaging information about Chávez could soon surface.

A memo sent to San Antonio City Council members and obtained by the Express-News said the cancellation involved a “sensitive matter,” but did not elaborate. A source with firsthand knowledge of the discussions told the Express-News that leaders of the California-based César Chávez Foundation warned city officials that negative information about Chávez’s past could soon be reported in a national news outlet… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Afghan man with pending asylum case dies in ICE custody in Dallas (Texas Tribune)

An Afghan man who had helped the American military in Afghanistan and was currently living in Texas died on Saturday, a day after being taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

ICE said in a Sunday news release that Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal’s death is under active investigation. His case brings the number of in-custody ICE deaths in Texas to at least seven since December.

At about 7 a.m. on Friday, eight masked agents detained Paktiawal when the 41-year-old was taking his kids to school, said Shawn VanDiver, president of the organization AfghanEvac. Paktiawal and his family lived in Richardson, outside of Dallas, while his asylum claim with the government remained pending. 

“Right now our family is trying to comfort six children who have lost their father,” said the family in a statement shared by AfghanEvac. “We are heartbroken and trying to process this loss.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Trump says that he’s asked ‘about 7' countries to join coalition to police Iran’s Strait of Hormuz (Associated Press)

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has demanded about seven countries send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, but his appeals have brought no commitments as oil prices soar during the Iran war.

The president declined to name the countries heavily reliant on Middle East crude that the administration is negotiating with to join a coalition to police the waterway where about one-fifth the world’s traded oil normally flows.

“I’m demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory, because it is their own territory,” Trump said about the strait, claiming the shipping channel is not something the United States needs because of its own access to oil. Trump spoke while answering reporters’ questions as he flew back to Washington from Florida aboard Air Force One.

Trump said China gets about 90% of its oil from the strait, while the U.S. gets a minimal amount. He declined to discuss whether China will join the coalition.

“It would be nice to have other countries police that with us, and we’ll help. We’ll work with them,” Trump said. Previously, he has appealed to China, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ He was Chevron’s man in Venezuela—and a CIA informant (Wall Street Journal)

In the months before President Trump moved to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Central Intelligence Agency turned to an old friend for advice on who should replace the autocratic leftist. Former Chevron executive Ali Moshiri told the agency that if the U.S. government tried to oust the entire Maduro regime and install the democratic opposition led by María Corina Machado it would have another quagmire like Iraq on its hands, according to people familiar with the matter.

She didn’t have the support of the country’s security services or control of its oil infrastructure, Moshiri argued. His recommendation: Stick for now with another autocratic leftist, Maduro’s longtime deputy and economic manager Delcy Rodríguez. The option was later presented to Trump in a secret CIA assessment.

Hours after American commandos dragged Maduro out of his fortified compound, Trump echoed the sentiment. It would be “very tough” for Machado to take over, he said. “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Moshiri’s hidden hand in Washington spycraft, revealed here for the first time, offers a window into how Trump embraced the energy industry’s unsentimental playbook for dealing with autocratic regimes. And it marks a dramatic turnaround for Chevron’s prospects in Venezuela, where the company’s decision to stay invested during decades of political upheaval now leaves it with a strategic advantage as the oil begins to gush again.

In a statement, Chevron said that “between spring of 2025 and the removal of Maduro, Chevron did not authorize anyone working for, or on behalf of, the company to engage with the CIA related to Venezuela’s leadership, including assessments of government officials or opposition leaders.” It added that the company had no advance knowledge of Maduro’s ouster, and didn’t coordinate or advocate for it. Chevron added that it “does not have a business relationship with Ali Moshiri—formal or informal.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ FCC chair threatens to revoke broadcasters' licences over Iran coverage (BBC)

The chair of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has threatened to revoke broadcasters' licences after US President Donald Trump criticised their coverage of the US-Israel war with Iran.

Brendan Carr told the BBC's US partner CBS News that broadcasters' licences were not a "property right" and warned they can be revoked if stations did not serve the public interest.

Carr's threat came after he accused broadcasters of "running hoaxes and news distortions", saying they can still "correct course" before their licence renewals.

Some Democratic lawmakers called Carr's comments unconstitutional. The FCC issues licences to individual broadcast stations, but does not licence TV networks.

"People have gotten used to the idea that, you know, licences are some sort of property right, and there's nothing you can do that can result in losing their licence," Carr told CBS News.

"I try to sort of help reorient people that, no, there is a public interest, and broadcast is different."

The FCC - the country's broadcast media watchdog - regulates radio, TV and satellite airwaves, giving it power over a range of matters, including mergers and decency complaints.

On Saturday, Carr responded to a social media post from Trump in which the US president said "Lowlife 'Papers' and Media actually want us to lose the War".

Carr wrote: "The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licences if they do not."… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ House GOP leadership silent as more members post anti-Muslim statements (NPR)

Several Republican lawmakers are ramping up anti-Muslim comments and facing little to no response from their leadership.

"Muslims don't belong in American society," Rep. Andy Ogles posted on Monday. "Pluralism is a lie." The Tennessee Republican, whose seat is in a safe red district, has previously expressed support for banning immigration from Muslim-majority countries and said in a speech last year that "America is and must always be a Christian nation."

The United States was not established as a Christian nation. "He didn't start this this week," said Sabina Mohyuddin, executive director of the American Muslim Advisory Council in Tennessee. "This has been building up." Mohyuddin estimates Ogles has tens of thousands of Muslim constituents in his district.

"We know this kind of rhetoric leads to more bullying in school, discrimination in the workplace, hate crimes and vandalism against mosques," Mohyuddin said. "But it is an election year and these politicians believe if they spew this hateful rhetoric, they are going to get more votes."

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was asked about Ogles' rhetoric during a press conference at the House GOP's annual retreat this week.

"Look, there's a lot of energy in the country and a lot of popular sentiment that the demand to impose Sharia law in America is a serious problem — that's what animates this," Johnson said Tuesday, adding, "It is not about people as Muslims."… 🟪 (READ MORE)