Good morning, 

This is the Texas Minute for General Election Day—Tuesday, November 4, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Voters To Decide If Violent Offenders Can Be Denied Bail

• Among other items on the ballot today, Texas voters will consider Proposition 3, a constitutional amendment that would allow judges to deny bail under certain circumstances for defendants accused of serious felony offenses. Brandon Waltens has the details.
     
• The proposal is the product of a push by Gov. Greg Abbott for tougher bail reform following a series of high-profile crimes committed by offenders released on bond. If ratified by voters, prosecutors could ask a judge to deny bail if they can show by a preponderance of the evidence that a defendant is likely to skip court, or if they can show—by clear and convincing evidence—that releasing them would endanger the public or victims.
     
• The amendment applies to those accused of violent crimes such as murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, robbery, sexual assault, indecency with a child, and human trafficking.

Democrat Shutdown Hits Texas Airports

• Airports across Texas are facing growing chaos as the ongoing Democrat-led government shutdown stretches into another week—grounding flights, lengthening lines, and leaving aviation employees unpaid. At Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, passengers reported waiting up to five hours on Monday to clear TSA checkpoints.

     
• A White House press release described the situation as a “full-scale disaster disrupting millions of air travelers’ lives,” noting that wait times have ballooned past three hours on average, with some passengers waiting even longer.
      
• Both TSA screeners and air traffic controllers are now working without pay, leading to widespread staff shortages and longer processing times at checkpoints and in control towers. Airline and travel industry leaders have warned that continued shutdown conditions, which began October 1, could result in greater flight cancellations, reduced staffing, and safety risks if not resolved soon.

ICE Agents Arrest Fleeing Illegal Alien Stuck on Sign

• Sydnie Henry reports that a recent operation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Houston led to the arrest of an illegal alien and suspected MS-13 gang member after a dramatic attempt to escape authorities. 
    
• Marlon Odir Gomez Hernandez, a 29-year-old Salvadoran national, fled into a laundromat when ICE officers approached him. The man climbed through ceiling panels to the roof and ultimately landed on a business sign, where he became stuck.
     
• Gomez Hernandez illegally entered the United States after a January 2022 arrest in El Salvador, where he and other suspected MS-13 members were charged with aggravated extortion. 

Another Celina Coach Placed On Leave

• In what parents suspect is a case of “passing the trash,” another Celina school employee is on leave over allegations of misconduct involving students. Erin Anderson has the story.
     
• Already in Celina ISD, an assistant football coach was arrested last month for recording more than 30 middle school boys as they undressed and showered. It is alleged that district officials had covered up previous predatory behavior by the man, whose father is the district's celebrated head football coach. Criminal investigations and civil lawsuits are moving forward in that case.
   
• Now, wrestling coach Neil Phillips has been placed on leave following revelations that while working at Melissa ISD he exhibited inappropriate behavior around students. Reportedly, administrators in Melissa ISD were made aware of the incident but allowed Phillips to quietly leave with a clean record.
      
• Based on his clean employment record from Melissa, Celina officials hired Phillips for this academic year. Celina High School's principal said the district has notified the State Board for Educator Certification and referred the matter to law enforcement.

Federal Appeals Court To Take Up Texas’ Ten Commandments Law

• The full U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear two high-profile cases challenging laws in Texas and Louisiana requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom. Both these cases will proceed directly to an en banc hearing, bypassing the typical three-judge appellate panel.
     
• Earlier this year, the Texas Legislature mandated that public elementary and secondary schools must display a durable poster of the Ten Commandments in a conspicuous location in each classroom. Supporters of the law argue it reinforces moral and historical foundations in schools, while opponents contend it could violate constitutional rights regarding the so-called "separation of church and state."
      
• In August, a federal district judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the law in a dozen school districts named in the lawsuit.
      
• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has advised school districts not named in the injunction to follow the new law, although some districts have refused to comply amid the uncertainty.

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Quote-Unquote

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– P.J. O'Rourke

Y'All Answered

For many years, colleges and universities have awarded tenure to professors, giving them job security and autonomy unprecedented in the rest of American culture. Investigations into higher education are finding college professors using that shield to push leftwing ideologies.

We asked readers if Texas' taxpayer-funded colleges and universities should continue to offer tenure to professors. Just over six percent think tenure should be continued, while 93.9 percent do not.

Here is a sampling of the responses we received from folks after they answered the survey question.

• “I never believed that anybody should get tenure or lifetime positions in any job or institution. People change, and giving them that right makes them either complicit or complacent, knowing that they will never be held accountable.” – Madeline Bentivegna
      

• “If you want to fix any perceived problems with ‘tenure,’ don't focus on who's got it … focus on those that gave it. Then you'll get somewhere.” – Jerry L. Cooke, Ph.D.
      

• “As a former full professor, now retired, I continue to support the tenure process. While I did see a few academics abuse their positions once they had tenure, the larger group continued to uphold rigorous academic standards. Having tenure allowed us to speak up without fear of reprisal and challenge despotic administrations and their potentially damaging policies.” – Angelika Hoeher
      

• “Tenure makes professors more lazy. They really don’t need to work hard like they did before tenure was granted to them. Working at a state university, I saw it time and time again.” – David Hendrickson
      

• “Keeping your job should be based on yearly attainment of performance goals, not guaranteed after tenure is granted.” – Margie McAllister
      

• “Stop awarding stagnation. Start rewarding merit.” – Jim Moyer
      

• “Nobody outside of universities is allowed to keep their jobs if they perform poorly or do what some of these faculty members have done (imagine). Why should university faculty be exempt?” – Allison Love
      

• “They need to be at-will employees whose job security depends on performance, just like everybody else.” – Bruce Towler
      

• “I agree with rewarding tenure to college educators, but ongoing merit-basing has to be included somehow.” – Joanne Minuete
       

• “No other profession enjoys almost unlimited job protection, and neither should college professors.” – Dr. Joel D. Lebsack

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