BREAKING: a photo has emerged bolstering President Trump's claim that he was at 'ground zero' on 9/11.
Wednesday, September 9, 2026
A CENTURY OF NURTURING EDUCATION IN OUR COMMUNITY
100 years. Generations of Scorpions. Join us September 14 for TSC Generations Day!
GUS DE LEON: I (ALMOST) GOT AWAY WITH IT! BUT I'M A NICE GUY!
AND THEN, AFTER THE ASPHALT-MILL SETTLEMENT PLOT, THE 445-ACRE SPACEX GIVEAWAY, THE BOGUS ASSASSINATION PLOT BEHIND A RANDOM DRIVE-BY SHOOTING, COMES THE "NICE GUY" NARRATIVE
By Victoria Sanchez
This situation has deeply affected Commissioner Gustavo De León… and because I truly care about him and his family… it hurts me to see what they are going through…
He stated that he will be laying low for a little while… but he will be back!!! We need Commissioner De León in office… we need leaders who listen to the people and treat the community with dignity and respect…
He has been the only commissioner who continued communicating with me after the elections… He didn’t have to do that… but he did… It was also reported that he met with Yolanda, aka Yoli Speece, and with the city attorney…Did you know that??? Well, now you know.
We will soon be holding a town hall meeting with Commissioner Gustavo De León… He wants to hear directly from the community about the needs and concerns of District 3… but everyone in Brownsville will be welcome…
His responsibility may be District 3… but his willingness to listen goes beyond district lines… because the decisions made at City Hall affect all of Brownsville…
This town hall is about transparency… community input… public safety… and giving the people a voice…
Commissioner Gustavo De León… take the time you need… Brownsville will be waiting for you… stronger than ever!!
HEY, THIS TRICK STILL WORKS IN BROWNSVLLE 400 YEARS LATER
By Maria
Special to El Rrun-Rrun
In the September, 23, 1626, American folklore tells us the Indians sold Manhattan to Dutch colonists for $24 of beads and trinkets. In the early 21st century, August 2026, to be exact – almost 400 years ago to the day – history repeats itself in Brownsville.
On the table for the City Commission was $220 million for water projects. All SpaceX wanted was a 444-acre piece of Brownsville's city limits transferred into the jurisdiction of its company town, the City of Starbase. But the deal had to be done fast - take it or leave it.
The City Commission, in all its naivete, believed SpaceX's deal to be of enormous value. And its deadline to be real.
They told the public, "We have no money and no water. Now we will."
They told the public, "They would have gotten jurisdiction anyway through a lawsuit."
They told the public, "We have no leverage, but we got a deal of a lifetime."
The Indians of Manhattan probably thought the same.
But like the Indians, Brownsville's leaders did not realize how much leverage they had.
It was time.
SpaceX wanted jurisdiction over the 444 acres. And they wanted it **now**.
They dangled $220 million. Not to be spent as the City Commission saw fit. Just for water.
Why? Because water is a critical input to their operations. No water, no growth.
What if the City Commission could just sleep on it? Make the case to the public?
Sorry, SpaceX Vice President Sheila McCorkle, Starship Legal and Regulatory said, "then no deal."
As soon as the deal closed, SpaceX began construction in earnest. Who knows what they're doing. But it's clear: time mattered.
So what if the City Commission had let the deadline pass? Is it believable SpaceX would have taken water off the table?
More likely, they would have come back - and upped the ante.
To SpaceX and the world's richest man, $220 million is pocket change. What could the city have **really** gotten from SpaceX, besides this "pretend" gift?
Whatever you may think about Musk's intelligence and how that's contributed to his success, it is his boldness that stands out.
He makes bets. He tests limits. He pushes until somebody pushes back.
The City Commission didn't push back.
Brownsville still waits for bold leaders.
In the meantime, the current ones will keep collecting beads and trinkets.
Tuesday, September 8, 2026
THE GUS DE LEON ASPHALT-MILLINGS "DUMPING" SAGA CONTINUES
Special to El Rrun-Rrun
The principals involved in the controversy surrounding the police complaint filed by Commissioner Gus de Leon against the City of Brownsville for allegedly "dumping" tons of asphalt millings to repair a private road belonging to his family's trust for which he was trying to negotiate a $1.2 million "settlement" is not dead yet.
"There are still some people asking questions about it," said a city administrator. "We're not done with this yet."
Critics were outraged that a sitting city commissioner would threaten to sue the city he represented, that he was personally involved in negotiating a settlement for unimproved property valued at $250,000 by the Cameron County Appraisal District – with two city employees he could hire or fire – and which had been in the real estate listings offered for $850,000 since 2018 without any takers.
An item in the commissioners' July 7 executive session agenda read:
8) Closed session pursuant to Tex. Gov't. Code Section 551.071 (Consultation with Attorney, including Contemplated or Pending Litigation and/or Settlement Offer) related to CCAD Property ID 30393. (Office of the City Attorney/ City Manager's Office)
The notice and the possible "settlement" drew wide public attention and no action was taken that day. But what the public did not realize was that the item had been in consideration during regular city commission meetings before July 7 and as far back as the June 16 city commission meeting. After it became public knowledge, the item never appeared on the city commission agendas again. And the threat of the De Leon family filing suit against the city never materialized after the public furor that erupted.
City residents learned that:
City crews had been allowed to enter the property and make road repairs based on an informal agreement between his late father – and also a former city commissioner – Ernesto de Leon Sr. and the Border Patrol dating back from his election in 2003 until his death in June 2022.
“This road leads to the backside of the property, all the way back. The only people who have permission to use this property are the U.S. Border Patrol, and that permission was given to them by my late father,” De Leon said. De Leon says he discovered city crews working on the property on May 4, 2026. He says he immediately contacted the city attorney.
"When we came out here together, we came out here several times. I would say it was about four different times we walked the property; we were in awe. Very surprised this happened," De Leon said.
De Leon then filed a police report and sent a cease-and-desist letter demanding the work stop.
"That went unanswered for three days until they finished this road. So work kept going for three days, and the dumping kept on for three days," De Leon said. De Leon says more than 17,000 square feet of materials were left on the more than 10-acre piece of land.
"This is probably .94 acres, almost one acre of millings that were thrown on here and about five inches deep," De Leon said.
A local contractor's estimate of road improvements on the De Leon family property. Photos and construction materials amounts were provided to local media by commissioner De Leon.
Had filed a complaint with the Brownsville Police Department May 4, but that the crews continued to make improvements on a private road inside the family's 10.5 acre property for three days after he had reported the alleged trespass.
A city employee said that based on the informal agreement, the Border Patrol would call Public Works and crews would go out there and make the repairs to the road that they needed.
That is why the city was taken by surprise when De Leon threatened to sue for alleged "damages" and "illegal dumping" and entered into negotiations with the city starting at $1.2 million and scaling it down to $700,000 to $900,000 before it became public knowledge that the settlement would be discussed July 7.
Later, on July 16, the public learned that the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security took possession of the property under a lease with the De Leon family and heavy equipment and cement trucks were seen entering and exiting through the improved entrance and the road leading to the construction of the Border Wall.
Interestingly, the asphalt millings were spread (dumped, according to de Leon), at the entrance, and along the road and ended near the section where the wall is being constructed. Did the lease with the DHS require guaranteed access and improvements to the road?
De Leon also told KRGV News 5 representatives July 14 that he was the executor of the De Leon Vera family's property, only to have trust executrix Nora Ramirez De Leon attend the city commission meeting and telling the commission otherwise. Did De Leon misrepresent himself as the property's executor and negotiate with the city for a settlement without legal authority? Did he see an opportunity to pocket a few city bucks and tried to take it?
Like the city administrator said above: "We're not done with this yet."
OH, OH, GUNFIRE!: HIDE THE CITY COMMISSIONERS! DO ANY OF THEM LIVE NEARBY?
Monday, September 7, 2026
"HAY QUE TRABAJAR PARA VIVIR, Y VIVIR PARA TRABAJAR! SALUDOS!
Happy Labor Day.
Labor Day is about the people who make Texas run — the teachers, the nurses working doubles, the line cooks, the construction workers, the people up before sunrise for a job that still doesn't cover the rent.
That's who I'm running for.
We can deliver a Texas that works for the people who actually do the work.
Where a family doesn't lose everything to one medical bill, and where the people keeping this state going aren't the ones getting left behind.
But we can’t do it on our own.
But we can’t do it on our own.
Greg Abbott has $67 million to spend to keep things exactly as they are: with our government catering to corrupt special interests instead of regular Texans. The only way we beat that is together.
Every grassroots donation helps us reach voters, run ads, and make the case that Texas can do better.
Make a donation of any amount today to help build the Texas every worker deserves.
Every grassroots donation helps us reach voters, run ads, and make the case that Texas can do better.
Make a donation of any amount today to help build the Texas every worker deserves.
ON LABOR DAY, YOUR GOLFER-IN-CHIEF CONTINUES TO WASTE YOUR $$$$
o
The folks who barely work at all - except to flame the culture wars – complain about being underpaid, get healthcare for life... Wow. Even WE didn't see this one coming.
Special to El Rrun-Rrun
Independent trackers estimate that the taxpayer cost of Donald Trump golf-related travel and security has climbed to nearly $115 million.
The figure has also revived comparisons with former President Barack Obama, whom Trump spent years criticizing for playing golf while in office.
He repeatedly promised voters he would break the pattern if elected. "I'm going to be working for you," Trump said at a 2016 campaign stop. "I'm not going to have time to play golf."
An independent tracker estimates that Trump's golf-related travel and security costs have reached nearly $115 million during his second term. Is Trump Golfing Today?, which tracks the president's public schedule using flight data and White House pool reports, puts the total at $114.97 million as of August 3.
The nearly $115 million estimate builds on previous reporting about the cost of Trump's golf trips. HuffPost calculated Trump's golf-related travel and security costs at $101.2 million as of late March, when he had golfed 110 days in just over 14 months in office.
The figure has also revived comparisons with former President Barack Obama, whom Trump spent years criticizing for playing golf while in office.
He repeatedly promised voters he would break the pattern if elected. "I'm going to be working for you," Trump said at a 2016 campaign stop. "I'm not going to have time to play golf."
An independent tracker estimates that Trump's golf-related travel and security costs have reached nearly $115 million during his second term. Is Trump Golfing Today?, which tracks the president's public schedule using flight data and White House pool reports, puts the total at $114.97 million as of August 3.
The nearly $115 million estimate builds on previous reporting about the cost of Trump's golf trips. HuffPost calculated Trump's golf-related travel and security costs at $101.2 million as of late March, when he had golfed 110 days in just over 14 months in office.
Based on that pace, the outlet estimated Trump could spend about $300 million on golf-related costs by the end of his second term.
Beyond the cost, watchdog groups have also tracked how frequently Trump has visited his own properties since returning to office.
Beyond the cost, watchdog groups have also tracked how frequently Trump has visited his own properties since returning to office.
The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) found that, as of mid-June, Trump had made 259 total visits to his properties, including 148 to golf courses, and had spent time at a property he owns on 191 days, or 37 percent of his first 512 days in office. Mar-a-Lago was his most-visited property, with 102 trips.
Sunday, September 6, 2026
GUNFIRE BY COMMISSIONER GUS DE LEON'S HOME WAS INCIDENTAL TO TEENAGE DRIVE-BY SHOOTING; NOT FAKE POLITICAL RETALIATION
Special to El Run-Rrun
They say the suspect is a 16- year-old, a minor under state law. Officials would not confirm. Initial reports do not point to any retribution against de Leon for any official acts.
Tellingly, the mayor's statement that "political intimidation and violence" have no place in local politics may distract from the real motive behind the apparent drive-by shooting. The most controversial vote that De Leon – and the rest of the city commission have made lately – was their total cowardly abject submission to Elon Musk's coercion and their abandonment of municipal authority over 445 acres near the Port of Brownsville to his SpaceX.
By that measure, all of them should be cowering from the outrage of Brownsville citizens. The random drive-by shooting and Gus De Leon's response reminds us of the biblical Proverbs that say: "The wicked flee when no man pursueth," or more plainly "They panic and hide, even when no one is chasing, blaming, or accusing them."
Nobody is saying a shooting should be ignored. Gunfire on a public thoroughfare or outside anyone’s home is serious, and whoever did it should be found and held accountable.
But that still does not give politicians the right to call it political when police have not said that.
Brownsville Police has not publicly identified a suspect, announced a motive, or said the shooting was politically motivated. Yet, Cowen was already talking about “political intimidation and violence,” and Villarreal used the shooting as a reason to cancel his town hall on the SpaceX and BPUB agreement.
That looks less like caution and more like City Hall trying to gain sympathy while changing the subject.
For weeks, people have been questioning the decisions coming out of City Hall. The rushed disannexation. The SpaceX water agreement. The questions surrounding Commissioner Gustavo De Leon’s family property. The money involved. The way these decisions have been handled.
Now suddenly the conversation is about elected officials being threatened.
That is convenient.
Instead of answering for their own decisions, they get to stand in front of the public as victims. Instead of people asking hard questions, people are supposed to feel sorry for them.
Maybe police will later come out and say the shooting was political. If they do, then there should be evidence to support it.
But until then, the political narrative is coming from the politicians, not from police.
And people should pay attention to that.
A shooting does not erase the bad decisions City Hall has already made. There is widespread opinion that the city may have prevailed against SpaceX in a court of law.
Tellingly, the mayor's statement that "political intimidation and violence" have no place in local politics may distract from the real motive behind the apparent drive-by shooting. The most controversial vote that De Leon – and the rest of the city commission have made lately – was their total cowardly abject submission to Elon Musk's coercion and their abandonment of municipal authority over 445 acres near the Port of Brownsville to his SpaceX.
By that measure, all of them should be cowering from the outrage of Brownsville citizens. The random drive-by shooting and Gus De Leon's response reminds us of the biblical Proverbs that say: "The wicked flee when no man pursueth," or more plainly "They panic and hide, even when no one is chasing, blaming, or accusing them."
Nobody is saying a shooting should be ignored. Gunfire on a public thoroughfare or outside anyone’s home is serious, and whoever did it should be found and held accountable.
But that still does not give politicians the right to call it political when police have not said that.
Brownsville Police has not publicly identified a suspect, announced a motive, or said the shooting was politically motivated. Yet, Cowen was already talking about “political intimidation and violence,” and Villarreal used the shooting as a reason to cancel his town hall on the SpaceX and BPUB agreement.
That looks less like caution and more like City Hall trying to gain sympathy while changing the subject.
For weeks, people have been questioning the decisions coming out of City Hall. The rushed disannexation. The SpaceX water agreement. The questions surrounding Commissioner Gustavo De Leon’s family property. The money involved. The way these decisions have been handled.
Now suddenly the conversation is about elected officials being threatened.
That is convenient.
Instead of answering for their own decisions, they get to stand in front of the public as victims. Instead of people asking hard questions, people are supposed to feel sorry for them.
Maybe police will later come out and say the shooting was political. If they do, then there should be evidence to support it.
But until then, the political narrative is coming from the politicians, not from police.
And people should pay attention to that.
A shooting does not erase the bad decisions City Hall has already made. There is widespread opinion that the city may have prevailed against SpaceX in a court of law.
The fabricated political targeting does not erase the unanswered questions. And it should not be used to shut down criticism or make the public feel guilty for demanding answers.
FIVE-TIME DRAFT DODGER – GEN. BONESPUR – WANTS MEDAL OF HONOR
Willing to bet no MAGA supporter is going to criticize this piece of shit for the total disrespect to veterans and the military.
Saturday, September 5, 2026
GUNFIRE BY COMMISSIONER GUS DE LEON'S HOME WAS INCIDENTAL. RUMORED SUSPECT IN CUSTODY SAID TO BE 16 YEARS OLD.
Rumors abound as to the suspected gun person(s) and that they were already in custody. Mayor John Cowen confirmed that it happened early today. Unofficial reports indicate that at least nine rounds were fired.
And sources heretofore reliable say that the fact that it happened in the vicinity of commissioner Gus de Leon's home was incidental.
They say the suspect in custody is 16 years old, a minor under state law. Officials would not confirm. Initial reports do not point to any retribution against de Leon for any official acts.
Tellingly, the mayor's statement that "political intimidation and violence" have no place in local politics may distract from the real motive behind the apparent drive-by shooting.
IN THE EVENT THAT YOU SEE YOURSELF LOSING THE MIDTERMS, RIG THE VOTE
By Amy Howe
SCOTUSblog
The Trump administration returned to the Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon, asking the justices to temporarily pause an order by a federal judge in Boston that blocks the government from implementing parts of a U.S. Postal Service rule on mail-in ballots.
U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the court that the order by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani “partially nullifies the Postal Service’s efforts to address the risk that the federal mails will be used to perpetrate voter fraud – a particularly pernicious species of fraud that dilutes the votes of lawful voters, prevents election results from reflecting the will of the American people, and undermines ‘public confidence in the integrity of the electoral process.’”
Thursday’s filing was the second time in less than six weeks that the Trump administration came to the Supreme Court seeking to clear the way to implement restrictions on mail-in voting.
The second provision tells the U.S. attorney general to “prioritize the investigation and, as appropriate, the prosecution of State and local officials … who issue Federal ballots to individuals not eligible to vote in a Federal election.”
And the third provision requires states to give the U.S. Postal Service a list of voters to whom the states intend to send mail ballots, and it prohibits the USPS from mailing ballots to voters who are not on the lists of “enrolled” voters that the USPS will create.
A group of 23 states, led by California, and the District of Columbia went to federal court in Massachusetts to challenge the government’s implementation of the order. They argued that the executive order conflicts with provisions in the Constitution that give states the power to determine voter eligibility and to set the “Times, Places, and Manner” of holding congressional elections.
To read the rest of Howe's excellent article, click on link: https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/09/trump-administration-asks-supreme-court-to-clear-the-way-for-it-to-implement-new-mail-in-voting-/
A LABOR DAY 52 YEARS AGO, MEMORIES OF THE GOOD OLD DAYS
By Alan Schaefer
Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University
Juan Montoya
In the waning days of the summer of 1974, several of us who were attending summer classes at Texas Southmost College heard about the megaconcert being planned at Texas Stadium in Austin.
Coach Royal didn’t believe Leff’s claim that perhaps 10 or 20,000 would show up. But the stadium filled to capacity and then some. The BBQ ran out, and then it seemed like potable water might, too, which was a bit of an issue on a sunny Labor Day weekend in Texas.
Cocker was loaded when he sang his set, but no one could tell the difference. And of course, ZZ Top sizzled to close the show past 10 p.m.
In the waning days of the summer of 1974, several of us who were attending summer classes at Texas Southmost College heard about the megaconcert being planned at Texas Stadium in Austin.
ZZ Top would be there, as would be Santana, Bad Company and Joe Cocker. Three of us were at TSC were in our early 20s, and we took a friend, a longhair named John Bassett, the son of a missionary to Mexico who shared our love for the hippie lifestyle, and who was a fluent bilingual who spoke Spanish better than we did having grown up in the ranchos and ejidos of Tamaulipas around Victoria.
The event was billed as “ZZ Top’s First Annual Texas-Sized Rompin’ Stompin’ Barndance and Bar B.Q.” The price of admission was $10 at the stadium gate. Even though we had no car, we were undaunted and we each stuffed a backpack with an extra set of clothes and a toothbrush, a snack, and we stuck out our thumb on the expressway. Two rides and seven hours later, we were in Austin.
We didn't know it at the time, but approximately 80,000 other hard rock fans filled the stadium and its newl-placed Astroturf under a mighty Texas sun for the first and only "ZZTop Barndance.” Later we learned that other kids from Brownsville were also there, including Emilio Crixell, who would later form the Connectors with Joey Tamayo, Albert Besteiro, and Freddie Longoria who started their musical careers in humble venues like Brownsville's Amber Pub or Joe Schull's' New Rising Sun across Central Blvd.
According to writer Shaefer, the seeds of the concert were planted in 1973 when UT student government was facing budget cuts. He wrote that student government financial director Barry Leff devised a plan to throw a fundraising concert, and he set his sights on the mighty Memorial Stadium.
According to writer Shaefer, the seeds of the concert were planted in 1973 when UT student government was facing budget cuts. He wrote that student government financial director Barry Leff devised a plan to throw a fundraising concert, and he set his sights on the mighty Memorial Stadium.
But first, there was one man who had to approve of its use: University of Texas football coach and winner of multiple national championships Darrell K Royal. An already legendary figure on the Forty Acres, Coach Royal approved the plan thinking it would never actually come to fruition. Further, UT itself had to contend with Bill Ham, ZZ Top’s tough-as-nails manager.
The upstart Leff, who eventually pursued a lengthy concert promotion career, assembled the heavyweight lineup, anchored by ZZ Top riding high off the success of the album Tres Hombres. Bill Narum, the Houston-born artist and countercultural bon vivant, who would go on to serve as ZZ Top’s art director, designed the concert poster.
At any given time, a lit joint would appear after being passed from either side of of where we were seating. You puffed and passed it down the road. Things were different in those days.
The show went off into the late hours, with the fans treated to an onstage appearance of legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page joining Bad Company to the pleasure of the crowd. Santana kept us waiting in the sweltering heat until just the right moment when the sun was setting in the west and Carlos Santana came on with his trademark lead of Black Magic Woman guitar intro echoing through the dying rays of the sun.
Just when we thought things couldn't get better, we walked over to a theater on Sixth Street to catch a movie and found ourselves in line to watch Andy Warhol's Frankenstein in 3D. We thought the 3D was a dud until it started to snow all around us in the dark theater. A collective gasp went up from the audience as the bizarre cult movie wowed everyone.
Blood spurts and gushes from the neck stump as huge scissors cut someone's head. A fish glides then stops suspended in midair (water?), turns around and faces you and puckers its lips as you look through an aquarium in the middle of Frankenstein's laboratory watching the doctor and his guests go down a stairway on the other side. Cool, dude!
Later we learned that some damage to the hallowed ground for Longhorn football had occurred to the Astroturf during the concert, mainly burns from marihuana roaches dropped by fans who were on the field. Still, the university would never open the stadium gates wide for rockers again, and this first annual Barndance and BBQ was also the last.
The ZZ Top album Fandango! commemorated the epic day with a photo insert of the full stadium, captioned: “Austin Summer ’74 with 80,000 friends.”
Friday, September 4, 2026
DR. MESSAGE
THE DOCTOR SAYS:
When a Student Struggles With Math, We Should Ask Why
Imagine a child – we’ll call him Johnny – who begins struggling with math in elementary school.
He studies. He tries. But numbers simply don't make sense to him the way they seem to make sense to everyone else. Year after year, Johnny falls further behind. His teachers may not understand why. His parents may not understand either. Other children may tease him. Eventually, Johnny may begin believing what no child should believe about himself: “Maybe I'm just not smart.”
But what if Johnny has dyscalculia?
Dyscalculia is a learning difficulty that affects a person's ability to understand numbers and mathematical concepts. A child can be intelligent and capable in other subjects and still struggle profoundly with math. If we don't identify that child early, the consequences can follow him from elementary school through middle school, high school and eventually to the doors of college. In Texas, students may encounter another major barrier: the mathematics portion of the Texas Success Initiative Assessment, or TSI. A student who has struggled with an unidentified math-learning difficulty for years may find himself taking the exam repeatedly while watching classmates move ahead. By then, we are addressing the problem far too late. The better question should have been asked years earlier: Why is this child struggling with math?
Before treatment, find the cause
As a physician, I learned that you cannot properly treat a problem until you identify its cause. Education should be no different. Teachers and parents need the knowledge and resources to recognize possible signs of dyscalculia early. Children should be identified, evaluated and given appropriate educational interventions before years of frustration damage their confidence and limit their opportunities.
A child's difficulty with numbers should never become a judgment about his intelligence, motivation or
potential. Before we allow another Johnny to spend years believing he simply “can't do math,” we need to ask why. Sometimes the most important thing we can give a struggling child isn't another test. It's an answer.
potential. Before we allow another Johnny to spend years believing he simply “can't do math,” we need to ask why. Sometimes the most important thing we can give a struggling child isn't another test. It's an answer.
Physician. Conservative. Fighting for Brownsville's Future.
Click on link to go to her website: https://drcisnerosfortexas.com/
"OH WHAT FOOOLS THESE BROWNTOWN RUBES MUST BE..."
By Stephanie Koithan,
San Antonio Current
The South Texas city of Brownsville has approved the disannexation of 444 acres of land in a rushed deal with billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX that displayed the “lopsided power dynamics” between the municipality and the galactic Goliath, news site myRGV reports.
The purpose of the land grab is still officially a mystery. SpaceX declined to state how it plans to use the land, according to media reports. However, activists say there’s evidence the company plans to use the property to build a water-hungry data center and gas-fueled power plant in the resource-strained region.
Opponents of the transaction raised the alarm over the company’s tactics, which they said were so secretive that even the mayor and city commissioners didn’t know the details of a deal they unanimously approved during a nighttime meeting last Saturday, myRGV reports.
SpaceX, an aerospace company valued at $1.9 trillion, asked for the property near Brownsville’s port to be removed from city limits and the municipality’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. That means the city, which has a population of nearly 200,000, surrendered its zoning, permitting, ordinance and taxation authority over the property — without knowing why.
As part of the transaction, SpaceX will invest up to $220 million in Brownsville’s water supply, but the offer, called Project Quantum, was only on the table if city leaders accepted the deal that day, according to media reports. Brownsville officials cited the city’s water scarcity as their reason for approving the deal.
“We put the residents first tonight,” Mayor John Cowen Jr. told the Brownsville Herald. “We look at this as a very historic moment for the city. Water is a huge issue in South Texas and around the state, and this decision today will ensure that Brownsville be a place for future generations to live, and for our continued growth as a city.”
At the same time, the company offered little explanation for why it requested the disannexation.
SpaceX executive Sheila McCorkle, Vice President of Starship Legal and Regulatory, was present at the hearing and said the business would take the matter to court if need be, according to activists who attended the hearing.
City commissioners requested 72 hours to deliberate but McCorkle denied their request, saying the deal would soon be off the table, according to the report by myRGV.
“I did not feel comfortable with the pace here. I made that statement to SpaceX privately and publicly,” Brownsville Mayor John Cowen said at the meeting. “We wanted to, at the very least, move this to Tuesday.”
“I appreciate it’s a rush, but it’s the reality,” McCorkle said.
Community members spoke against the deal during Saturday’s meeting, even though city commissioners themselves hadn’t seen the Municipal Annexation Plan prior to the public comment period.
Upon receiving the plan 90 minutes after the meeting’s public comment concluded, city officials shared details of the project with the crowd. Even after public comment had ended, video footage shows that members of the community continued to speak up. Police escorted some out of the building.
“You keep talking about the pros of the deal but what are the cons?” one woman asked before being
escorted away, as shown in video of the meeting shared by independent journalist Uriel Gavito.
Brownsville officials said they believe the project is positioned near the port to take advantage of the shipping channel, but they otherwise appeared to know few details, Brownsville business owner John Morales said in an online post..
Though SpaceX designs, manufactures, and launches rockets, McCorkle ruled out rocket launches and engine tests on premises in her remarks, Morales added.
“But after the six-hour meeting, the public was never told exactly what SpaceX intends to build there,” he added in an Instagram video.
Activists also drew attention to the timing of the high-pressure hearing, which occurred during an unconventional time to hold a city meeting
The Saturday meeting — with its “act now!” one-day offer — occurred just three days before the Brownsville City Commission was scheduled to hold a Tuesday workshop on implementing a 90-day data center moratorium.
Activists said the timing is no coincidence, adding that signs suggest SpaceX plans to develop a data center. Suspicion to that end began building weeks ahead of the company announcing its plan to disannex the property.
On July 16, Brownsville residents received a letter in the mail from the city’s Planning and Zoning Committee explaining that an unnamed company plans to build a data center within city limits. The notice was met with fierce opposition from the community.
According to a city notice, Brownsville’s proposed regulations could include requiring the computing facilities to obtain a special permits while investing in closed-loop water cooling systems and sound-reducing landscape buffers.
The regulations also could limit future data center facilities to five acres in size and require that they maintain at least a one-mile separation from residential neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, places of worship, and other data centers, according to a city press release.
However, none of these regulations would apply to land outside city jurisdiction.
After Saturday’s meeting, activists found SpaceX job postings for a data center in the area, which prompted further speculation that the disannexed property would be used to create a massive computing hub.
One new job listing is for a data center mehcanical engineer position at Starbase, Texas — SpaceX’s corporate campus near Brownsville. The listing mentions needing someone to oversee water cooling systems for data center racks.
San Antonio Current
The South Texas city of Brownsville has approved the disannexation of 444 acres of land in a rushed deal with billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX that displayed the “lopsided power dynamics” between the municipality and the galactic Goliath, news site myRGV reports.
The purpose of the land grab is still officially a mystery. SpaceX declined to state how it plans to use the land, according to media reports. However, activists say there’s evidence the company plans to use the property to build a water-hungry data center and gas-fueled power plant in the resource-strained region.
Opponents of the transaction raised the alarm over the company’s tactics, which they said were so secretive that even the mayor and city commissioners didn’t know the details of a deal they unanimously approved during a nighttime meeting last Saturday, myRGV reports.
SpaceX, an aerospace company valued at $1.9 trillion, asked for the property near Brownsville’s port to be removed from city limits and the municipality’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. That means the city, which has a population of nearly 200,000, surrendered its zoning, permitting, ordinance and taxation authority over the property — without knowing why.
As part of the transaction, SpaceX will invest up to $220 million in Brownsville’s water supply, but the offer, called Project Quantum, was only on the table if city leaders accepted the deal that day, according to media reports. Brownsville officials cited the city’s water scarcity as their reason for approving the deal.
“We put the residents first tonight,” Mayor John Cowen Jr. told the Brownsville Herald. “We look at this as a very historic moment for the city. Water is a huge issue in South Texas and around the state, and this decision today will ensure that Brownsville be a place for future generations to live, and for our continued growth as a city.”
At the same time, the company offered little explanation for why it requested the disannexation.
SpaceX executive Sheila McCorkle, Vice President of Starship Legal and Regulatory, was present at the hearing and said the business would take the matter to court if need be, according to activists who attended the hearing.
A ‘rush’ but ‘the reality’
City commissioners requested 72 hours to deliberate but McCorkle denied their request, saying the deal would soon be off the table, according to the report by myRGV.
“I did not feel comfortable with the pace here. I made that statement to SpaceX privately and publicly,” Brownsville Mayor John Cowen said at the meeting. “We wanted to, at the very least, move this to Tuesday.”
“I appreciate it’s a rush, but it’s the reality,” McCorkle said.
Community members spoke against the deal during Saturday’s meeting, even though city commissioners themselves hadn’t seen the Municipal Annexation Plan prior to the public comment period.
Upon receiving the plan 90 minutes after the meeting’s public comment concluded, city officials shared details of the project with the crowd. Even after public comment had ended, video footage shows that members of the community continued to speak up. Police escorted some out of the building.
“You keep talking about the pros of the deal but what are the cons?” one woman asked before being
escorted away, as shown in video of the meeting shared by independent journalist Uriel Gavito.
Brownsville officials said they believe the project is positioned near the port to take advantage of the shipping channel, but they otherwise appeared to know few details, Brownsville business owner John Morales said in an online post..
Though SpaceX designs, manufactures, and launches rockets, McCorkle ruled out rocket launches and engine tests on premises in her remarks, Morales added.
“But after the six-hour meeting, the public was never told exactly what SpaceX intends to build there,” he added in an Instagram video.
Activists also drew attention to the timing of the high-pressure hearing, which occurred during an unconventional time to hold a city meeting
Data center suspicions
Activists said the timing is no coincidence, adding that signs suggest SpaceX plans to develop a data center. Suspicion to that end began building weeks ahead of the company announcing its plan to disannex the property.
On July 16, Brownsville residents received a letter in the mail from the city’s Planning and Zoning Committee explaining that an unnamed company plans to build a data center within city limits. The notice was met with fierce opposition from the community.
According to a city notice, Brownsville’s proposed regulations could include requiring the computing facilities to obtain a special permits while investing in closed-loop water cooling systems and sound-reducing landscape buffers.
The regulations also could limit future data center facilities to five acres in size and require that they maintain at least a one-mile separation from residential neighborhoods, schools, hospitals, places of worship, and other data centers, according to a city press release.
However, none of these regulations would apply to land outside city jurisdiction.
Data center job postings
After Saturday’s meeting, activists found SpaceX job postings for a data center in the area, which prompted further speculation that the disannexed property would be used to create a massive computing hub.
Another listing for a Power Plant Engineer position mentions gas turbines, indicating that SpaceX plans to build a gas-powered plant on the premises to serve a data center.
“SpaceX is building and operating combined-cycle gas turbine power plants that must come online, stay online, and perform,” the job listing states. “This role owns the design and build of the full power plant: gas turbines, mechanical and electrical balance of plant, and everything else that keeps the plant running at rated output, day after day.”
Requirements for the Power Plant Engineer position state that the ideal candidate must have “experience integrating power generation with co-located industrial or data center loads.”
Another listing advertises a senior legal counsel position for a SpaceX data center located in Brownsville, Texas.
According to its listing, the legal counsel position would “provide expert legal guidance on developing large-scale datacenter infrastructure and supporting utilities, including land acquisition and development, datacenter construction, on-site power generation, electrical transmission and distribution, gas pipelines and fuel supply, water and wastewater systems,” among other issues relating specifically to data center operation.
“SpaceX is building and operating combined-cycle gas turbine power plants that must come online, stay online, and perform,” the job listing states. “This role owns the design and build of the full power plant: gas turbines, mechanical and electrical balance of plant, and everything else that keeps the plant running at rated output, day after day.”
Requirements for the Power Plant Engineer position state that the ideal candidate must have “experience integrating power generation with co-located industrial or data center loads.”
Another listing advertises a senior legal counsel position for a SpaceX data center located in Brownsville, Texas.
According to its listing, the legal counsel position would “provide expert legal guidance on developing large-scale datacenter infrastructure and supporting utilities, including land acquisition and development, datacenter construction, on-site power generation, electrical transmission and distribution, gas pipelines and fuel supply, water and wastewater systems,” among other issues relating specifically to data center operation.
Thursday, September 3, 2026
COMING TO LOUISIANA FROM 445 ACRES AT A SEAPORT NEAR YOU...
By Joe Cardosi
Energy developer ONE Nuclear announced Monday (August 21) it has signed an agreement with a group of Louisiana landowners that secures a site for a 2.88-gigawatt natural gas-fired power plant, battery storage system, and data center campus located between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
Florida-based ONE Nuclear intends to build Project Cayman near the RiverPlex MegaPark on a site about 90 miles northeast of SpaceX’s recently announced Starbase project, One Nuclear said in a statement.
Elon Musk’s 125,000-acre, $100 billion Starbase Louisiana project is designed to be the largest rocket launch facility on Earth.
Aerospace Now
WWL News
If Starbase, Louisiana reaches its target flight rate, rocket launches will stop being scheduled events and start functioning like airport departure boards.
A cadence of 30 flights a day means clearing an orbital pad every 48 minutes around the clock. To support that volume without catastrophic bottlenecks, SpaceX is planning more than a dozen launch towers across its Vermilion Parish site, effectively turning orbital transport into a continuous conveyor belt.
Instead of treating each rocket as a hand-crafted vehicle that demands weeks of pad turnaround, the facility is designed for relentless rotation: vehicles barged in from the Port of Brownsville, Texas, stacked, fueled with tens of thousands of tons of on-site cryogenics, launched, caught, and reset.
With major civil buildouts slated for 2027 and maiden flights targeted for 2029, the Gulf Coast is preparing for an operational rhythm the aerospace industry has never seen before.
Joe Pappalardo, an author and journalist who has covered the Starbase site since it was just a beach, says the state as a whole stands to benefit from being an integral part of SpaceX launches moving forward.
While SpaceX’s launch facility in Texas has been a major focal point, the Louisiana Gulf Coast will be integral to space missions advancing national priorities going forward. Pappalardo expects development to happen at a rapid pace in Louisiana.
A cadence of 30 flights a day means clearing an orbital pad every 48 minutes around the clock. To support that volume without catastrophic bottlenecks, SpaceX is planning more than a dozen launch towers across its Vermilion Parish site, effectively turning orbital transport into a continuous conveyor belt.
Instead of treating each rocket as a hand-crafted vehicle that demands weeks of pad turnaround, the facility is designed for relentless rotation: vehicles barged in from the Port of Brownsville, Texas, stacked, fueled with tens of thousands of tons of on-site cryogenics, launched, caught, and reset.
With major civil buildouts slated for 2027 and maiden flights targeted for 2029, the Gulf Coast is preparing for an operational rhythm the aerospace industry has never seen before.
Joe Pappalardo, an author and journalist who has covered the Starbase site since it was just a beach, says the state as a whole stands to benefit from being an integral part of SpaceX launches moving forward.
While SpaceX’s launch facility in Texas has been a major focal point, the Louisiana Gulf Coast will be integral to space missions advancing national priorities going forward. Pappalardo expects development to happen at a rapid pace in Louisiana.
“It’s going to happen fast in Louisiana. They’ve got the money and the plan. They didn’t really have either of those when Boca Chica Beach (in Brownsville, Texas) was just starting out,” he went on to explain. Pappalardo expects Louisiana residents to be able to take advantage of the myriad jobs that will be created by the facility in Louisiana as well.
Pappalardo says the facility in Brownsville was made primarily for testing purposes. The SpaceX base in Louisiana would be where they launch rockets regularly.
Pappalardo says the facility in Brownsville was made primarily for testing purposes. The SpaceX base in Louisiana would be where they launch rockets regularly.
“They’re going to be building as many launch pads as they can and launching as many of these gigantic rockets as frequently as possible and they want to do it on a very tight timeline,” he notes, saying SpaceX has plenty of money to do it and a government in Louisiana that is very compliant.
“They have everything that they didn’t have in place in Texas to move very fast, including relaxed environmental rules on the federal level,” Pappalardo explains. “They have a golden opportunity to move quickly here and when SpaceX has all those planets in alignment so to speak, they move very fast,” he went on to add.
Elon Musk has said he wants to launch as many as 30 times per day from Louisiana alone. That will require a lot of launch pads, and a lot of construction, but Pappalardo expects a highly motivated Musk to put the pedal to the metal so to speak when it comes to ramping up the Gulf Coast facility.
Elon Musk has said he wants to launch as many as 30 times per day from Louisiana alone. That will require a lot of launch pads, and a lot of construction, but Pappalardo expects a highly motivated Musk to put the pedal to the metal so to speak when it comes to ramping up the Gulf Coast facility.
Also, a Data Center in Louisiana
Florida-based ONE Nuclear intends to build Project Cayman near the RiverPlex MegaPark on a site about 90 miles northeast of SpaceX’s recently announced Starbase project, One Nuclear said in a statement.
Elon Musk’s 125,000-acre, $100 billion Starbase Louisiana project is designed to be the largest rocket launch facility on Earth.
FACING EXTORTION, SABRITAS (PEPSI) MIGHT LEAVE MATA, TAMAULIPAS
Key Facts About Sabritas and PepsiCo
Ownership: PepsiCo acquired the Mexican snack company in 1966. U.S. Counterparts: Sabritas is essentially the Mexican equivalent of Lay's and Frito-Lay. Popular U.S. chips like Cheetos, Doritos, and Ruffles are sold under the Sabritas name in Mexico.
Local Products: The brand also produces unique snacks made specifically for the Mexican market, including Sabritones, Rancheritos, and Crujitos.
Market Share: Sabritas controls a large majority of the salty snack market in Mexico
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
THE FINE PRINT: SPACEX'S $220 MILLION "DEAL" FOR DEANNEXING 444.5 ACRES COMES WITH CONDITIONS. CAN THE CITY MEET THEM?
Graphic for illustration purposes only
Special to El Rrun-Rrun
By Nadia Tamez-Robledo
MyRGVVarious Sources
Brownsville woke up the morning after losing its virginity to an empty bed. The City Commission had already approved the disannexation of 444.45 acres that SpaceX wanted removed from Brownsville’s jurisdiction.Then came the morning after.
City Attorney Will Treviño disclosed an important detail about the agreement: It has a two-year term, and money could have to be reimbursed if Brownsville fails to meet required milestones.
The controversial deal between the city and SpaceX to secure funding for major water infrastructure upgrades includes terms that will refund unused portions of the $220 million if the city fails to meet milestones, along with provisions to restart the flow of money.
SpaceX got the land. Brownsville got a clock.
And suddenly the question isn’t how much SpaceX promised. It’s how much of that up to $220 million Brownsville can actually receive and keep. Brownsville doesn’t have to guess how long major infrastructure takes. It already has a project to compare.
Take, for example, the Greater Brownsville Tech District that covers roughly 730 acres. Work began in 2025, yet roughly a year and a half later Brownsville has still been working through the first approximately 85 to 100 acres.
And this isn’t a complicated water-treatment facility. It is primarily the infrastructure necessary to develop industrial property — roads, electricity and utilities.
As late as January 2026, GBIC (now Greater Brownsville Economic Development Corporation, GBEDC) was considering a $1.17 million payment to BPUB for electrical infrastructure and equipment in Phase 1 West.
Now compare that with what Brownsville must accomplish under the SpaceX agreement.
The potable-reuse project involves treatment systems, engineering, specialized equipment, pumps, electrical systems, major pipelines, excavation, testing and connections into Brownsville’s existing water infrastructure.
Then add the Southmost Regional Water Authority expansion — another major water project that the City says could cost approximately $202 million for the potential full expansion.
SpaceX got the land. Brownsville got a clock.
And suddenly the question isn’t how much SpaceX promised. It’s how much of that up to $220 million Brownsville can actually receive and keep. Brownsville doesn’t have to guess how long major infrastructure takes. It already has a project to compare.
Take, for example, the Greater Brownsville Tech District that covers roughly 730 acres. Work began in 2025, yet roughly a year and a half later Brownsville has still been working through the first approximately 85 to 100 acres.
And this isn’t a complicated water-treatment facility. It is primarily the infrastructure necessary to develop industrial property — roads, electricity and utilities.
As late as January 2026, GBIC (now Greater Brownsville Economic Development Corporation, GBEDC) was considering a $1.17 million payment to BPUB for electrical infrastructure and equipment in Phase 1 West.
Now compare that with what Brownsville must accomplish under the SpaceX agreement.
The potable-reuse project involves treatment systems, engineering, specialized equipment, pumps, electrical systems, major pipelines, excavation, testing and connections into Brownsville’s existing water infrastructure.
Then add the Southmost Regional Water Authority expansion — another major water project that the City says could cost approximately $202 million for the potential full expansion.
Upgrades to the SRWA and BPUB facilities would increase water capacity by a combined 12.5 million gallons per day and later add another 10 million gallons per day.
Joesph Hollmann, board president of the SRWA, was asked by the commission during the meeting to give an overview of the challenges Brownsville’s water supply is facing. He said 30 percent of the roughly 22 million gallons Brownsville uses each day comes from the SRWA’s brackish water desalination plant, which filters aquifer water.
“The rest comes from the Rio Grande, which has long been a problematic source,” Hollmann said, because the water is shared with Mexico and its dams sit in high, dry desert areas.
The Falcon and Amistad reservoirs are at about 23 percent and 38 percent capacity, respectively, as of Friday. And BPUB’s own published schedule puts completion of its Water Renewal Project in 2030.
Brownsville has taken roughly a year and a half working through the first 85 to 100 acres of comparatively basic industrial infrastructure. Now it faces a two-year agreement tied to milestones for two much more complicated water projects. That comparison should concern every taxpayer.
The deal between the city and SpaceX to secure funding for major water infrastructure upgrades includes terms that will refund unused portions of the $220 million if the city fails to meet milestones, along with provisions to restart the flow of money..
“(These projects) gives us a way to reduce our dependency on the Rio Grande River so that if things go wrong, which they do, we are still independent of that water source,” Hollmann said. “The idea that we could step back from worrying about what’s happening in the Rio Grande, what’s happening way out west in Falcon Dam, is extremely important.”.
Hollmann said that aside from choosing to do nothing, the other option is taking out a loan to pay for the facility expansion, the cost of which would be passed on to customers.
“Other communities have kicked the can down the road, and they’re paying for it now,” Hollmann said. “Our other option is to pray for rain in West Texas.”
Projects that will be funded under the agreement include Quantum Leap, referred to as Project Quantum on meeting agendas, and it will double Brownsville’s capacity for water production, City Attorney Will Treviño said.
The water reuse project, estimated at $40 million, is underway and will allow the BPUB wastewater treatment plant to produce an additional 8 million gallons per day of potable water. It has $12.7 million in funding from the Texas Water Development Board. But it has taken a year since the state granted it in February 2025 for the cash to arrive in Brownsville.
The optimization and expansion of the SRWA facilities is estimated at about $202 million. The project would increase its water production capacity from 7.5 million gallons per day to 10 million gallons per day through desalination plant upgrades and the reclamation and construction of water wells. It would eventually raise capacity to 20 million gallons per day.
The agreement between the city and SpaceX, which the public saw for the first time on Saturday, funds “qualifying projects” up to $220 million. The city did not respond to a request for a copy of that agreement.
Under the terms, SpaceX will deposit $40 million into an escrow account for the BPUB project within 30 days after the agreement is signed. The remaining funds are to be deposited in six quarterly installments of $30 million and dispersed based on project milestones, Treviño said.
“I will say that SpaceX has additionally offered the use of their engineers, as well,” Treviño told commissioners. “BPUB has engineers in house but with any project, they have other work that they are working on right now.”
The SRWA project is pending design and was not in the works previously because of lack of funding, Treviño said.
“BPUB is stepping up the gas to get the design and engineering done for that project,” he added.
SpaceX would have the right to a refund if no qualifying project was identified within a year of the initial escrow deposit, a process that includes a “written resolution naming the project, describing scope, and committing funding subject to milestones,” according to the presentation.
If all of the $220 million is not committed to the project within two years, SpaceX would be entitled to a refund of uncommitted funds and suspend pending payments.
Even after a refund, SpaceX would fund “identified projects” up to $220 million within seven years of the initial escrow deposit. Suspended payments will also resume if contract conditions are met.
District 4 resident Rosemary Martinez told commissioners that Starbase has its own governing body, and it’s not them.
“They want (the property) to be deannexed because they don’t want the city ordinances to apply,” Martinez told The Herald while commissioners were in executive session. “That begs the bigger question: Why? There’s a cost to us that hasn’t been quantified because we don’t know. If they build a data center, then you’re paying to build the infrastructure for the water that you’re gonna use..."
(And to add gasoline to the fire, a local social media facilitator posted a job listing at SpaceX's Starbase site for a Data Center engineer.)
SpaceX Vice President of Starship Legal and Regulatory Sheila McCorkle confirmed that SpaceX was under contract to purchase the disannexed land from a private owner. She did not provide specifics on how it would be used but said projected water usage for the project, plus all other commercial and residential operations in Starbase, is under 2 million gallons per day.
The vote for disannexation came days before the commission’s Tuesday hearing on a proposed moratorium on data centers within city limits. But by deannexing the 445 acres, Starbase would have the final say on whether to approve a data center or not.
“Why are you blindly doing what that company asks you to? Why are you not being transparent?” Rosas, holding her baby on her hip, told commissioners during public comment. “Disannexing land for it to become a data center is a loophole that does not absolve you of responsibility. Yes, I’m assuming, but that’s all we have because no one is demanding answers.”
The vote for disannexation came days before the commission’s Tuesday hearing on a proposed moratorium on data centers within city limits. But by deannexing the 445 acres, Starbase would have the final say on whether to approve a data center or not.
“Why are you blindly doing what that company asks you to? Why are you not being transparent?” Rosas, holding her baby on her hip, told commissioners during public comment. “Disannexing land for it to become a data center is a loophole that does not absolve you of responsibility. Yes, I’m assuming, but that’s all we have because no one is demanding answers.”
IF YOU GET A CITY TRAFFIC TICKET IN BROWNSVILE AND SHOW A MEXICAN DRIVER'S LICENSE, ICE MIGHT COME LOOKING FOR YOU
Special to El Rrun-Rrun
The City of Brownsville has confirmed that the Police Department has launched an investigation into an apparent breach of local police protocol after at least three local residents with Mexican drivers' licenses were issued traffic tickets and soon after had ICE agents knocking on their door seeking them.
"We have strict rules that prohibit doing that," said Mayor John Cowen.
He declined to go into specifics on the probe initiated after learning about the incidents other than to say "We have started an investigation."
The first case that came to light was a 40-year-old Brownsville resident issue was issued a speeding citation August 12 by Brownsville Police Department officer and promptly paid it the next day (August 13) at City Plaza, only to learn that ICE agents had followed his wife as she left her home in their car.
The following day, he said his son was driving their truck and was stopped by ICE agents shortly after he left their home in a northern Brownsville neighborhood,
"And we have already heard that the same thing happened to at least two other people who were issued traffic tickets by Brownsville police and later ICE showed up looking for them," a family friend told El Rrun-Rrun on condition of anonymity. "We live on the border and a lot of people have dual citizenship or do business in Matamoros and have Mexican licenses to drive there. I thought the city couldn't get involved in stuff like this. Some of them might be visiting relatives here and give a local address. Then this happens."
Cowen did not say how long the investigation into how ICE obtained the traffic tickets and other private information of those ticketed will last or whether the city's stated policies will be changed as a result of the breach.
He sid that city police have not been empowered to enforce immigration law or to provide ICE with information on drivers who are cited for traffic offenses.
"We know that Texas Department of Public Safety is require to cooperate with ICE, but the city police aren't," he said.
Tuesday, September 1, 2026
DEANNEXATION CONSEQUENCES: CAN A DATA CENTER AT STARBASE BE FAR BEHIND?
MYSA
Despite massive public backlash, Brownsville city leaders approved “a really good deal” to forfeit more than 440 acres of land for SpaceX in exchange for $220 million in funding for future water infrastructure projects.
The Brownsville City Commission reached the unanimous but controversial decision late Saturday, August 29, after SpaceX issued a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum that had city leaders concerned
Brownsville could lose jurisdiction over the land anyway, with nothing to show for it.
“It’s a really good deal. … I have all the trust and hope that we’re going to sort this out, but it needs to be done today,” said Sheila McCorkle, a Starbae resident and attorney who serves as SpaceX’s general counsel “for all Starbase matters,” according to LinkedIn.
Despite massive public backlash, Brownsville city leaders approved “a really good deal” to forfeit more than 440 acres of land for SpaceX in exchange for $220 million in funding for future water infrastructure projects.
The Brownsville City Commission reached the unanimous but controversial decision late Saturday, August 29, after SpaceX issued a take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum that had city leaders concerned
Brownsville could lose jurisdiction over the land anyway, with nothing to show for it.
“It’s a really good deal. … I have all the trust and hope that we’re going to sort this out, but it needs to be done today,” said Sheila McCorkle, a Starbae resident and attorney who serves as SpaceX’s general counsel “for all Starbase matters,” according to LinkedIn.
Brownsville officials questioned the forced urgency, but touted the agreements as a way to safeguard the city’s water in a region where long-term droughts and binational policy failures have already threatened supplies. But the hours-long meeting drew sharp criticism from Rio Grande Valley locals, who said they’ve been “left in the dark” over decisions that benefit corporate interests over a largely low-income community.
SpaceX proposed a two-part deal — deannexing 444.45 acres of undeveloped land near the Port of Brownsville, in exchange for up to $220 million for Brownsville to diversify its water supply. City leaders approved the two interdependent deals separately.
Brownsville Mayor John Cowen called the deals “take-it-or-leave-it.” If Brownsville refused or delayed the decision, even by 72 hours, SpaceX would keep the money and scuttle the as-yet unnamed project.
“No, that’s correct,” McCorkle said. “And it’s based on our own roadmap and plans. If this were to be drawn out… we would just have to pivot the project.”
In exchange for deannexing the land SpaceX promised to provide Brownsville $220 million in funding for two major water infrastructure projects — $40 million within the next 30 days for a potable reuse project, and another $180 million over the next year-and-a-half for an expansion of the Southmost Regional Water Authority (SWRA) brackish groundwater plant.
Officials said the first $40 million would allow Brownsville to speed up the timeline for a wastewater reuse project for which the city has already received $12.7 million in state funding. Meanwhile, the remaining $180 million will allow Brownsville to double its groundwater pumping capacity. Together, the projects could produce an additional 18 million gallons of water per day.
Why did SpaceX want Brownsville to deannex the 444 acres of land?
SpaceX was already under contract to purchase the land, which McCorkle described as being between the city landfill and the port. But she declined to discuss what SpaceX planned to build at the site.
Nor did she add why SpaceX felt it was so incumbent for Brownsville to give up its jurisdiction over the land. But Brownsville City Attorney Guillermo “Will” Treviño may have provided some clue. As a part of Brownsville’s jurisdiction, a portion of the 444 acres was already zoned for industrial use; however, some 100 acres were zoned for agricultural use. SpaceX would have had to seek city approval to change that, but that process will likely be far easier in Starbase, where two of the town’s three-person commission work for SpaceX.
“Starbase, depending on their ordinances, can bring it in as whatever zoning classification they… feel necessary,” Treviño said.
Land within a city’s limits is subject to the ordinances of that city, including how a property can be developed. Cities are also obligated to provide basic public infrastructure, like roads, and other public services, like police and fire protection, within their territories. Deannexing a property means the city gives up its jurisdiction and ability to control development.
Brownsville Mayor John Cowen called the deals “take-it-or-leave-it.” If Brownsville refused or delayed the decision, even by 72 hours, SpaceX would keep the money and scuttle the as-yet unnamed project.
“No, that’s correct,” McCorkle said. “And it’s based on our own roadmap and plans. If this were to be drawn out… we would just have to pivot the project.”
In exchange for deannexing the land SpaceX promised to provide Brownsville $220 million in funding for two major water infrastructure projects — $40 million within the next 30 days for a potable reuse project, and another $180 million over the next year-and-a-half for an expansion of the Southmost Regional Water Authority (SWRA) brackish groundwater plant.
Officials said the first $40 million would allow Brownsville to speed up the timeline for a wastewater reuse project for which the city has already received $12.7 million in state funding. Meanwhile, the remaining $180 million will allow Brownsville to double its groundwater pumping capacity. Together, the projects could produce an additional 18 million gallons of water per day.
Why did SpaceX want Brownsville to deannex the 444 acres of land?
SpaceX was already under contract to purchase the land, which McCorkle described as being between the city landfill and the port. But she declined to discuss what SpaceX planned to build at the site.
Nor did she add why SpaceX felt it was so incumbent for Brownsville to give up its jurisdiction over the land. But Brownsville City Attorney Guillermo “Will” Treviño may have provided some clue. As a part of Brownsville’s jurisdiction, a portion of the 444 acres was already zoned for industrial use; however, some 100 acres were zoned for agricultural use. SpaceX would have had to seek city approval to change that, but that process will likely be far easier in Starbase, where two of the town’s three-person commission work for SpaceX.
“Starbase, depending on their ordinances, can bring it in as whatever zoning classification they… feel necessary,” Treviño said.
Land within a city’s limits is subject to the ordinances of that city, including how a property can be developed. Cities are also obligated to provide basic public infrastructure, like roads, and other public services, like police and fire protection, within their territories. Deannexing a property means the city gives up its jurisdiction and ability to control development.
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