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BY: @MattMackowiak [ [link removed] ]
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THURSDAY || 3/27/2025
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“If something of importance is known in Texas, Matt knows it. With a decline in the number of credible news organizations, the Must Read Texas morning email is indispensable for anyone that wants to continue to be informed.” – Former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX)
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TOP NEWS
“Businessman arrested, linked to 'ropa usada' raids in Texas,” AP's Philip Marcelo — “Federal authorities have arrested a McAllen man who runs a used clothing shop, alleging that he brought undocumented immigrants into the country and illegally employed them.
Rolando Martinez, 42, is charged with unlawful employment of aliens and bringing in and harboring certain aliens, according to a criminal complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Martinez's case appears to be linked to a federal investigation into several "ropa usda" businesses in Hidalgo that are believed to be operated by a local family. Ropa usda translates into "used clothing" in English.
According to ValleyCentral.com, five members of the same family [ [link removed] ] — Sergio, Francisco, Estela, Pedro and Claudio Perez — were arrested following a raid on one of their warehouse businesses.
On March 19, special agents with Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant at 591 E. Produce Road in Hidalgo, according to federal court documents. The site is home to two businesses: Leo's Clothing and America's Best Clothing, which is owned by Martinez.
Nearby, agents also raided Jaquelinas Ropa Usada. That shop, along with Leo's Clothing, are owned by the same family." SAEN [ [link removed] ] ($)
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TOP NEWS
“Parole decision reached for Selena's killer Yolanda Saldivar,” San Antonio Express-News' Gabriella Ybarra and Nancy M. Preyor-Johnson — “Yolanda Saldívar, the convicted killer of Tejano music icon Selena Quintanilla-Perez, will remain in prison, the state’s parole board announced.
The decision came Thursday, after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted to deny the release of Saldívar — who has been serving a life sentence at the Patrick O’Daniel Unit prison in Gatesville — for fatally shooting Selena on March 31, 1995, in Corpus Christi.
Saldívar, a native of San Antonio, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison on Oct. 26, 1995. She was required to serve 30 years before becoming eligible for parole consideration. Her parole eligibility date was set for March 30.
According to a statement from the parole board, the parole review process began about six months before her parole eligibility date. [ [link removed] ] A parole officer prepared the case summary file to submit to the parole board voting panel.
“Within that confidential file, there is a plethora of information including but not limited to court documents, offense reports, support/protest information, criminal history, institutional adjustment, and information/statements provided by the offender,” the statement continued. “The file was then sent to a parole panel of three. A simple majority was required to either grant or deny parole.”
After considering all available information, including confidential interviews, the panel denied Saldívar, 64, parole. The reason cited by the panel for denial was the “nature of the offense.”
“The record indicates that the instant offense has elements of brutality, violence, assaultive behavior or conscious selection of victim’s vulnerability indicating a conscious disregard for the lives, safety, or property of others, such that the offender poses a continuing threat to public safety,” the statement read.
Recently, Saldívar’s family said Saldívar believes Selena was at least partly at fault because she was “forceful” in confronting Saldívar about allegedly embezzling funds.
Selena, known as the “Queen of Tejano,” was 23 years old when she was killed after meeting with then 32-year-old Saldívar at the Days Inn hotel in Corpus Christi to retrieve financial records." SAEN [ [link removed] ] ($)
#TXLEGE
“Health care CEO fired after Texas House DOGE hearing,” Dallas Morning News' Karen Brooks Harper and Nolan D. McCaskill — "The chief executive of a private health insurance company who admitted in a legislative hearing Wednesday to hiring private investigators to spy on customers has been fired.
The dismissal of Superior HealthPlan CEO Mark Sanders follows his testimony Wednesday to the Texas House Delivery of Government Efficiency Committee in a hearing on Medicaid procurement, during which he acknowledged hiring private investigators to get background information on lawmakers and others.
“The conduct highlighted yesterday during the course of the Texas House Committee hearing is not reflective of our values nor is it a practice Centene’s current leadership condones,” Centene, Superior’s parent company, said in a statement to The Dallas Morning News. “To this end, Mark Sanders is no longer with our organization.”
Sanders’ termination comes hours after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced he was investigating the company over the allegations aired inside the Capitol on Wednesday.
“The allegations concerning Superior’s actions, such as actions that were characterized as potentially blackmailing lawmakers to secure state contracts and surveilling private citizens to avoid paying legitimate claims, are deeply troubling,” Paxton said in a statement. “I will get to the bottom of this, uncover any illegal activity, and hold bad actors responsible.”
At the center of the probe is a series of private investigations, starting in 2017 and allegedly ordered by Sanders, who had just taken the helm as chief executive officer of Superior. The health care firm was facing lawsuits at the time over declining coverage.
Sanders, who headed one of the state’s biggest providers of health insurance for children on Medicaid, told lawmakers under questioning Wednesday that investigators had done “routine” background checks into several state representatives, senators, health care providers, patients and their families, and a journalist several years ago.
The company has abandoned that practice, Sanders told the committee during a tense hearing he acknowledged was “rough” for him.
“We’ve done what I would call general research,” Sanders said. “Anything that’s publicly available.”
Centene said it regretted the impact Sanders’ conduct has had on the company’s partners.
“Superior’s credibility rests on being a trusted partner to our members, government stakeholders and providers,” Centene said. “While we took the necessary steps to ensure this conduct was stopped a number of years ago, yesterday’s hearing made clear we failed to address its full impact.”
“We are committed to building transparent and trusted relationships with our government partners and remain focused on our mission to improve the health and well-being of the Texas communities we serve,” the statement added.
The subjects of those investigations included Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, then a state senator, and Southlake Republican state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, according to documents obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
“You’ve hired private investigators to look at not only but also people who have filed claims and felt that they deserved those claims but that you felt that they didn’t,” Capriglione, chairman of the DOGE committee, said at Wednesday’s hearing.
“You were doing that for what purpose?” he asked. “Why would you go and run a background check, hire a private investigator to follow, to dig into the records of people who are your customers?”
In an interview Thursday, Capriglione said while it was good Sanders is no longer with the company, Paxton’s investigation should proceed.
“When this happens, it’s a culture within the company,” he said. “This company is likely to have known about his actions before yesterday, and I think that has to be investigated as well.”
House bills have been filed to prevent this issue from happening again, Capriglione said.
“We have legislation that will make sure that these government contracts have even more transparency and accountability, that we prevent anybody who uses these funds to go after private citizens, to go after state employees or anyone else,” he said. “If any company does something like this again, they will never get a government contract again.”" DMN [ [link removed] ] ($)
“Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he’ll push for special session if THC ban, bail changes fail,” Texas Tribune's Jasper Scherer and Kayla Guo — "Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he will move to force an overtime session of the Legislature if lawmakers fail to ban THC or tighten Texas’ bail laws — two of his top priorities — before the current session ends in early June.
The power to order lawmakers back to Austin for a special session is reserved for Gov. Greg Abbott, who also gets to set the agenda for such overtime rounds. But in his role presiding over the Texas Senate, Patrick can block any bill from passing, giving him leverage to compel special sessions by killing must-pass legislation.
Patrick did exactly that [ [link removed] ] in 2017, thwarting passage [ [link removed] ] of a “sunset” bill that would have extended the life of several state agencies, including the Texas Medical Board, after the House declined to take up measures curbing property tax rates and requiring transgender people to use public restrooms based on “biological sex” rather than their gender identities.
In an interview, Patrick affirmed that he would go a similar route this session if the House declines to get on board with his priority bill to clamp down on the state’s exploding hemp market by banning products that contain tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.
“There aren’t many things you go down that path for, but the life and health of people is one,” Patrick told The Texas Tribune on Wednesday. “I couldn’t, in good conscience, leave here knowing if we don't do something about it in the next two years — how many kids get sick?”
Patrick and Senate lawmakers are taking aim at the roughly 8,300 Texas retailers that sell a range of hemp products — from gummies to beverages to flower buds — under a 2019 state law that authorized the sale of consumable hemp. Patrick and Sen. Charles Perry, the Lubbock Republican who carried the 2019 law, say the hemp industry has exploited a loophole in a bill that was intended to boost agriculture by allowing non-consumable products with small amounts of delta-9 THC.
While hemp products are not allowed to contain more than a 0.3% concentration of delta-9 THC — anything higher is classified as marijuana — Patrick and Perry contend that the industry has endangered public health by putting products on the shelf with dangerously high levels of THC well beyond the 0.3% threshold.
Perry’s proposal this session, known as Senate Bill 3 [ [link removed] ], would effectively shutter the hemp industry by making it illegal to possess or manufacture products containing THC outside the state’s limited medical marijuana program.
It’s already passed in the Senate, but awaits action in the lower chamber where industry leaders are hopeful House members will push for stricter oversight and licensing requirements [ [link removed] ] in lieu of banning THC products altogether.
Patrick said he would invoke the nuclear option of forcing a special session over anything less than an outright ban.
“You just can’t regulate it. You’ve gotta take it out,” Patrick said. “You’re never going to be able to regulate it.”
Patrick did not say which bills he might use to compel Abbott to call lawmakers back, but he has a number of hostage options. Among them is the two-year state budget, the only item the Legislature is constitutionally required to pass each session. Patrick raised the possibility [ [link removed] ] of holding the budget hostage in 2017, though it was the sunset bill that ultimately led to a special session.
A handful of key agencies are also up for sunset review this year, meaning they will cease to exist unless lawmakers pass legislation extending their life until the next periodic review. Those agencies include [ [link removed] ] the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the Department of Information Resources and four regional water authorities, which distribute water and operate key infrastructure around the state.
Patrick also said in the interview that he’d force an overtime session if the Legislature failed to amend the state’s bail laws to keep certain criminal defendants in jail as they await the resolution of their cases.
“People are dying because of issues with bail,” he said." Texas Tribune [ [link removed] ]
STATE GOVERNMENT
“Judge places injunction, shutting down Texas midwife's clinics amid illegal abortion lawsuit," San Antonio Express-News' Megan Rodriguez — "Four medical clinics affiliated with a Texas midwife [ [link removed] ] accused of performing an illegal abortion cannot reopen while a civil lawsuit against her proceeds, a state judge ruled Thursday.
Waller County District Judge Gary Chaney granted a temporary injunction Tuesday against the clinics in Cypress, Katy, Spring and Waller, all of which are affiliated with Maria Margarita Rojas. The injunction prohibits Rojas or any of her employees from providing any medical services, including abortion.
Rojas, 49, is the first person in Texas to be prosecuted under Texas’ strict abortion law passed in 2022. Last week, she was arrested and accused of providing an abortion to a woman out of a clinic in Waller. The hearing in Hempstead, about 50 miles northwest of downtown Houston, was also the first time Rojas and her attorneys made public statements about the case against her.
Rojas was called to the stand by the AG’s office to answer questions about her clinics and the alleged abortions. She invoked her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination more than 200 times, and didn’t answer any of the questions asked of her.
The Texas Attorney General’s office, which is prosecuting the case in Waller County, argued Rojas does not fall under the state’s limited exceptions on who can perform an abortion, and also accused her of practicing medicine without a license.
A licensed midwife, she is accused of presenting herself as a medical doctor to patients at the clinics.
Chaney on Thursday said he felt Amy Hill, the chief of the AG’s Healthcare Program Enforcement Division, had presented enough evidence employees at the clinics might have been operating without proper medical licenses.
“I’m really worried about someone out there being a doctor that shouldn’t really be a doctor,” Chaney said.
Chaney signed a restraining order putting similar restrictions in place last week. Thursday's hearing was held to decide if the orders would be in place for a longer period of time.
Rojas was brought to the hearing wearing a pink, jail-issued jumpsuit because at the start of the day she was still being held in custody.
Midway through the day, Rojas’ attorneys announced she had posted her more-than $1.4 million bond. She was given a change of clothes and changed during the lunch break.
Rojas’ attorneys called the AG’s office case “rank speculation” and “pure conjecture,” and argued that a criminal complaint written by an AG’s office investigator didn’t prove that abortions were being done at the clinic." Houston Chronicle [ [link removed] ] ($)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
“Harris County commissioners keep Christian Menefee as county attorney until election is called to replace Sylvester Turner,” Houston Chronicle's Abby Church — "Harris County Commissioners have opted to keep Christian Menefee [ [link removed] ] as the county attorney until Gov. Greg Abbott calls an election [ [link removed] ] to fill the late U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner's seat in Congress.
Menefee has served as county attorney for more than four years, and recently announced a campaign [ [link removed] ] to replace Turner, who died March 5 [ [link removed] ] following “enduring health complications” at 70 years old.
It’s the second time officials have had to race to fill the seat in the last year. In July, former U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Turner had only recently stepped in to fill her shoes in January.
Under state law, Menefee’s campaign filing and announcement triggered his automatic resignation [ [link removed] ] from his position as county attorney.
“Resign to run” laws in Texas dictate that certain local office holders cannot announce campaigns for another seat more than a year and 30 days before the next election. If they announce any sooner, they’re forced to step back from their current position.
Menefee, who recently won another term as county attorney, filed for Congress hours after Turner’s funeral.
However, another law holds that the person is allowed to hold their position [ [link removed] ] until a successor is named. Abbott’s office hasn't yet called an election to replace Turner, who represented a solidly Democratic congressional district.
The absence of a representative in the seat effectively leaves the Democrats shorthanded. Republicans currently hold the majority in the U.S. House by a slim margin [ [link removed] ].
Donna Davidson, a legislative and campaign lawyer based in Austin, said she has seen instances where office holders announce a campaign for another position and are replaced immediately. Others, however, have been allowed to stick around, she said.
“It really just depends,” Davidson said. “Let's say you've been a very effective county attorney. They don't necessarily want to make a change if they don't have to.”
The commissioners, who are in charge of naming Menefee’s replacement until an election is called, decided on Thursday to not take action to replace him given the disruption choosing a new county attorney might cause.
“Right now, I think we’re in good hands,” said Commissioner Adrian Garcia." Houston Chronicle [ [link removed] ] ($)
TEXANS IN DC
“Crockett digs in amid backlash over Abbott insult,” The Hill's Saul Elbein and Cheyanne M. Daniels — "Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) is under fire for mocking Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), the latest in a string of provocative statements that have boosted her profile over the past year.
Since Crockett called Abbott, who is a wheelchair user, “Governor Hot Wheels,” Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas) announced plans to censure her [ [link removed] ], calling the remark “the latest in a series of inappropriate comments.”
The remarks — which Crockett insists didn’t apply to Abbott’s disability — drew condemnation from prominent Texas and national Republicans, as well as some liberal accounts online. Trump called her a “lowlife”; Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) called the remarks “shameful”; his potential future challenger, state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), went a step further and called Crockett herself “despicable.”
And Abbott argued that Crockett’s remarks presaged future Democratic defeats.
“The bottom line is that Republican states like Texas are leading the way, and with comments like this by Democrats, we will just leave them in the dust in future elections,” Abbott said to Fox News’s Sean Hannity.
Conservative commentators piled on as well, with the network’s Lisa Kennedy Montgomery used an unprintable insult [ [link removed] ] to call Crockett an attention-seeker.
Crockett doubled down despite the backlash, dismissing Republican criticism over the Abbott affair as performative outrage. She insisted that the remark [ [link removed] ] referred to Abbott’s habit of busing migrants to northern cities — particularly those with Black mayors.
But on Tuesday she also declared herself “appalled that the very people who unequivocally support Trump — a man known for racially insensitive nicknames and mocking those with disabilities — are now outraged.”
In a post on the social platform X on Wednesday, she argued that Republicans had seized on her remarks to divert attention from ‘Signal-gate,’ a scandal in which Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth appeared to inadvertently text the details of a secret military operation [ [link removed] ] to Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic.
“The incompetence that many of us knew existed prior to the confirmation of these individuals is on full display for the WORLD,” Crockett wrote [ [link removed] ]. “But you know, keep being distracted with the faux outrage from people who have never met an empathetic bone.”
“Oh, and the fact that there is an obsession over wanting me silenced tells me that I need to speak out more,” she added.
Crockett’s office did not respond to a request for comment from The Hill." The Hill [ [link removed] ]
NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE
> HOU CHRON: "These two Texas Republicans offer cover to Trump team over group text discovery" HOU CHRON [ [link removed] ]
> TX TRIB: "Voting-rights coalition quits challenge to Texas’ 2021 redistricting after court setback" TX TRIB [ [link removed] ]
> HOU CHRON: "Mayor Whitmire expands efficiency study to public works, controller's office" HOU CHRON [ [link removed] ]
> COMMUNITY IMPACT: "Texas Senate panel OKs bill aimed at offsetting ‘long-term water supply crisis’" COMMUNITY IMPACT [ [link removed] ]
> SA REPORT: "Billions more for tax relief and border security under budget approved by Texas Senate" SA REPORT [ [link removed] ]
> THE TEXAN: "Texas ‘Big Three’ Push School Choice with Former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey" THE TEXAN [ [link removed] ]
> KXAN: "Texas House discusses putting guardrails on Artificial Intelligence" KXAN [ [link removed] ]
> AAS: "Abbott asserts Legislature will pass school vouchers but keeps making sales pitch to Texans" AAS [ [link removed] ]
> THE TEXAN: "House Bill Would Expand Statute of Limitations for Child Gender Modification Medical Malpractice Lawsuits" THE TEXAN [ [link removed] ]
> AAS: "UT interim President Jim Davis vows to advocate for faculty, adhere to state policies" AAS [ [link removed] ]
> KXAN: "Bill to expand medical examiner access in Texas closer to law" KXAN [ [link removed] ]
> AAS: "Former Austin Mayor Carole Keeton dies at 85: 'One tough grandma'" AAS [ [link removed] ]
> HOU CHRON: "1 in custody after student stabbed at Cypress Springs HS, principal says" HOU CHRON [ [link removed] ]
> SAEN: "Trump administration sends troops, armored vehicles to border in Big Bend" SAEN [ [link removed] ]
> FWST: "Keller school board responds to lawsuit alleging secrecy and open meetings act violations" FWST [ [link removed] ]
> COMMUNITY IMPACT: "Check out 7 candidate forums for Richardson council, RISD and PISD elections" COMMUNITY IMPACT [ [link removed] ]
> SA REPORT: "Who is running for City Council in San Antonio? Here are the 2025 candidates." SA REPORT [ [link removed] ]
> SA REPORT: "Former Bexar County Democratic chair rallies party to toss out its own District Clerk" SA REPORT [ [link removed] ]
> FWST: "Martial arts teacher, an ex-child therapist, engaged in sex acts with minor, CA cops say" FWST [ [link removed] ]
> TX TRIB: "Do-it-yourself mental health: Community college students band together to pitch solutions" TX TRIB [ [link removed] ]
> MY RGV: "Border Patrol agent from San Benito arrested for possession of child porn" MY RGV [ [link removed] ]
> DMN: "Manufacturer to build second HQ in Plano, will create 300 jobs over next decade" DMN [ [link removed] ]
> HOU CHRON: "Exclusive: New renderings unveil MacGregor Park's $57.5M transformation" HOU CHRON [ [link removed] ]
> HOU CHRON: "Bayou City Art Festival 2025 brings art, food and fun to downtown Houston" HOU CHRON [ [link removed] ]
> KXAN: "Judge says extreme heat in Texas prisons is unconstitutional but doesn’t order they install AC" KXAN [ [link removed] ]
> HOU CHRON: "Pilot rescued with 2 girls from icy Alaska lake was not authorized to have passengers, official says" HOU CHRON [ [link removed] ]
EXTRA POINTS
Last night's Texas sports scores:
> NHL: Dallas 4, Edmonton 3
Tonight's Texas sports schedule:
> 3:05pm: MLB: Boston at Texas
> 3:10pm MLB: NY Mets at Houston
> 6pm: NBA: San Antonio at Cleveland
> 6pm: NBA: Dallas at Orlando
> 8pm: NBA: Houston at Utah
> 8pm: NHL: Dallas at Calgary
> 9:20pm: NCAAM: #10 Arkansas vs. #3 Texas Tech (TBS)
Tomorrow's Texas sports schedule:
> 7:05pm: MLB: Boston at Texas
> 7:10pm: MLB: NY Mets at Houston
> 9:09pm: NCAAM: #4 Purdue vs. #1 Houston (TBS)
DALLAS MAVERICKS: "Kai Jones suffers another injury, but Mavs win pivotal game at Orlando to leapfrog Suns" DMN [ [link removed] ] ($)
SAN ANTONIO SPURS: "Spurs' Victor Wembanyama undergoes surgery to address blood clot, according to report" SAEN [ [link removed] ] ($)
TEXAS RANGERS: "10 things to know about the 2025 Texas Rangers" DMN [ [link removed] ] ($)

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