The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 26, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy, folks. Today is Wednesday, November 26th, and you're listening to the Texans Daily Rundown. I'm the Texans assistant editor Rob Lauchess, and here is the rundown of today's news in Texas politics. First up, Brown County Judge Shane Britton was suspended from office without pay on Tuesday. One day after, he was arrested on multiple charges that included allegations he assaulted a female prosecutor and interfered with the prosecution of a family violence case. According to indictments handed down by a grand jury last week, Britain has been charged with three felonies, tampering with a witness in a family violence case, assault of a public servant, and tampering with a government document. Britain also faces misdemeanor charges of hindering a prosecution and abuse of official

Starting point is 00:00:53 capacity. A Republican elected in 2022, Britain presides over the Brown County Commissioner's court. But as in many small counties across the state, he also performs judicial functions as county judge. While in office, the county judge may not practice law, but Britain is accused of continuing to serve as an attorney in December 2023, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of $4,000. One of the more serious charges against Britain stems from allegations that he hit the assistant county attorney in the head during plea deal negotiations with defense counsel in March 24. Next, the Humble Independent School District Board of Trustees voted six to one to pilot a school marshal program, permitting authorized and trained

Starting point is 00:01:42 employees to carry firearms and serve as marshals on campus. Since 2003, all Texas ISDs and open enrollment charter schools have been required by state law House Bill from the 88th legislature to have at least one armed security officer on every campus during school hours. Under HB3, districts can choose from six kinds of armed security, a fully commissioned police officer, a school resource officer, a state-regulated marshal, a licensed security officer, or a trained employee authorized by the district to carry a handgun. Humble ISD has a full police staff led by Chief Solomon Cook. It was the first school district police. Department in Texas to earn Academy Training provider status from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement,

Starting point is 00:02:30 leading to the creation of the Humble ISD Law Enforcement Academy. In a November 11th board meeting, Trustee Ken Kirkhoffer emphasized that the school Marshall program is another layer to the district's police department and is, quote, not taking the place of Chief Cook and his staff. Heads up, for Black Friday, the Texan is giving you our biggest deal of the year, and this offer is available now. For a limited time, get a full year of independent Texas-focused journalism for just $48, half off our annual regular subscription. Stay informed on the stories that matter to Texans, from politics to your pocketbook and everything in between without the spin of legacy media. You'll get full access to articles, newsletters, and more. Don't miss out. This offer is available now, but won't last

Starting point is 00:03:20 long. Head to the Texan. News to claim your 50% off annual subscription. Now, back to the news. In other news, two men from Texas and Florida were sentenced to prison for their roles in a fraudulent telemarketing scheme involving genetic testing for cancer-related diagnoses, causing Medicare to be billed over $17 million and the men collecting over $5 million. Paul Wexler from Spring and Paul Blignier from Seminole, Florida, were sentenced on November 13th. According to court documents, the two individuals were operating a telemarketing startup that focused on obtaining Medicare benefits for cancer genetic or CGX testing that was, quote, medically unnecessary. Wexler and Blinier recruited Medicare beneficiaries for CGX testing, which the U.S. Department

Starting point is 00:04:09 of Justice described as using DNA, quote, sequencing, to detect mutations in genes that could indicate a higher risk of developing certain types of cancers in the future. CGX testing is not used to make an active cancer diagnosis and is sometimes covered by Medicare in limited circumstances, as described in the Middle District of Florida's court documents. Wexler received four years in prison, while Blinier received two years and an extra concurrent two years for also opening a clinical laboratory while the case related to genetic testing fraud was ongoing and enrolling it in Medicare using falsified information. Last but not least, on November 26, 1835, the Texian army fought the penultimate battle of the weeks-long siege

Starting point is 00:04:56 of Bayar, the future city of San Antonio, in what would become known as the grass fight. Visit the Texan. Dot News to learn more about the battle 190 years ago, today in Texas history. Thanks for listening. The Daily rundown is taking a break on Thursday and Friday. to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. So check back in with us on Monday, December 1st for the next episode of The Daily Rundown. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the texan.news and subscribe to get full access

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The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - November 26, 2025

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