Airman Dies in Alamodome Fall

An Air Force service member died Saturday after falling while rappelling from the Alamodome rafters before UTSA’s football game against Navy, with more than 23,000 fans in the stands.

He was one of four service members set to descend from the ceiling during UTSA’s Salute to Armed Forces and Veterans night. Witnesses said he came down fast as the band began playing, and the crowd fell silent.

The rappellers came from an Air Force detachment that trains tactical air control party airmen at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland and JBSA-Camp Bullis. 

Officials at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada said the airman died at a local hospital and haven’t released his name. The death is under investigation. The game kicked off after a 10-minute delay.

Sarkisian: Everything Will Be Evaluated

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian wouldn’t rule out benching quarterback Arch Manning after Saturday’s 27-24 home loss to unranked Florida, saying, “Everything’s going to be evaluated.”

Florida, starting its backup quarterback, sacked Manning five times and recovered his fumble with 1:58 left to seal the upset. Manning, who threw for 173 yards, said “everyone’s evaluated every week” at a school like Texas.

The slide began a week earlier, when Manning threw two fourth-quarter interceptions in a loss to Oklahoma that cost Texas its No. 1 ranking. Sarkisian, who also calls the plays, spread the blame after the Florida loss: “Was Arch perfect? No. But nobody was perfect on offense today.”

Should Sarkisian turn to K.J. Lacey at quarterback, Manning would likely spend another year in college, possibly at another school, a detour for Peyton and Eli’s nephew, recently the betting favorite to go first in the 2027 NFL Draft. Texas hosts Ole Miss on Saturday.

Two Massive Mansions Hit Market

A River Oaks estate once owned by an Italian baron and a Fort Worth-area home designed by Louvre pyramid architect I.M. Pei hit the market recently, each listing for about $22 million.

Guests at the 21,500-square-foot Houston home included Roger Moore, Joan Collins, and Henry Kissinger. Its indoor saltwater pool sits under a glass ceiling and three chandeliers. Click here for photos.

Meanwhile, a 19,133-square-foot Westover Hills house is the largest of only three homes I.M. Pei ever designed. It’s for sale for the first time since it was built in 1969. Click here for photos.

Pei designed it for oil heiress Anne Tandy and her husband, Charles, and said it was meant for “two people—or two or three hundred.” Its parties drew presidents, Bob Hope, and pianist Van Cliburn.

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➤ Mesquite: A resident shot a man breaking into a home on Brushwood Lane around 4:15 a.m. Saturday after loud banging woke the household, police said. The wounded suspect was hospitalized and faces a burglary charge. (More)

➤ Tarrant County: This year’s two-page mail-in ballots need 29 cents more than the envelope’s single stamp covers, a longtime voter learned at the post office. Election officials said USPS delivers underpaid ballots anyway, and the county pays the difference. (More)

➤ Premont: Duval County deputies used thermal drone video to track and arrest four people accused of stealing about $7,000 in watermelons from a local farm. The farm had been hit before, and its owners spotted the suspects on new cameras. (See Video)

➤ Holland: A resident got stuck in a creek bed off Darrs Creek Road chasing a lost calf, and so did the neighbor who came to help. Firefighters and deputies freed both, and then a large-animal team hoisted the exhausted 400- to 500-pound calf out. (More)

➤ North Texas: A faith-based charity, Guns to Gardens DFW, held an event over the weekend allowing residents to anonymously turn in unwanted firearms, which are cut apart and reforged by blacksmiths into garden tools and art. Participants can receive gift cards once their guns are dismantled. (More)

➤ Statewide: Fentanyl deaths in Texas have fallen 46% since 2023, when the state launched its One Pill Kills campaign, health officials said. San Antonio mothers who lost children to the drug are taking their annual awareness walk virtually on Oct. 23-31. (More)

➤ Tyler: Nearly 500 UT Tyler engineering students raced cardboard canoes, flew straw-and-motor drones through hoops, and launched rockets Saturday at the annual Ratliff Relays, which added a tomato-throwing robot event this year. (More)

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➤ The Cowboys dropped to 2-4 after a 23-13 loss to the Packers on Sunday night. Dak Prescott threw two first-half interceptions as Dallas went scoreless before halftime for the first time since 2021. (More)

➤ The Houston Texans won their second straight game Sunday, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 34-31 in London on Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 49-yard field goal as time expired. C.J. Stroud threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns. (More)

➤ Texas Tech climbed two spots to No. 8 in the new AP Top 25 college football poll. Houston jumped six spots to No. 14, and Texas fell 12 spots to No. 19. SMU moved up one spot to No. 23. (See Rankings)

Yesterday’s Results: NFL | MLB | NHL | Soccer | NASCAR | Tennis | NCAA Volleyball

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➤ The most important moments in American history didn’t all happen in Philadelphia or Boston. Some happened in towns you’ve never even heard of. (Tune in here)

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In case you missed it, last week’s Flyover Focus counted down 10 things you should stop paying for. How many are still quietly draining your bank account every month? (Watch Now)

➤ Out-of-state universities are ramping up recruiting in North Texas as the state heads toward producing the most high school graduates by 2033. Arkansas enrolled 9,438 Texans this fall, while UT Arlington, TCU, and Texas Wesleyan still posted record freshman classes. (More)

➤ Round Top’s dance hall, which opened in Wesley in 1907 and moved to the 90-person antiques town in the 1990s to avoid demolition, is for sale at $4.95 million. The listing includes a restaurant, speakeasy bar, and three-acre RV park. (More)

➤ The operators of a gordita stand at San Antonio’s Market Square mold masa by hand and fry it in the open air, like the city’s old-time “chili queens.” Owner Estela Saenz, 57, learned from her late mother-in-law, who ran it for two decades. (More)

➤ A Tarrant County jury awarded a Fort Worth-area family $21.6 million against builder NAE Contracting over a home whose plumbing vents ended in the attic, circulating sewer gas. The family now lives in an RV on the property. (More)

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➤ A hole punch cloud left a giant circle in the sky over the Austin area Saturday afternoon. An airplane likely flew through the cloud layer, quickly freezing super-chilled water droplets into ice crystals that fell out as wispy streaks. (See Photo)

➤ South Padre Island ranked No. 8 among the best U.S. islands in Condé Nast Traveler‘s 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards, its second straight top 10 finish. It was the only Texas island on the 20-island list, which Hilton Head, South Carolina, topped. (More)

➤ A senior trumpeter in the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band plays the same instrument his father played in the band in the early 2000s. His uncle and younger brother play trumpet too. The band has performed for more than 130 years. (More)

➤ Canyon Lake climbed from the 46th to the 62nd percentile in WalletHub’s 2026 ranking of America’s best small cities, outranking more than 60% of the 1,318 communities studied. Cedar Park and Allen led Texas at the 96th percentile. (See Ranking)

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The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes. 

➤ An Air Force officer died after falling from the Alamodome rafters while rappelling onto the field before Saturday’s UTSA-Navy game. (Hear More)

➤ A truck drove through a crowd at a youth soccer game in Wichita, killing a 6-year-old boy and a man. The driver was released without charges. (Listen Now)

➤ Modern reruns of the infamous 1961 Yale shock experiment still find most people obey, and researchers now know why disobeying is so hard. (Tune In)

How often have you been to South Padre Island?

1. A bunch of times
2. Two or three times
3. Just once
4. Never

Yesterday’s Results:

Can you play the piano?

1. Not a note: 51%
2. Just “Chopsticks”: 23%
3. A little: 21%
4. Yes, quite well: 5%

Where in Texas can you spend the night in a steel house resembling a spaceship?

Show me the answer