Independent News Drop

KELI From Inkwell, this is the Amarillo News Drop. I'm Keli, with Hast.

HAST Governor Abbott's ordering the state to audit up to 300 projects across Texas, most of them data centers. The directive reworks the timeline that ERCOT, the grid operator, had already set in motion.

KELI That's the state power grid making moves on a sector that's drawing massive investment and power load to the Panhandle and beyond. Abbott's order adds new requirements to proposals that are already in the pipeline. The grid operator had planned to audit several data center proposals, but the governor's directive accelerates that and expands the scope — we're talking about a fundamental reset on how the state vets these facilities before they come online. What's underneath: the data center boom is real, the power demand is real, and the state commission wants to make sure the infrastructure can handle it without destabilizing the grid. Watch for the first audit results in the coming weeks — that'll tell you whether Abbott's move is a speed bump or a structural brake on the build-out.

HAST Sticking with state infrastructure, there's confusion in East Texas over the data center audit itself. Some local officials in that region are saying the timeline and the criteria for approval are still unclear, even after the governor's announcement.

KELI Separate front now — the USDA is expanding border surveillance along the Texas line to combat New World screwworm. That's an agricultural pest that can infect livestock and wildlife, and the feds are beefing up detection at the southern border to keep it out.

HAST On spending, Texas Minute reports local government expenditures are outpacing both population growth and inflation across the state. That's a structural problem worth watching — budgets growing faster than the tax base or the cost of living. Worth asking your city council and your county commissioners how they're justifying the gap.

KELI Before we close, a history note.

HAST On this day in 1989, China Eastern Airlines Flight 5510 crashed after takeoff from Shanghai, killing 34 of 40 people on board.

KELI That's the Amarillo News Drop. Full script and sources at inkwell.wiki/news/amarillo.

KELI Before we close, a word from Inkwell. Gil's Intelligent Version has a close reading of the opening of John's Gospel — in the beginning was the Word — and the single article-less phrase the Trinity debate still turns on.

HAST Grammar, not slogan. At inkwell dot wiki, slash giv.