{"id":100653,"date":"2025-12-25T16:44:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T16:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/100653\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T16:44:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T16:44:11","slug":"morning-briefing-texas-dec-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/100653\/","title":{"rendered":"Morning Briefing Texas Dec. 24"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, Texas. Here’s what you need to know today.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Your Weather Planner<\/p>\n

TBD<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Get your 7-day forecast:\u00a0Austin<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0San Antonio<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Dallas<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>
\nIntroducing Spectrum News+
Watch the latest news and more local stories from across the country.<\/p>\n

Around Texas\u00a0<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Entrepreneur speaks out after Texas’ underutilized business program undergoes major changes<\/a><\/p>\n

Texas\u2019 Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program has undergone some major changes. Since the ’90s, the program was designed to create equal opportunities for women, minorities and service-disabled, veteran-owned businesses. The state comptroller\u2019s office is updating who\u2019s eligible.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The HUB program is now the Veteran Heroes United in Business (VetHUB) program. Thousands of Texas small businesses that were part of the HUB program\u00a0no longer qualify.\u00a0<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Here are the holiday hours for H-E-B, Target and more<\/a><\/p>\n

For those needing to do some last-minute holiday shopping, Christmas Eve is the deadline as numerous stores close their doors for Christmas Day.\u00a0Here are the holiday hours for several large retailers.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0Rep. Veronica Escobar conducts unannounced visit to El Paso ICE facility following court ruling<\/a><\/p>\n

Just days after a federal judge ruled that members of Congress may conduct unannounced visits to immigration detention facilities, U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, says she has already conducted a surprise inspection at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in El Paso.<\/p>\n

\"Immigrants<\/p>\n

Immigrants seeking asylum walk at the ICE South Texas Family Residential Center, on Aug. 23, 2019, in Dilley, Texas. (AP Photo\/Eric Gay, File)<\/p>\n

Around The Nation<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0DOJ’s new batch of Epstein files includes reference to ’10 co-conspirators<\/a>‘<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Brown University police chief placed on leave after fatal shooting, feds launch investigation<\/a><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0U.S. economy expands at surprisingly strong 4.3% annual rate in third quarter<\/a><\/p>\n

Deep in the Heart of Texas\u00a0
\n\"A<\/p>\n

A woman shops for shoes at a store across the Paso del Norte bridge that connects Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, with downtown El Paso, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo\/Andres Leighton)<\/p>\n

Mexican shoppers continue to drive billions in Texas retail spending despite immigration concerns<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite heightened immigration enforcement and political uncertainty at the U.S.-Mexico border, Mexican shoppers continue to play a vital role in Texas\u2019 retail economy, contributing billions of dollars in spending each year.<\/p>\n

In El Paso, the impact is especially visible during the holiday season. Local malls and stores remain packed with shoppers, many of whom are visiting from Mexico. Several shoppers say concerns over immigration policies have not altered their routines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good morning, Texas. Here’s what you need to know today.\u00a0 Your Weather Planner TBD Get your 7-day forecast:\u00a0Austin\u00a0|\u00a0San…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[2160,138,140,139,30432,27],"class_list":["post-100653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-app-top-stories","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-hannah-maguire","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}