The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - October 7, 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Howdy folks, today is Tuesday, October 7th, 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, amid growing concerns of violence directed at law enforcement and political advocates, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into, quote, various groups affiliated with left-wing political violence known to be operating in Texas. Paxton pointed to the assassination of conservative media figure Charlie Kirk and the recent attacks on U.S. immigration and customs enforcement facilities as the impetus for his, quote, undercover operations and investigation. Paxton stated in his press release,

Starting point is 00:00:52 quote, there can be no compromise with those who want us dead. Kirk's assassination on September 10th sparked a wave of reactions across the country, especially in Texas, where lawmakers have taken to great lengths to identify and penalize those who were publicly celebrating the Turning Point USA founder's murder. There have also been a number of incidents of targeted at law enforcement, most recently with the shooting at a Dallas ice facility. That attack came after a bomb threat in August, and then a July attack on an ice facility in Alvarado that resulted in 10 suspects being arrested on charges of terrorism and aggravated assault. Next, Nicholas Roski, who was sentenced to prison this week for the attempted murder of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, cited the 2022 Rob Elementary School shooting in Uvalde as one of the two events that, quote, upset him prior to the attempted assassination. Roski, a self-identified transgender woman by the name of Sophie, received his sentence of 97 months in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release on Friday, after he pled

Starting point is 00:02:02 guilty in April for the attempted murder of Kavanaugh in June 2022. In addition to listing the Yuvalde shooting, which took the lives of 19 children and two teachers, court documents revealed that Roski had also researched another Texas shooting, the Sutherland Springs Church shooting, in 2017. That incident took the lives of 26 people at a First Baptist church, including one pregnant mother and her unborn child. In other news, an appeals court has ordered Harris County to return nearly $42,000 seized by police six years ago from a Mississippi man who was never charged with criminal activity. Represented by the Institute for Justice, Emil Woods and Jordan Davis sued the county

Starting point is 00:02:47 over the seizure of $41,680 by sheriff's deputies, after a traffic stop conducted on May 14, 2019. deputies stopped Woods on Interstate 10 near Houston for following too closely behind a box truck and took possession of his cash, although the officers did not issue a citation to Woods or charge him with a crime. Woods told investigators that he had been traveling from Natchez, Mississippi to Houston to purchase a used trailer and truck with cash he had saved, along with $6,500 borrowed from his common law wife, Jordan Davis, $13,000 borrowed from his knees, and cash from other sources. Also, the Terrant Appraisal District believes that at the end of its homestead exemption audit, about 4,000 properties will be found ineligible for the status that reduces their Advilorum tax liability. The district says that a Fort Worth Star Telegram article published inaccurate information about the number of homestead exemptions flagged in the district's audit process. The homestead exemption is an exemption provided by a local taxing unit that removes some or all of the value of one's primary residence from the tax rolls. It also caps the increase

Starting point is 00:04:03 in the homestead's appraised value at 10% each year. In 2023, the Texas legislature passed Senate Bill 1801 by state Senator Drew Springer requiring appraisal districts to audit homestead exemptions every five years. Last but not least, a new seawater desalination facility is in the permitting process with the hopes of beginning construction in southeast Texas, as water supply remains a top priority for many regions across the state. Epcore Utilities Incorporated recently announced its intent to begin construction and eventual operation of a facility in Galveston Bay, a region that is home to almost 8 million people. Beginning with a permit application with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Epcore is planning to construct a desalination plant on the sands

Starting point is 00:04:53 Leone Peninsula, which, according to a press release, will supply approximately 26.5 million gallons of fresh water per day. The Bayshore desalination facility is projected to be completed in approximately five years if the design and construction phases are allowed to proceed. Thanks for listening. To support the Texan, please be sure to visit the Texan. News and subscribe to get full access to all of our articles, newsletters, and podcasts. Thank you. Thank you.

The Texan Podcast - Daily Rundown - October 7, 2025

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