{"id":173602,"date":"2026-02-21T00:15:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/173602\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T00:15:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T00:15:38","slug":"texas-evening-briefing-feb-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/173602\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Evening Briefing Feb. 20"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Good evening, Texas. We&#8217;re wrapping up the day for you with the most important stories you need to know and your weather outlook.<\/p>\n<p>Your Weather Planner<\/p>\n<p>A Pacific origin cold front will pass through Texas early Saturday, bringing seasonal temperatures back to most of the Lone Star State. The front will also usher in very dry air and gusty winds, setting the stage for extreme fire danger in some regions.<\/p>\n<p>Skies will clear with the boundary passage, but northwest and west winds will increase. We\u2019ll expect sustained winds of 20-30 mph with gusts to 40 mph through the late afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>This will produce high to extreme fire danger across most of the state. For areas around Austin down to the Valley, a Red Flag Fire Warning has been issued through Saturday evening.<\/p>\n<p>Use extreme caution with any spark or exposed flame during that time.<\/p>\n<p>Temperatures will be normal or just below by Sunday with highs in the 50s for North Texas, 60s for central regions and low 70s for South Texas.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771632935_423_WEB_Afternoon_Briefing.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"hashed-image\" img-data-alignment=\"center\" img-data-width=\"percent-hundred\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Get your 7-day forecast:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/austin\/weather\/interactive-radar.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Austin<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/san-antonio\/weather\/interactive-radar.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">San Antonio<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/dallas-fort-worth\/weather.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dallas<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spectrumnews1.com\/snpluslive\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Spectrum_News_Plus_PromoCard_4-11-2023.jpeg\" width=\"100%\" class=\"hashed-image\" img-data-alignment=\"center\" img-data-width=\"percent-hundred\"\/><\/a><br \/>\nIntroducing Spectrum News+<br \/>Watch the latest news and more local stories from across the country.<\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s Big Stories<\/p>\n<p>1.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/dallas-fort-worth\/news\/2026\/02\/20\/texas-lawmakers-react-to-supreme-court-striking-down-tariffs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Texas lawmakers react to Supreme Court striking down Trump&#8217;s tariffs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Lawmakers across Texas are weighing in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/austin\/politics\/2026\/02\/20\/tariff-decision-supreme-court-scotus-president-donald-trump-\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">on Friday\u2019s Supreme Court ruling<\/a>\u00a0that struck down President Donald Trump\u2019s far-reaching global tariffs. In a 6-3 decision, the nation\u2019s highest court said that the president does not have the authority to impose sweeping tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, passed in 1977.<\/p>\n<p>2.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/austin\/news\/2026\/02\/19\/rep--gonzales-faces-affair-allegations-with-staffer\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Rep. Tony Gonzales blames GOP opponent for reports of him having an affair with staffer who died by suicide<\/a><\/p>\n<p>U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, is blasting his GOP primary opponent Brandon Herrera, claiming that Herrera is using the death of Gonzales\u2019 former staffer \u201cto smear her memory and score political points.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This comes after the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.expressnews.com\/news\/article\/tony-gonzales-affair-regina-santos-aviles-21357720.php\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">San Antonio Express-News reported this week<\/a>\u00a0that Gonzales engaged in a romantic relationship with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/south-texas-el-paso\/politics\/2025\/09\/18\/rep--tony-gonzales-staffer-found-dead-in-uvalde\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Regina Santos-Aviles<\/a>, who died last year after setting herself on fire outside her Uvalde, Texas, home. The Express-News reported that a former staffer provided them with text messages from Santos-Aviles, where she admitted she had an \u201caffair with our boss.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Gonzales declined to address the allegations of an affair, saying in a statement to Spectrum News 1, \u201cI am not going to engage in these personal smears and instead will remain focused on helping President Trump secure the border and improve the lives of all Texans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>3.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/austin\/news\/2026\/02\/20\/pressure-leads-texas-universities-to-cut-ties-with-nonprofit\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">White House pressure leads Texas universities to cut ties with nonprofit that helps racial minorities<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration said Thursday its campaign to end diversity programs in higher education has led dozens of universities\u2014including two in Texas\u2014to cut ties with an organization known as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-dei-college-investigation-phd-project-65d5d9bd5a13db89bea730142b467fde\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The PhD Project<\/a>, which helps racial minorities earn doctorate degrees.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/trump-dei-universities-investigated-f89dc9ec2a98897577ed0a6c446fae7b\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">investigation<\/a>, opened in March 2025, has resulted in 31 universities agreeing to end partnerships with the group, the department\u2019s Office for Civil Rights said Thursday. Two of those 31 universities are in the Lone Star State: Rice University and the University of North Texas. Negotiations are continuing with 14 additional schools, it said.<\/p>\n<p>Notes for Tomorrow<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, Feb 21<\/p>\n<p>Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games continue, with 10 gold medals decided across seven sports on the penultimate day of competition.\u00a0<br \/>\nNational Governors Association Winter Meeting concludes<br \/>\nTimoth\u00e9e Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey take part in town hall discussion on CNN<br \/>\n3rd anniversary of Russia suspending participation in new START arms reduction treaty<\/p>\n<p>In Case You Missed It<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/HEB_credit_HEB_newsroom.jpeg\" alt=\"(Courtesy of H-E-B Newsroom)\" class=\"hashed-image image\" img-data-alignment=\"center\" img-data-width=\"percent-hundred\" loading=\"lazy\" img-data-caption=\"(Courtesy of H-E-B Newsroom)\" img-data-wrap-text=\"true\" img-data-editing=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p>(Courtesy of H-E-B Newsroom)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/austin\/news\/2026\/02\/20\/h-e-b-named-one-of-top-large-employers-in-u-s-\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">H-E-B named one of top large employers in U.S.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Beloved Texas grocery chain H-E-B ranks among the top 50 large employers in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/lists\/best-large-employers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">list<\/a>\u00a0recently released by Forbes.<\/p>\n<p>Headquartered in San Antonio, H-E-B came in at No. 40 among businesses with more than 5,000 employees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good evening, Texas. We&#8217;re wrapping up the day for you with the most important stories you need to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173603,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1973,132,134,133,1974,27],"class_list":{"0":"post-173602","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-app-evening-briefing","9":"tag-austin","10":"tag-austin-headlines","11":"tag-austin-news","12":"tag-katharine-finnerty","13":"tag-texas"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173602","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=173602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}