Good Morning! On this day in 1898, USS Texas, America’s first commissioned battleship, helped destroy the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Santiago in Cuba. Her name was later passed to the dreadnoughtBattleship Texas, which fought in both world wars.
Happy Independence Day weekend, featuring some of the biggest celebrations across Texas in a long time! If you’re still looking for a party, see our roundup of events across the state in The Roundup below. Hit reply to let us know if you’re doing anything extra special this year because it’s the 250th.
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A federal jury in El Paso convicted a former soldier turned Fort Bliss contractor of stealing more than $1.1 million worth of military meals.
Joseph Lavar Davis, 47, used his access to the base’s requisition system to move more than 200 pallets of Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs) off post over six months in 2020, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors said he generated fraudulent paperwork and rented commercial trucks to haul the loads.
An active-duty soldier helped load the cargo, and an intermediary funneled the rations to a local business owner who sold them online. The scheme unraveled in August 2020, when FBI and Army investigators found roughly 100 pallets of the stolen rations in an El Paso warehouse.
Davis was convicted of conspiracy and theft of government property. He was indicted alongside three co-conspirators in February 2025.
Gas Line Unmarked before Dallas Blast
The natural gas line that exploded and destroyed a Dallas apartment building in May had not been identified and marked before a drill rig punctured it, federal investigators say.
The May 28 blast in Oak Cliff killed three people and injured at least five others. The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report says the engineering firm filed a Texas 811 locate request a week before drilling, and locators marked some underground lines, but not the gas line.
A drill rig operated by Barba Drilling, taking soil samples for an engineering firm, punctured the line shortly before the explosion. Pipeline experts say investigators must still determine whether the crew followed proper excavation practices.
The board stressed its findings are preliminary and the investigation into the cause is ongoing. Atmos Energy and its line-locating contractor are among the parties to the federal probe, and the utility faces lawsuits over the blast.
Texas Gears Up for America’s 250th
Texans will mark America’s 250th birthday Saturday with fireworks, parades, drone shows, and festivals in every corner of the state.
One note of caution before the matches are lit: a San Antonio emergency room doctor warns that fireworks, grills, pools, and extreme heat can turn a celebration into a trip to the ER.
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➤ Houston: Michael Butler, the driver accused of crashing a Tesla into a Katy-area home and killing 76-year-old Martha Ávila inside, has been charged with manslaughter, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. (See Details)
➤ South Texas: Bobby Joe Rosa, known as “Psycho,” pleaded guilty Wednesday to robbing two Roma game rooms in March 2024 as an alleged “sergeant” in the Texas Chicano Brotherhood street gang. He coordinated the robbery crew and served as the lookout. Sentencing is scheduled for September, with a minimum of seven years. (See Details)
➤ El Paso: An American woman was arrested at the Paso del Norte port of entry with 57 pounds of methamphetamine after her vehicle was selected for a second inspection while crossing from Mexico. (More)
➤ Houston: Former Tomball ISD tax assessor Kristi Williams has been indicted on a wire fraud charge, accused of siphoning nearly $1 million in cash tax payments meant for the district. The district says it uncovered the alleged theft in 2023 and fired her. Her first court appearance is July 13. (See Details)
➤ Gulf Coast: Health officials are warning beachgoers about Vibrio vulnificus, the so-called flesh-eating bacteria, ahead of the holiday weekend. It lives in warm salt and brackish water and enters through open wounds or by eating raw oysters. The CDC says about 1 in 5 infected people die, sometimes within days. (See Details)
➤ Fort Bend County: Health officials confirmed the county’s first human case of neuroinvasive West Nile virus of 2026 on Wednesday. (More)
➤ East Texas: The city of Zavalla, in Angelina County, is handing out one case of water per household as its water outage continues. (More)
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➤ Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager landed on the injured list for the third time this season with lower back inflammation. The 32-year-old was pulled from this week’s game in Cleveland before his first at-bat after his back flared up during warmups. (More)
➤ The Summer Games of Texas, the state’s premier amateur sporting event, returns to Bryan-College Station from July 30 through Aug. 2. The Olympic-style competition features 11 sports across venues in both cities and on the Texas A&M campus. (More)
➤ The Dallas Stars have been quiet through the first days of NHL free agency, bringing back Finnish forward Joel Kiviranta on a one-year, $1 million deal. The Stars lost forward Mavrik Bourque to Nashville in a draft-week trade and entered the offseason with limited cap flexibility. (More)
➤ The Mavericks acquired forward Santi Aldama from the Grizzlies for guard AJ Johnson, a protected 2030 first-round pick, and two future second-rounders. The 7-foot Aldama averaged a career-high 14 points for Memphis last season before undergoing knee surgery. (More)
➤ Vantage Data Centers‘ Frontier campus near Abilene will open its 10 buildings, valued at nearly $11 billion, beginning in February 2027, with completion continuing through 2028. The Shackelford County campus is the largest project in the company’s global portfolio. (See Details)
➤ Bethesda Health Clinic in Tyler has hit its fundraising goal for a $25 million, 61,000-square-foot healthcare campus in the former Hollywood Theater building, uniting medical, dental, behavioral health, and pediatric services. Nearly 90% of funding came from community donations. The clinic hopes to open by early 2027. (See Details)
➤ IKEA will close its small-format “plan and order point” at the Domain in Austin on Aug. 30. Customers with open kitchen or room-planning projects can finish them before the closure or transfer them to the Round Rock store or a remote planner. (More)
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➤ The Texas Rangers and Budweiser are building a 12-foot-tall, 600-gallon stein at Globe Life Field in Arlington, aiming to break the Guinness World Record for the largest glass of beer on Saturday. (See Details)
➤ The Heritage Center of Cherokee County Museum in Rusk is inviting visitors to sign a replica Declaration of Independence as part of its America 250 exhibit. More than 100 people have added their names since March 2. The signed replica will be placed in a time capsule when the exhibit closes at year’s end. (See Details)
➤ TheTormenta Rampaging Run roller coaster at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, billed as the world’s first giga dive coaster, opens July 9 after testing delays pushed it past a planned June debut. The 309-foot ride pauses at the top, then drops riders 285 feet at 95 degrees, just past straight down. (More)
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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. Clicking the links will take you directly to these stories:
➤ Trump Accounts launch on the Fourth of July with a $1,000 federal deposit, though most eligible families have yet to enroll. (Hear Details)
➤ Wisconsin school officials barred a graduating senior from including a Bible verse in the ceremony slideshow. (Hear Episode)
➤ Brooklyn bodegas are openly selling an experimental weight-loss drug over the counter, despite a federal ban on its commercial sale. (Listen Now)
Will you watch an official fireworks display this weekend?
Contractor Convicted in $1.1M MRE Theft
