August 7, 2026

A removal hearing for the Corpus Christi Mayor enters its fourth day today. View South Texas schools are receiving vouchers. And the Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority is shining a light on issues with human trafficking. This is South Texas Midday. I'm Rob Bosscamp. Thank you for joining me on this Friday, August 7th. The removal hearing for Corpus Christi Mayor Pellequahardo enters its fourth day. Thursday session lasted about 12 hours. District 1, Councilman Everett Roy took the stand to answer questions from the prosecution and defense. A lot of things went wrong. Let me just say it that way. During this particular vote in the process? Yes, sir. Yeah, it was messy. Some things went wrong. Thank you. That was Councilman Roy and attorney Doug Allison. Former Type B board president Leo Olivari also testified. I'm going to go back. It was very clear. Statements made in November and December about why, or December and January, excuse me, why we approved this item. And it was not. in relation to the FEMA maps or the confusion over changes in rules. That was not what we approved. The trial relates to a petition signed by Corpus Christi residents over alleged misconduct by Mayor Guaardo in 2024 when a hotel project received a $2 million tax incentive. Local, state and federal investigations found no legal wrongdoing, but that is not needed, according to the city charter to possibly have Guaardo removed from office. 25 News now reports that large data center development is in the works near Bowling. Six additional Project Eagle Data Center buildings were filed with the state this week. According to those filings, the new facilities would add a total of 10 data center buildings with an estimated construction cost of $3 billion. The expansion comes one day after another filing was submitted for an auxiliary water building with an estimated cost of $2 million. No timeline for construction has been announced. The Texas State Comptroller's Office has released the latest school voucher program report ahead of the upcoming school year. In South Texas, the Valley has a little over 3,200 participants, Corpus Christi with a little over 1,400, and Victoria just over 1,000. Texas's recently passed school bill designates school vouchers as Texas Education Freedom Accounts and transfers $1 billion in taxpayer funds from public schools to private school vouchers at $10,000 each. So far, over 85,000 students across the state are using the program with another $121,000 on a waiting list. Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority and other organizations are teaming up to fight the issue of human trafficking. KEDT's Lon Gonzalez reports. Tackling the issue of human trafficking was the focal point of the third annual CCRTA Human Trafficking Summit, with day one Thursday focusing on outlining on the importance of recognizing signs of human trafficking. The Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority taking charge of the summit since statistics show that 81% of human trafficking utilizes public transportation. Various law enforcement groups are also present, getting more insight into the types of human trafficking, those being sex.

The dry conditions have already pushed additional resources from the state for firefighters in the wildfire prone region. Between Wednesday and Thursday, area firefighters quickly contained a fire that burned about 400 acres west of Amarillo. I'm Brad Burt in Lubbock. A Dallas Data Center company is facing lawsuits from seven former employees who say they're owed compensation. KERA's Emmanuel Rivas reports the former employees are suing for more than $400 million. Seven former employees have sued Dallas-based Prime Data Centers over compensation they say they were promised. The Dallas County lawsuit alleges three former executives are owed more than $185 million under employment agreements tied to the company's growth. The employees claim company leaders later pressured employees to accept less favorable agreements after Prime's value climbed into the billions. Several lawsuits are also pending in New York and California. I'm Emmanuel Rivas in Dallas. And how do you know when to call it quits? For Stephen McGall, 30 years seemed like the right time. He's one of the co-founders of Scene Shop. It's a collective for writers and actors. They perform in Fort Worth. Saturday will be the group's final show. KERA's Marquita Fornoff sat in the audience for one of its last performances. It's the opening night for Scene Shop's final production. As audience members file in, they hug old friends, then stop at the concession stand for a can of beer or some wine before settling into their seats. Cover band Willie Natra provides the music.

Six sketches are listed on the program. Some are serious and some are funny. One is about a son trying to write a eulogy for his alcoholic and gambling-addicted dad, and another is about a YouTube food critic who calls himself El Toccarino. All right, good evening. And welcome to Scene Shop, our 30th show. That's Stephen McGa. He studied theater in college and later coached a high school improv group. At 37, he missed performing, but not the full slate of rehearsals that came with it. So he and his friends, Les Hoffines, and the late Elizabeth Sexton Morrison, founded a group with a more casual setup. Instead of putting together a play, their shows included a handful of sketches from different writers. Less likened it to the stage equivalent of seeing a band. Each song lasts three, four, five minutes. And if you don't like one, we'll just wait for the next one. Hoffines and Sexton Morrison eventually dropped off as their careers and family lives got busy. There are usually about 10 or 12 people in the group. High school students, retirees, theater professionals, educators, and writers have all cycled through. It's a DIY community theater. Since Maude died, they stopped putting mushrooms in the grave. And Vivian doesn't carry a brand of bribery that I like. Well, see, you see, the world is going downhill faster every day. Tyler Moore is 30, and he's written and performed with Scene Shop. But tonight he's in the audience. He says the group created an outlet for people to deepen their creative lives. It's eclectic and funny, but it also will tug on your heartstrings in certain places. So I feel like there's a little bit of something for everyone at Scene Shop, no matter what your background is or where you come from. Moore is sad to see Scene Shop go, but supports McGa's decision. I don't think these people are really going anywhere. You know, there's still people that will show up to performances or will still perform in the area. So the ties and connections are still there. So that aspect of it, I think, really helps it. You know, it's bittersweet. McGa says he's mentally sharp as ever and plans to keep writing. But he's tired and he didn't want to be in charge anymore. A couple of people said they'd be open to carrying the torch, but he didn't want anyone to feel obligated to do it. They're young, they're ambitious, they have other outlets, and so I just decided it was better just to let it end. Here's how he describes his decision to the audience. I want you to think about the theater troops in Fort Worth and Dallas over the last 20 years. that they go great guns for a while, and then they disappear. They disappear because people can't get along anymore or because somebody gets a divorce or because they run out of money for somebody goes to prison. And that's my speculation, and I'm entitled to it. And you never hear about them again. And I did not want to be that way for us. Instead, he wanted Scene Shop to go out with a proper goodbye. So he wrote one.

I'm Markita Fornoff in Fort Worth. And that is the latest news and information on South Texas Midday. I'm Rob Bosskamp. Your community arts calendar and more is on the way.