This is TPR's roundup of the latest headlines and news developments. It provides a succinct and clear summary of the stories TPR is following.
Today's weather: Expect a high of 66 today and a low of 57 later on tonight. Highs will warm up tomorrow before they drop again in time for Thanksgiving Day.
The tropics: There is no significant tropical activity in the Caribbean, Gulf or Atlantic regions. The Atlantic hurricane season ends on Nov. 30.
Texas officials hold border wall 'kick-off' in Starr County
Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham is in Starr County this morning to hold what she calls a "kick-off event" for border wall construction.
The state recently acquired a 1,400-acre ranch along the Rio Grande. Buckingham has offered part of the land to President-elect Trump for mass deportation facilities.
Trump's incoming "border czar" Tom Homan says the incoming Trump administration is open to the land Texas has offered.
Homan is also expected to be in Texas today accompanying Governor Greg Abbott in a trip to the border cities of Eagle Pass and Edinburg to serve Thanksgiving meals to Texas National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety officers.
DPS outgoing director Steve McCraw and the state's border czar, Mike Banks, are also expected to attend.
This is Abbott's first visit to the border since Trump was reelected.
Texas DSHS confirms first locally acquired case of dengue this year in the state
The case was reported in a Cameron County resident in the Rio Grande Valley.
There have been 106 travel-associated dengue cases in Texas, including one death, this year. That's the highest annual case count in Texas since 2002.
Dengue virus is transmitted by infected mosquitoes, and about 25 percent of infected individuals become symptomatic.
Infected people may develop fever, nausea, vomiting, rash, muscle aches, joint pain, bone pain, pain behind the eyes and headaches.
Most people recover completely within two weeks.
Surge of US firearms to Latin America and the Caribbean sparks violence
A report from Small Arms Survey reveals a nearly 120% increase in firearm shipments seized en route from the U.S. to Latin America and the Caribbean since 2016. These figures represent only interdicted shipments, indicating the true scale of trafficking may be far larger.
This illicit trade, driven by U.S. traffickers, has intensified violence in already unstable regions.
In Haiti, U.S.-based airlines were struck by gunfire, likely involving imported weapons, as Haiti lacks domestic firearm production.
Up to one million firearms, including military-grade weapons, are smuggled annually, fueling crises in nations like Mexico, which saw mass shootings this weekend in Veracruz, Tabasco, Colima, and Sinaloa.
San Antonio's creative industry creates major economic impact
The city's art scene had a multibillion-dollar impact to the local economy last year.
Steven Nivin, economics professor at St. Mary's University, told San Antonio City Council that the cumulative impact of the creative industry last year was $4.6 billion.
The local arts industry employed nearly 21,000 people in 2023 — a growth of around 1,000 since 2019.
Nivin said the impact of the arts extends well beyond its monetary value.
"Art creates culture. Culture creates community, and community creates humanity," he said. "The creative industry and arts really helps spawn innovation, birth new thoughts and ideas."
Krystal Jones, director of San Antonio's Department of Arts and Culture, said there are also other benefits that are harder to measure.
"There's other impacts for the arts when it comes to higher test scores, for students when they are exposed to the arts, they have higher test scores," she said. "It has health and wellness, mental health benefits."
South San Antonio ISD board president disagrees with recommended state takeover
South San Antonio Independent School District's state-appointed conservator recommended earlier this month that the Texas Education Agency appoint a new board due to critical deficiencies and a lack of progress from trustees.
Board president Manuel Lopez urged him to reconsider during a meeting last week.
"In my opinion, this is the wrong path our conservator has endorsed," he said. "Instead, I extend my hand to our conservator and respectfully ask him not to quit on the district but to continue working with the board of trustees in the spirit of community-based self-governance."
TEA Commissioner Mike Morath says the agency will begin the process of finding applicants for the board while it decides whether to follow the conservator's recommendation for a state takeover.
It is standard procedure for TEA to open board applications before reaching a decision on a potential state takeover.
Holiday retail expected to pick up post-election
The head of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce says the end of the presidential election cycle feels like a clog has been cleared for the local economy to flow again.
With the presidential election out of the way, the president and CEO of the chamber, Jeff Webster, says many of its 1,700 business members are feeling optimistic about holiday retail season this year.
"I think what we're going to see is a better year or at least the same of what we saw last year. But the enthusiasm is there this year, which I don't think we had last year," he said. "That energy and enthusiasm is back in the market and it's nice to see."
Webster said those holiday retail sales are bolstered in part by shoppers from Mexico, many of whom live here and travel back and forth.
Texas DPS out in full force this Thanksgiving weekend
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers will increase enforcement through Sunday with more drivers on the road for the holiday.
They will look for people speeding, not wearing their seatbelts, driving while intoxicated, and not following the state’s “Move Over, Slow Down” law.
The DPS handed out more than 41,000 warnings and citations last Thanksgiving, including more than 11,000 tickets for speeding, almost 600 for seatbelt violations, and 54 felony arrests for DWI.
Houston Public Media's Tom Perumean contributed to this report.
