Sunday, July 26, 2026

Good Morning! On this day in 1863, Sam Houston died of pneumonia in a rented Huntsville house built to look like a riverboat, two years after Texas ousted him as governor for refusing to swear loyalty to the Confederacy.

In case you missed it, this week on The Flyover Podcast, Ayla tackled the weather pattern that could rewrite the entire winter. Forecasters now put the odds at 81% that El Niño reaches “very strong” status by winter, potentially one of the largest on record, and every corner of the country will be affected. When a pattern this powerful takes over, it doesn’t just tweak the forecast, it decides which states get soaked and which dry out. Ayla broke down the five ways forecasters say this El Niño will shape the months ahead. So which side of the split does your state land on? Tune in here!

Today’s sponsor, BluSky AI, is sharing how it aims to address the growing demand for AI infrastructure by developing data centers designed to come online faster and support the computing power behind modern AI applications.

No Drugs in Houston Shooting Van

The crystal-like substance that FBI agents spotted in Lorenzo Salgado Araujo’s work van after an ICE agent shot him fatally tested negative for narcotics, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office confirmed Friday.

Salgado Araujo’s family said all along that the bags held a homemade electrolyte mix of granulated salt, lemon, and water that outdoor crews use in Texas heat. Their attorney, Ruby Powers, said full lab results are due Monday.

Homeland Security has said the 52-year-old tried to run over an agent during a targeted enforcement operation in Magnolia Park on July 7. Men riding in the van dispute that account, saying the agents’ vehicles struck them first.

District Attorney Sean Teare had already said the drug question had no bearing on whether deadly force was justified. The FBI has not released its own results.

Paxton Wins Discord Child-Safety Order

A Collin County judge ordered Discord to give every Texas user the same age verification and default safety settings the company already provides in the United Kingdom within 90 days.

Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office sued Discord on May 22 under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, arguing the platform told parents it was safe by design while defaulting children’s accounts to its weakest settings. The agreed injunction followed a two-day hearing.

Under the order, messages from strangers route to a separate request inbox, sensitive content stays locked for Texas teens unless Discord confirms an adult, and adult-only spaces close to anyone not age-verified.

Discord said it agreed with the attorney general’s office on steps that support a safer experience for teens. The company filed 489,782 reports of suspected child exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children last year.

Starship Nails Its Softest Splashdown Yet

SpaceX Starship released 20 Starlink satellites on Friday, then settled into the Indian Ocean so gently that the spacecraft stayed afloat.

Thousands of spectators lined South Padre Island to watch the 407-foot rocket lift off from Starbase, with one exclaiming, “I was speechless, I was actually just astonished, like awe-struck. Couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”

The launch came after two scrubbed attempts, a July 16 engine abort and a Thursday delay for clouds off Tropical Storm Bertha.

SpaceX swapped multiple booster engines after the July 16 abort. The company said the reentry was Starship‘s best yet.

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The $7.6 Trillion Flowing Into AI Is Not What You Think

Goldman Sachs is projecting $7.6 trillion in AI investment by 2031.

The common assumption is that all of the AI money flows to names like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. But that is not where the infrastructure dollars are going.

Every AI model, chatbot, and recommendation engine needs compute power to run. And compute power needs physical infrastructure. Data centers. Lots of them.

The problem: AI demand has increased 1 million times in the last two years, stated Jensen Huang, NVIDIA’s CEO. Meanwhile, traditional data centers take 3 to 7 years to build. The infrastructure cannot keep up.

BluSky AI has developed a premanufactured solution ready in months, not years. They have a robust portfolio of sites with negotiated power ready for deployment. BluSky AI utilizes less power, smaller footprints, little to no water, and minimizes the impact on communities.

For the first time, everyday investors can back BluSky AI as they build the backbone of AI.

➤ Cotulla: Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed a third death from this month’s flooding, a driver swept away July 20 in Val Verde County. Abbott said the Nueces River crested above 29 feet here, damaging at least 48 homes. (See Details)

➤ Del Rio: A federal grand jury indicted 11 people over a smuggling ring that loaded migrants into a locked, unventilated shipping container in May. Six died in a Laredo rail yard and a seventh body was found near railroad tracks in San Antonio. (See Details)

➤ Statewide: The USDA will reopen the Douglas, Arizona, port to Mexican cattle in phases starting Aug. 24, more than a year after closing southern ports over New World screwworm. Texas has 41 of the 42 U.S. animal cases. Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said the call came too late. (More)

➤ Frisco: Jeff Metcalf launched the Austin Metcalf Foundation on Friday to teach young people de-escalation, six weeks after a Collin County jury gave Karmelo Anthony 35 years for stabbing his son. Bruce Carter, who called the sentence too harsh, joined the board. (See Details)

➤ Laredo: Three veterans in the city are living unsheltered, down from 10 a year ago, according to street outreach coordinator Javier Rito De Anda. One of the three veterans has repeatedly refused help. (More)

➤ Montgomery County: Four members of one family have tested positive for measles, with a woman in her 20s hospitalized. None were vaccinated, and county health officials said all four were exposed to an infected traveler from out of state. (See Details)

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➤ Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd scored 30 of a possible 40 points in the final round Friday night to become the first rookie to win the WNBA 3-point contest, then challenged Stephen Curry: “I’ve been asking for a rematch since high school.” (More)

➤ Texas was picked to finish second in the SEC preseason media poll. Georgia received 88 votes to win the conference championship, while the Longhorns received 57. (More)

➤ Dallas native Sha’Carri Richardson won her third U.S. outdoor 100-meter title Friday night in New York, finishing in 10.77 seconds at the USA Track and Field Championships. (More)

➤ Austin FC academy players are under investigation by Austin police and the FBI over allegations of youth-on-youth sexual abuse. The club said it learned of the allegations in December and has since suspended and expelled players. (More)

➤ Yesterday’s Results: MLB | WNBA | Golf

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Data Centers Built For Coexistence

Communities across the country are pushing back on data centers, and for good reason. Massive facilities are draining local water supplies, straining power grids, and disrupting neighborhoods, all while offering little in return.

BluSky AI took a different approach.

Their SkyMod prefabricated, AI-ready data centers use less power, require little to no water, and fit onto smaller footprints. This minimizes the impact on the communities they’re built near, from Colorado to Texas. This is AI infrastructure designed to coexist, not compete, with the people around it.

BluSky AI’s model is a unique solution to meet the high market demands that aren’t being met by the industry.. Become a BluSky AI shareholder as they open the door to everyday investors.

This is a paid advertisement for BluSky AI Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at https://invest.bluskyaidatacenters.com/

➤ College Station’s City Council unanimously approved a $7 million construction contract Thursday for Texas Independence Park, a 68-acre park on Rock Prairie Road, ending years of delays. Plans include a bike track, disc golf, fishing, trails and a playground. (See Details)

➤ Ishmael Thorns of Cedar Hill needed a B-positive kidney and, unable to find a match, put a call out on TikTok. Brandy Laman, of Houston, saw the video, volunteered, and gave him a kidney at Methodist Dallas on July 7. (More)

➤ NASA is taking applications for four people to spend a year sealed inside simulated spacecraft and habitats at Johnson Space Center. No plumber, no haircuts, and no video calls home. The mission starts as soon as August 2027. (See Details)

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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, straight from the heart of the country. Clicking the link will take you directly to these stories:

➤ Delivery giants are rushing to keep weight-loss drugs cold. (Hear More)

➤ Thousands celebrated the birthday of the internet’s favorite little monkey. (Listen Now)

➤ A beloved honey farm teetered on collapse, but one beekeeper refused to quit. (Podcast Available)