This story was originally published by ProPublica. This article is co-published with The Texas Newsroom and The Texas Tribune as part of an initiative to report on how power is wielded in Texas.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott doesn’t want to reveal months of communications with Elon Musk or representatives from the tech mogul’s companies, arguing in part that they are of a private nature, not of public interest, and potentially embarrassing.

Musk had an eventful legislative session in Texas this year. In addition to his lobbyists successfully advocating for several new laws, Abbott cited the Tesla and SpaceX CEO as the inspiration for the state creating its own efficiency office and has praised him for moving the headquarters for many of his businesses to the state in recent years.

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A political effort to remove space shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian and place it on display in Texas encountered some pushback on Thursday, as a US senator questioned the expense of carrying out what he described as a theft.

"This is not a transfer. It's a heist," said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) during a budget markup hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee. "A heist by Texas because they lost a competition 12 years ago."

In April, Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, both representing Texas, introduced the "Bring the Space Shuttle Home Act" that called for Discovery to be relocated from the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia and displayed at Space Center Houston. They then inserted a provision into the Senate version of the "One Big Beautiful Bill," which, to comply with Senate rules, was more vaguely worded but was meant to achieve the same goal.

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• Extreme flooding in central Texas has left at least 78 dead.
• Another 41 people remain missing, officials said.
• 10 girls from a summer camp are among those still missing.

On what should have been a festive Fourth of July, disaster struck in central Texas.

Flash flooding left at least 68 dead in Kerr County, including 40 adults and 28 children, Sheriff Larry Leitha said during a Sunday press conference.

During a separate press conference, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said an additional 10 people were dead in the broader central Texas area, bringing the total death toll close to 80.

Abbott said another 41 people are still missing across the affected area, including 10 children and one counselor from Camp Mystic, a Christian camp for girls along the Guadalupe River.

Abbott signed a federal disaster declaration on Saturday, which President Donald Trump signed on Sunday. Abbott also issued a disaster declaration for six Texas counties in addition to the 15 he identified on Friday, when heavy rains first caused the flooding.

On Truth Social, Trump said his administration was working with state and local officials to respond to the flooding.

"Melania and I are praying for all of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy," Trump wrote on Saturday. "Our Brave First Responders are on site doing what they do best. GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!"

The X account for Elon Musk's Starlink, SpaceX's satellite internet system, is offering support to affected residents. Musk has a strong presence in Texas through his companies Tesla, X, and SpaceX.

"In support of those impacted by flooding in Texas, Starlink is providing Mini kits for search and rescue efforts — ensuring connectivity even in dead zones — and one month of free service for thousands of customers in the region, including those who paused service so they can reactivate Starlink during this time," the post said.

Officials said over 12 inches of rain fell in the county on Friday. The National Weather Service first issued a flash flood warning at 4 a.m. on Friday.

It extended the flood watch until Monday at 7 p.m., saying there was "a threat of flash flooding from slow moving heavy rains overnight and through the day on Monday."

The region is a popular vacation destination and home to multiple summer camps for children. Camp Mystic in Hunt has about 750 campers. Two days after disaster struck, officials said they remain hopeful they can find survivors.

In a statement posted to its website, the Heart O' the Hills, another girls' camp based in Hunt, said its director, Jane Ragsdale, had died in the floods.

"We have received word that Jane Ragsdale did not make it," it said. "We are mourning the loss of a woman who influenced countless lives and was the definition of strong and powerful."

It added that the camp was not in session as the flooding hit, and that "most of those who were on camp at the time have been accounted for and are on high ground."

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said during an earlier press conference that the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes, washing away bridges and buildings in a wide area.

On Facebook, parents and community members have circulated flyers with contact numbers, urging the public to help locate the missing children.

Kerr County has an estimated population of about 53,900, according to a 2024 count by the US Census Bureau. The county sits in the Hill Country region of Central Texas, which includes cities like San Antonio and Austin. Beyond the Guadalupe River, the region is home to several others, including the Colorado, Concho, and Blanco Rivers.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

• Torrential rain and flash floods hit parts of central Texas early Friday morning.
• Officials said that at least 78 people have died, but that they expect that number to rise.
• 10 children and a counselor remain missing from Camp Mystic, a local summer camp.

At least 78 people have died after heavy rainfall caused flash flooding in parts of central Texas on Friday.

During a press conference on Sunday, Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said 68 people are confirmed dead, including 40 adults and 28 children. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said another 10 people were killed in the broader central Texas.

Officials said 10 children and one counselor from Camp Mystic, a Christian girls' camp along the Guadalupe River, remained unaccounted for. In areas affected by the flooding across the state, there are still 41 known missing people.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said the Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in 45 minutes on Friday as torrential rain battered the region. The National Weather Service said the river reached the second-highest height on record.

The agency on Sunday extended a flood watch for parts of central Texas through 7 p.m. local time.

Here are some images showing the impact of the flooding and ongoing search and rescue efforts.

• More than 80 people are dead after catastrophic flooding hit central Texas, with many more missing.
• Local authorities say consumer drones are interfering with search and rescue efforts.
• Such drones disrupted emergency response in past disasters such as the LA wildfires early this year.

Search and rescue operations continue in central Texas, where catastrophic flooding on Friday has killed more than 80 people. Dozens are still missing.

During a Sunday press conference, after the usual updates, officials made what has become a familiar request during recent natural disasters: Don't fly your personal drones over the disaster area.

"We know that people want to volunteer, but what we are starting to see is personal drones flying," Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice told reporters. "These personal drones flying is a danger to aircraft, which then risks further operations."

The Kerrville Police Department echoed Rice's remarks on Sunday.

"Media-operated drones are interfering with official search and rescue drones. There is a no-fly zone in Kerr County for private drones," the department said on its Facebook page. "We need cooperation in this matter. Let our first responders do their job."

During a press conference hosted by Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday, Maj. Gen. Thomas M. Suelzer of the Texas National Guard said the department had launched an MQ-9 Reaper drone to perform assessment operations.

"It's truly an eye in the sky for our search and rescue people," Suelzer said.

Though drones are now commonly used in military and law enforcement operations, they are also popular among civilians, mostly for photography and shooting video but also for those looking to help search after disasters. During several recent disasters, however, officials have said those civilian drone operators have hindered rescue operations.

The Dixie fire

In 2021, the Dixie fire spread across Northern California. The flames ripped through communities, displacing residents and burning nearly a million acres of land.

That July, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said an unauthorized drone had impeded emergency operations.

"Yesterday, aircraft assigned to the #DixieFire were forced to land due to an unauthorized drone flying over the fire traffic area," the agency said on its official Facebook page. "Drones restrict firefighters' ability to protect lives, property, and natural resources. Remember, if you fly, we can't!"

Hurricane Helene

Hurricane Helene battered the southeastern US in late 2024.

After making landfall in Florida, it traveled up the coast through Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Heavy rainfall, strong winds, and flooding demolished homes and submerged vehicles.

Amid the search and rescue efforts, the US Department of Transportation shared an X post asking consumer drone operators to stay clear. At the time, the Federal Aviation Administration had issued a temporary flight restriction in certain areas.

"Do not fly your drone near or around rescue and recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene," the agency said. "Interfering with emergency response operations impacts search and rescue operations on the ground."

The FAADroneZone, the agency's site for drone services, said in a separate X post that "interfering with emergency response efforts may result in fines or criminal prosecution."

At the time, some online observers thought volunteer drone operators were being barred from assisting in relief efforts, which sparked a backlash.

The DOT later clarified that the FAA didn't ban consumer drones from providing assistance and relief.

"These restrictions occur at the request of local authorities or law enforcement. FAA does not put these into place without requests," a spokesperson told Fox News.

The agency added that "anyone looking to use a drone or other aircraft to assist in Hurricane Helene disaster relief and recovery efforts should coordinate with first responders and law enforcement on scene to ensure they do not disrupt life-saving operations."

Los Angeles wildfires

In January, a series of wildfires erupted across the Los Angeles region, causing widespread damage and forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate their homes.

In addition to emergency firefighting efforts on the ground, officials deployed two Super Scoopers, which are amphibious aircraft that collect water to drop on wildfires.

An unauthorized civilian drone struck one Super Scooper, forcing it out of service.

"We would like to remind everyone that flying a drone in the midst of firefighting efforts is a federal crime and punishable by up to 12 months in prison or a fine of up to $75,000," a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson said at the time.

The incident prompted an investigation by the FAA, which said in a statement that "flying a drone near a wildfire is dangerous and can cost lives."

The Department of Justice said the drone operator agreed to plead guilty to one count of unsafe operation of an uncrewed aircraft. The plea agreement included the drone operator paying full restitution to the Government of Quebec, which supplied the aircraft, and completing 150 hours of community service.

The Supreme Court today upheld a Texas law that requires age verification on porn sites, finding that the state's age-gating law doesn't violate the First Amendment.

The 6–3 decision delivered by Justice Clarence Thomas rejected an appeal by the Free Speech Coalition, an adult-industry lobby group. Pornhub disabled its website in Texas last year because of the state law.

The Supreme Court's conservative majority decided that the law should be reviewed under the standard of intermediate scrutiny "because it only incidentally burdens the protected speech of adults." The law "survives intermediate scrutiny because it 'advances important governmental interests unrelated to the suppression of free speech and does not burden substantially more speech than necessary to further those interests,'" the court said.

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SpaceX's next Starship rocket exploded during a ground test in South Texas late Wednesday, dealing another blow to a program already struggling to overcome three consecutive failures in recent months.

The late-night explosion at SpaceX's rocket development complex in Starbase, Texas, destroyed the bullet-shaped upper stage that was slated to launch on the next Starship test flight. The powerful blast set off fires around SpaceX's Massey's Test Site, located a few miles from the company's Starship factory and launch pads.

Live streaming video from NASASpaceflight.com and LabPadre media organizations with cameras positioned around Starbase showed the 15-story-tall rocket burst into flames shortly after 11:00 pm local time (12:00 am EDT; 04:00 UTC). Local residents as far as 30 miles away reported seeing and feeling the blast.

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SpaceX made some progress on another test flight of the world's most powerful rocket Tuesday, finally overcoming technical problems that plagued the program's two previous launches.

But minutes into the mission, SpaceX's Starship lost control as it cruised through space, then tumbled back into the atmosphere somewhere over the Indian Ocean nearly an hour after taking off from Starbase, Texas, the company's privately owned spaceport near the US-Mexico border.

SpaceX's next-generation rocket is designed to eventually ferry cargo and private and government crews between the Earth, the Moon, and Mars. The rocket is complex and gargantuan, wider and longer than a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, and after nearly two years of steady progress since its first test flight in 2023, this has been a year of setbacks for Starship.

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• I visited Braum's, a southern fast-food chain that only has locations in five states.
• I bought almost every item on the menu, including burgers, fries, chicken strips, and ice cream.
• The burgers and chicken strips were great, but I still think ice cream is the best thing to order.

The West Coast has In-N-Out. The Midwest has Dairy Queen. I'd argue the South has Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy Store.

In 1933, Henry Braum started a small butter plant in Emporia, Kansas, which expanded to include milk and ice cream production. In 1968, Henry's son Bill opened the first official Braum's store in Oklahoma City.

Today, the family-run business has more than 300 locations across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. According to the company, every store is located within a 300-mile radius of its processing plant in Tuttle, Oklahoma.

Braum's is best known for its wide range of ice cream and frozen yogurt, from classic flavors like vanilla to stranger concoctions like pineapple upside-down cake. But it's more than an ice cream shop — it also has staples of the American diet like cheeseburgers, chicken strips, shakes, and malts.

One of Braum's locations sits about two miles from my childhood home in Fort Worth, Texas. When I was a kid, on Fridays after a long day of work, my dad would bring home a tub of ice cream. If I were really lucky, we'd go to the store. Together, we'd sit, ice-cream cone in hand, in silence, savoring the flavors.

I wanted to see if Braum's still served up old-school charm and yummy food, so my husband and I took a trip to the closest one near us in Dallas. Here are some items I tried from the menu — some I'd order again, and others I'd probably skip.

Even though it's a chain, Braum's gives off the vibe of a mom-and-pop shop.

Unlike fast food giants like McDonald's and Burger King, which have embraced modernity in both their branding and menu presentation, Braum's has done the opposite. It has retained its cozy, classic vibe, making it feel both familiar and comforting.

Maybe that's what makes it special.

When I visited the store, I spent a lot of time reminiscing about the times my dad and I shared there. It all felt so nostalgic.

It's a convenient place to grab a snack.

Braum's has dozens of ice cream flavors to choose from. But it is also a grocery store with a small market. Customers can buy everyday items like bananas, tomatoes, onions, and even hamburger buns if they'd rather grill their own at home.

Braum's ice cream is pretty affordable.

Braum's sells its ice cream in various sizes, but most tubs contain three pints. Each tub is typically priced under $5 — a steal compared to other brands.

A single pint of Blue Bell ice cream is sold for $3.97 (excluding tax) at Walmart, and a single pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream at Target is $4.99, according to both companies' websites.

Braum's has more than 100 ice cream flavors.

The company sells traditional flavors like vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate, but it also has quirky options like bubble gum and Mother's Circus animal cookies.

I wouldn't recommend the latter — it was too sweet for my taste buds, and didn't have enough animal crackers.

Braum's also sells frozen yogurt.

Ice cream is typically made with dairy from cream, whereas frozen yogurt is made from cultured milk. On most days, I'd choose frozen yogurt — which might be a controversial opinion.

While I haven't tried all of Braum's frozen yogurt flavors, their vanilla cone always hits the spot. I doubt I'll ever get around to trying the pineapple upside-down cake flavor, though.

Braum's makes several flavors of sugar-free ice cream.

Sugar-free ice cream isn't really my cup of tea, but I understand why some people prefer it or choose it for dietary or medical reasons.

If that's you, then you're in luck — Braum's offers many sugar-free flavors.

I have to admit the vanilla chunk chocolate tub looked pretty tempting.

My husband and I ordered a lot of food.

To get the full Braum's experience beyond ice cream, we ordered about 10 different items from the menu:

• A double quarter pound sweet 'n spicy Gouda burger combo meal with medium fries and a large sweet tea — $8.89
• A cheeseburger combo meal with medium fries and a large strawberry shake — $8.29
• Four-piece chicken strips — $5.19
• A grilled chicken sandwich — $4.79
• Medium chili cheese fries — $4.64

• A medium strawberry malt shake — $1.99

The chicken strips were better than I expected.

In the chicken strips war, restaurants like Chick-fil-A and Zaxby's usually reign supreme. But I'm throwing Braum's into the fight.

Braum's strips were crispy on the outside, yet still soft inside. I also appreciated that they weren't overly salty — just the right amount. For me, they rivaled Chick-fil-A's.

I really wanted to like the chili fries.

I was probably most excited to try the chili fries. Crispy potatoes dressed in perfectly melted cheese and sauce— what more could anyone ask for?

Well, in my case, a bit more seasoning. Ultimately, they tasted bland, and it felt more like I was eating canned beans on fries than actual chili.

Braum's burgers are simple and delicious.

My husband and I split the double quarter pound sweet 'n spicy Gouda burger and the cheeseburger.

While I thought the Gouda burger was good — and a bit spicy — it didn't quite compare to Braum's traditional cheeseburger.

It wasn't fancy — just meat, buns, lettuce, tomato, and cheese — but it felt classic, exactly what I imagine when I think of a good burger.

The grilled chicken sandwich was just OK.

The grilled chicken sandwich was all right. It didn't quite compare to a sandwich I'd get at Chick-fil-A, but I had no trouble finishing it. For $4.79, I'd say it's worth the price.

Dessert was my favorite part of the meal.

After dinner, my husband and I went back to the counter to order ice cream.

He bought a double scoop sopapilla cheesecake sundae for $3.79, and I got a small chocolate and vanilla frozen yogurt cone for $1.45.

His sundae tasted like the real deal. The cinnamon-flavored ice cream sat on top of a spongy cake, draped in golden caramel. I think it's perfect for someone with a sweet tooth.

However, the frozen yogurt cone was right up my alley. It was simple and sweet, and the flavors weren't too overpowering.

We bought so much food that we had to take it home.

I left the restaurant full, but not without taking a to-go bag. The next day, my husband and I devoured our leftovers for lunch.

I'll be visiting again soon.

While the burgers and sandwiches at Braum's were good, the ice cream and frozen yogurt were what made the visit stand out among other chains.

Overall, going back to Braum's was a sweet experience. It was nice to try new-to-me foods, reminisce about my childhood, and create new memories with my husband.

Residents of the 45 states that don't have a Braum's are definitely missing out.