Texas Jails Man Who Spoke Out Against Voter Suppression

Trump's board is sneaking his name back on the Kennedy Center, a major anti-vax study was retracted, and the admin wants to dynamite a mountain no one crosses

Good afternoon. I’m Ryan Rose, and this is AlterNet America.

Trump’s handpicked Kennedy Center board voted to inscribe “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump” beneath the sign a judge already ordered his name off. A Tarrant County man was booked into jail eight days after calling a commissioner’s polling-place plan a name at a public meeting. A 2024 COVID study cited by Republican lawmakers to claim vaccines killed millions was retracted for “misinformation.” And the Trump administration is planning to dynamite part of Mariscal Mountain inside Big Bend National Park for a road even locals say nobody uses.

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Kennedy Center Will Bear Trump’s Name After Judge Made Him Remove It

If at first you don’t succeed, try a slightly smaller font size.

Trump’s handpicked Kennedy Center board has voted a second time to close the performing arts institution for renovations and add an inscription below the center’s sign reading “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.”

The board insists this is not a move to “rename” the center, but merely a plaque directly under the name.

The board voted in December to rename the building the Trump Kennedy Center. In May, US District Judge Casey Cooper blocked the plan and ruled the board violated the law when it added Trump’s name to the venue. Trump’s name was then scraped off, and the institution’s name remains hidden behind large tarps to this day.

One source briefed on the vote said the inscription would serve as a “permanent reminder” of his undermining of the institution, which is something everyone can agree on.

A Texas Man Was Jailed Eight Days After Swearing at a Public Meeting

In Monopoly, you go directly to jail. In Tarrant County, they give you an eight-day headstart.

Efrin “EJ” Carrion was booked into the Tarrant County jail early Wednesday morning, more than a week after addressing county commissioners at a public meeting. He faces a charge of disrupting a meeting, a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail, and was released on a $600 bond.

His crime was speaking during a session where commissioners proposed nearly halving the number of county polling locations. Carrion told Commissioner Manny Ramirez his vote was “extremist” and called the commissioners “bullsh*t.” County Judge Tim O’Hare ordered him removed before Carrion said “I’m walking out, you small man,” and left.

Eight days later, deputies came for him.

O’Hare’s office says the county judge is “not involved” and that this is purely “a law enforcement matter,” but Carrion wasn’t alone. Former state Rep. Lon Burnam was carried out by four deputies for briefly picking up a microphone and booked the same day.

The charge for picking up a microphone has not yet been determined, but sources say it may depend on whether he turned it on.

The Study That Convinced Republicans Vaccines Killed Millions Just Got Retracted

A study that vaccine skeptics cited as proof you should do your own research has been retracted for not doing its own research.

The controversial 2024 study was what vaccine skeptics used to claim millions died as a result of COVID vaccines. Published in BMJ Public Health in May 2024, it analyzed data from 47 Western countries, incorrectly concluding there were more than three million excess deaths between 2020 and 2022.

The journal’s retraction notice said the discussion “is imbalanced, lacks rigour, and includes misinformation.”

The paper never specifically blamed vaccines, but its authors noted the shots “appeared to be responsible” for many suspected adverse events. Several Republican lawmakers took it as proof the science was flawed or nefarious, and corresponding author Saskia Mostert testified before a US congressional subcommittee in June 2026.

The center’s report concluded the article paid “disproportionate attention” to the idea that containment and vaccination caused the deaths, and alleged the authors cherry-picked data and ignored evidence that opposed them.

“That excess mortality occurred, however, was known and not newsworthy,” the center wrote.

The BMJ and the Netherlands’ Princess Máxima Center, a pediatric hospital where three of the four co-authors worked, each launched an investigation a month after publication, which prompted Mostert to resign.

Trump’s Border Wall Construction Calls for Dynamiting a Mountain

Of all the places on the border, Trump has decided to blow up the mountain where no one is crossing.

The Trump administration’s border wall project in Texas could require contractors to blast through part of Mariscal Mountain, a limestone ridge rising nearly 4,000 feet inside Big Bend National Park.

The Center for Biological Diversity said the route would require “extensive dynamite blasting,” and called it the most heinous attack on an American national park in generations. Ten House Democrats warned that blasting could send rock and debris toward the Rio Grande and potentially trigger review under a 1970 US-Mexico boundary treaty. A former park biologist warned the site is likely Texas’ most densely populated peregrine falcon nesting area.

Local sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland says nobody even crosses there. “People simply don’t cross there,” he told Newsweek. If they did, they’d face roughly a 110-mile walk to civilization, making a road “both impractical and unnecessary.”

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POSITIVE STORIES YOU MAY HAVE MISSED:

Judge Tosses Trump’s Antisemitism Lawsuit Against Harvard. A federal judge in Boston has dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit accusing Harvard of ignoring the harassment of Jewish students. US District Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled the government failed to prove an ongoing civil rights violation, calling the cited incidents “too isolated and episodic.” The lawsuit, filed in March, sought to restore billions in federal research grants that have been awarded to the university since October 2023, which were cut after administrators refused White House demands.

Seattle Bans Landlords From Charging Pet Rent and Other Junk Fees. In a win for Mayor Katie Wilson, the Seattle City Council has unanimously passed legislation banning pet rent and other charges known as “junk fees.” Landlords must now disclose all costs in rental advertising and can no longer charge for things like mail and package delivery, though landlords can still charge pet deposits and bill for actual damages. The city’s Department of Construction and Inspections also gains subpoena power to investigate violations. The bill takes effect July 1, 2027.

MAGA Rep. Loses Re-Election After Saying Gay People Have ‘No Place in America.’ Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles, endorsed by Trump since 2022, has lost his primary. The defeat followed a string of comments targeting marginalized groups, including a Pride Month post declaring “Homosexuality has no place in America” and a March post claiming “Muslims don’t belong in American society.” His remarks drew rebukes even from fellow Republicans, with Ted Cruz noting homosexuals “have been part of humanity” for all of recorded history and Rep. Mike Lawler calling the statement “absolutely idiotic.”

AI Data Center Bans Surge Past 500 as Communities Push Back Nationwide. Local bans on new data center developments have jumped past 500 in July, up from 300 in late June. The pushback has been bipartisan --- Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a moratorium pending a power-grid audit, New York Governor Kathy Hochul paused approvals for centers drawing 50 megawatts or more, and Massachusetts and Nebraska halted developer tax breaks. Data shows over 70% of Americans oppose more AI data centers, and at least 37 people have been arrested protesting them this year.