{"id":214702,"date":"2026-03-21T20:59:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T20:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/214702\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T20:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T20:59:15","slug":"weekend-digest-texas-march-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/214702\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Digest Texas March 21"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your weekend is here, Texas, and it&#8217;s time to take a look back at some of the stories that were in our headlines this week.<\/p>\n<p>Your Weekend Weather<\/p>\n<p>Dry high pressure anchored across the western U.S. will bring an extended period of dry and record-breaking hot weather to the Lone Star State. Many areas will experience heat never before observed this early in the season. Temperatures will be running 25-30 degrees above normal. Afternoon highs will likely exceed historical records through the weekend. Most regions will see highs in the lower 90s to above 100 degrees.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774126752_469_WEB_Afternoon_Briefing.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"hashed-image\" img-data-alignment=\"center\" img-data-width=\"percent-hundred\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Take a look at your local weekend 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>The Week in Review<\/p>\n<p>1.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/austin\/news\/2026\/03\/19\/dolores-huerta-ends-her-silence\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dolores Huerta ends her silence, champions decades of advocacy for marginalized groups<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/cesar-chavez-dolores-huerta-sexual-abuse-allegations-ef70eb3f05c25317357aa79e74f76438\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dolores Huerta<\/a>\u00a0who coined the slogan \u201cSi, se puede\u201d in 1972 when bringing together farmworkers in Arizona to fight a law that prohibited boycotts and strikes.<\/p>\n<p>As co-founder of what eventually became the United Farm Workers union, Huerta has been the face of a movement that for decades aimed to empower the lives of workers through higher wages, health benefits, pensions and improved safety.<\/p>\n<p>So it\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/latino-leaders-speak-out-about-chavez-allegations-f1b24d3c6bdf71b326b63d51f80ea957\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">shocked the world<\/a>\u00a0Wednesday when Huerta revealed that she was sexually abused by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/cesar-chavez-sexual-abuse-allegations-08264e63b6f594278239af1ad23ba1fc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the movement&#8217;s co-founder, C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez<\/a>, leading to the birth of two children, a secret she kept for 60 years.<\/p>\n<p>2.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/south-texas-el-paso\/news\/2026\/03\/17\/cornyn-casar-debate-tsa-funding\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cornyn, Casar have impromptu debate over government funding outside Austin airport<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In a heated exchange outside the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Monday, Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, sparred over government funding as the GOP lawmaker delivered Whataburger meals to airport workers.<\/p>\n<p>3.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/austin\/news\/2026\/03\/19\/school-voucher-application-deadline-extended-amid-lawsuit\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Texas school voucher application deadline extended amid lawsuit<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Applications for the state\u2019s new education savings accounts were supposed to close on Tuesday, but a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/dallas-fort-worth\/news\/2026\/03\/18\/judge-orders-texas-to-extend-school-voucher-deadline\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">federal judge extended that deadline<\/a>\u00a0to the end of the month because of an ongoing lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>A group of Muslim families and Islamic private schools sued the state after lawmakers excluded Islamic schools from participating.<\/p>\n<p>4.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/austin\/news\/2026\/03\/19\/texas-daca-recipient-immigration-enforcement\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">South Texas DACA recipient detained by ICE, leaving young family in limbo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Stephanie Villarreal told Spectrum News that life with her husband Juan Chavez Velasco in the Rio Grande Valley was starting to feel complete. They got married, bought a home and were raising a 4-year-old son and 10-month-old daughter when they welcomed another baby girl in February.<\/p>\n<p>Villarreal\u2019s husband was picked up by immigration enforcement officers outside of their Weslaco home last month. He was on the way to deliver breastmilk to the hospital\u2019s neonatal intensive care unit for their 6-week-old.<\/p>\n<p>5.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/austin\/news\/2026\/03\/20\/oil-price-surge-expected-to-cause-domino-effect-on-tx--u-s--economies\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Oil price surge expected to cause domino effect on Texas, U.S. economies<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Texans have seen rising fuel costs since late February when the U.S. and Israel first launched attacks on Iran. Economists say consumers can also expect a ripple effect affecting all aspects of consumer spending and are sharing what you may soon have to pay more for.<\/p>\n<p>Around the Nation<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/spectrumlocalnews.com\/tx\/austin\/international\/2026\/03\/20\/iran-war-united-states-israel-strikes-kuwait-oil-refinery-prices-strait-hormuz\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">U.S. deploys thousands more for war as Iran threatens world tourism sites<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Iran threatened to target recreational and tourist sites worldwide and insisted it was still building missiles. Its supreme leader issued another defiant statement on Friday, nearly\u00a0three weeks into U.S.-Israeli strikes\u00a0that have killed a slew of Tehran\u2019s top leaders and hammered its weapons and energy industries.<\/p>\n<p>The United States was meanwhile deploying three more warships and roughly 2,500 additional Marines to the Middle East, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n<p>A Look Ahead<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Texas_Longhorn_basketball_March_Madness_AP.jpeg\" alt=\"Texas guard Jordan Pope (0) looks to shoot as BYU guard Robert Wright III (1) defends during the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo\/Amanda Loman)\" class=\"hashed-image image\" img-data-alignment=\"center\" img-data-width=\"percent-hundred\" loading=\"lazy\" img-data-caption=\"Texas guard Jordan Pope (0) looks to shoot as BYU guard Robert Wright III (1) defends during the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo\/Amanda Loman)\" img-data-wrap-text=\"true\" img-data-editing=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Texas guard Jordan Pope (0) looks to shoot as BYU guard Robert Wright III (1) defends during the first half in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament Thursday, March 19, 2026, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo\/Amanda Loman)<\/p>\n<p>March Madness continues with multiple Texas teams participating in both the men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s tournaments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your weekend is here, Texas, and it&#8217;s time to take a look back at some of the stories&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214703,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[2160,132,102,138,140,139,1974,82,27,2053,8996],"class_list":["post-214702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-app-top-stories","tag-austin","tag-dallas","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-katharine-finnerty","tag-san-antonio","tag-texas","tag-top-stories","tag-weekend-briefing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214702","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=214702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}