The first week of suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment trial in the Senate ended with his for - mer lead law enforcement officer testifying an Austin developer alleged to have bribed Paxton constructed a "conspiracy theo - ry" that federal officials altered a search warrant for his property, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
David Maxwell, the former AG official, said real estate develop -
er Nate Paul pushed Paxton to investigate federal law enforce - ment agencies probing his busi - ness. Paul has since been indict - ed for inflating his assets on loan applications. Paxton aides looked into Paul's allegations at Paxton's request but concluded they were meritless.
"My feeling was Nate Paul was a criminal and we should not be associating with Nate Paul," Maxwell testified.
Maxwell was ultimately fired by Paxton for insubordination after he resisted investigating Paul's allegations.
Paxton blames the impeach - ment on his political opponents. He appeared on the first day of the trial but has not been in the Senate chamber since then.
Appeals court: Buoys can stay for now
A federal appeals court last week stayed a federal district judge's ruling that the floating barrier installed by the state in the Rio Grande to stem illegal entry by migrants violated feder - al law and treaties.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily halted U.S. District Judge David Ezra's order that the 1,000-foot barrier near Ea - gle Pass be removed by Sept. 15, pending an as-yet unscheduled hearing.
The U.S. Department of Jus - tice filed the lawsuit, saying the buoys violated an 1899 federal law that forbids unauthorized construction in navigable water -
ways, The Dallas Morning News reported. Gov. Greg Abbott ar - gued the river is too shallow to be navigable and that an "invasion" of migrants and drug smugglers made it necessary for the state to defend itself.
"Texas has clear constitutional authority to defend its territory against the invasion that Gov - ernor Abbott has declared," the state told the lower court last week. Ezra rejected that argu -
ment, saying by that reasoning the state could declare an inva - sion and wage war at will.
M ex i c a n authorities have lodged formal dip - lomatic com - plaints, and critics of the buoys in the United States called them inhumane.
ERCOT calls for power conser - vation; break in heat predicted For the first time this summer, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas last week declared an emergency, introducing the pos - sibility of rolling blackouts to sta -
bilize the state's power grid.
A sudden drop in power re - serves last Wednesday night caused the system to lose more power than expected, prompting the first emergency alert since Winter Storm Uri in February 2021, according to kut.org.
The emergency lasted about two hours, though the next day, for the 11th time, ERCOT asked Texans to conserve power as con - tinued extreme heat pushed elec - tric usage close to its capacity.
Texans have experienced the second-hottest summer on re - cord, the Texas Tribune reported, with an average temperature of 85.3 degrees between June and the end of August. That average is just behind the record set in 2011, when blistering heat and dry conditions pushed the aver - age temperature to 86.8 degrees, and wildfires swept the state.
The good news is that the heat wave is expected to finally break this week, with rain expected and temperatures dropping down well below the triple digits that much of the state has weathered since June.
Crypto miner gets $31 million to cut energy use The cryptocurrency mining company Riot, located in what was once an Alcoa power plant in Rockdale, was paid $31 mil - lion in August to cut its energy use, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Cryptocurrency mining re - quires vast amounts of electric - ity to power computers, and the facility in Rockdale is North America's largest bitcoin mine.
"August was a landmark month for Riot in showcasing the bene - fits of our unique power strate - gy," Jason Les, CEO of Riot, said in a news release last week.
Les said the company raked in $31.7 million in energy credits from ERCOT by cutting its pow - er use by more than 95 percent during periods of peak demand. The state offers payouts to bit - coin mining companies during periods of peak demand but also expects them to use more power when supply exceeds demand.
Texas prisons on complete lockdown
An increase in drug-related vi -
olence at state prisons prompted the Texas Department of Crim - inal Justice to issue a statewide lockdown of all 100 prison facil - ities, the Texas Tribune reported. No visitors will be allowed until a system-wide search for illegal drugs and other contraband is completed.
"The safety of inmates, staff, and the public is our highest pri - ority," said Cris Love, TDCJ's inspector general. "Illegal drugs within our facilities will not be tolerated. Individuals found smuggling contraband will be arrested and subject to prose - cution." A spokesperson for the agency said there has been a rise in prison violence, including 16 homicides thus far this year - more than double all last year.
Agency officials did not pro -
vide an estimate for how long the lockdown would last.
Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: gborders@texaspress. com
