Watching the world watch Texas.
Issue No. 2, 2026
In this issue of Branding Texas: Trump visit to the Port of Corpus Christi warms up state primary elections; tragic shooting on Sixth Street in Austin gets international coverage and sympathy; hundreds of sea turtles rescued in freezing weather near South Padre Island and Corpus Christi; Texas rodeo warms up Times Square in NYC; A.I. and equine virus may challenge Texas rodeo arenas in 2026; H-E-B is Number One – again – in national grocery-chain poll; Buc-ee’s continues its national expansion outside its home-state Texas borders.
Thomas Graham
President Trump visit to Corpus Christi excites already-heated Texas primary battles
President Donald Trump strode into the heated Texas primaries by visiting the Port of Corpus Christi in February – right after his State of The Union address in DC. The statewide primary elections were held March 3 with both Republicans and Democrats seeing record numbers of turnout and setting up yet another November battle between a well-funded Democrat against a well-funded Republican – as yet to be determined, as the Republicans will have a runoff between incumbent John Cornyn and challenger Ken Paxton.
(I did not attend the Port’s festivities, but I was born in Corpus and Crosswind was agency of record for the Port for several critical years as the Port grew to be today the nation’s largest energy-export gateway.)
Zolan Kanno-Youngs, a New York Times White House reporter, traveled with the President to Corpus and noted: “In the days after a State of the Union address, presidents typically travel the nation promoting their agenda.” This was the first visit of any U.S. president to the bustling Port and Trump principally spoke during his visit about his oil and gas goals – and the role of Texas in U.S. energy production.
The Wall Street Journal reporting team of Sabrina Rodriguez and Aaron Zitner were also tracking President’s visit to Corpus. They were more focused on the state’s heated primary battles and noted that “Republicans are worried.” Addedthe Journal: “For Democrats, Texas is the electoral bauble that often glitters but proves unattainable in statewide elections. Republicans have won every statewide race since 1994.”
Rodriguez and Zitner also noted that all three Republican primary candidates attended the rally in Corpus Christi. Rodriguez just joined the Journal earlier this year and is a recent “refugee” from the tumultuous staff churn at Washington Post. Aaron has been with the Journal for 16 years.
Shooting at Buford Bar in Austin sparks international coverage and sympathy
Reporters from as far away as the UK, France and India have weighed in on the terrible March 1 shooting incident at Buford’s Bar on West Sixth Street in Austin. More than a dozen people were injured in the nighttime incident and three of the victims died, along with the shooter who was quickly confronted and killed by police.
Lara Spirit, writing for the Times of London, was assigned to the story remotely, remarking: “Authorities have yet to confirm any connection between the attack and the ongoing operation in Iran, which began one day before the shooting. However, Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, said the state ‘will not be terrorized’.”
Reporting on the shooting by the Times of India focused on the tragic loss of India-origin honors student Savitha Shan. Shan, who was one of two killed during the incident which left 14 more injured, studied at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business and was a double major.
The New Delhi-based newspaper picked up what Professor Russ Finney from UT Austin wrote on X, calling Savitha one of their “superstar students.” From the Times: “[Finney] said she was actively involved in student organizations and described her as ‘a light in the classroom’. He called her loss ‘absolutely crushing’.”
France’s chief news service, the Paris-based Agence France-Presse, also covered the story. From AFP: “The shooting comes amid heightened security in many American cities following the launching of US and Israeli air strikes on Iran that killed the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and several other senior officials.”
AFP is one of the world’s top three global news agencies, alongside Associated Press and Reuters. Marc Lavine, who has been with AFP for more than three decades, runs U.S. editorial operations for the news service. AFP stories are usually without byline credit, but the powerful yet elusive Marc was quoted in his Associated Press coverage of the Pentagon briefings controversy last December when AFP was initially dropped off the list of invited press organizations.
Texas turtles find a haven and rescue in Corpus Christi
Sea turtles are frequently stunned and incapacitated along the Texas coast, particularly near South Padre Island and Corpus Christi, when sudden winter cold snaps cause paralysis in freezing water.
When the recent winter storms and Arctic air invasion caused water temperatures along the Texas seacoast to plummet, volunteers organized by the Texas State Aquarium (a long-time Crosswind client) gained national media attention for a late January rescue effort that brought hundreds of endangered sea turtles to shelters to be warmed up, treated and released.
Internationally famous nature photographer Tamir Kalifa, normally based in Berlin, arrived in Corpus Christi to document and report on the story for the New York Times. The NYT story, beautifully presented as a full color photo spread in the Sunday newspaper (11 million total subscribers!), celebrated the pluck and the bravery of the Texas-based rescue force.
UPI, working with the Pennsylvania-based AccuWeather news service, reported: “When water temperatures on the bay side of the Gulf drop below 50 degrees, sea turtles are unable to regulate their body temperature and can become ‘cold-stunned.’ In this weakened state, the animals are highly vulnerable to health issues, including pneumonia, infections and physical injuries.”
More than 30 veterinarians, boaters and emergency marine rescue specialists were mobilized by the Texas State Aquarium. Texas agencies and organizations responded, rescuing more than 500 turtles, with more than 300 of those processed through the Texas Aquarium center alone.
Texas rodeo charm warms up Manhattan
The charm and thrill of the rodeo can still kindle a spirit of Texas-welcome in such remote locations as New York City’s Times Square – even in the dead of winter.
Kate Hardcastle, writing in Forbes: “On a crisp winter afternoon in Times Square, the familiar rush of screens, traffic and bright lights paused briefly, replaced, for a moment, by something warmer. A RodeoHouston pop-up brought a burst of color and choreography into the cold: metallic blue cowboy boots flashing across the stage, dancers moving in western-inspired rhythm, and the unmistakable texture of rodeo joy unfolding in the middle of Manhattan.”
It was a teaser only for RodeoHouston, hoping to pull city folk from New York City and all across the nation to Houston. Hardcastle, who is herself a London-based “influencer” and podcaster (“The Customer Whisperer”), noted that RodeoHouston has a $324-million annual economic impact –generating millions of visits to Texas, with many coming from out of state and from outside the U.S.
Noted Hardcastle in a slightly snarky aside: “In 2025, the [Houston] Rodeo reported a record 2.7 million guests over the event run, a reminder that in an era of streaming and on-demand everything, millions of people will still stand in line for a live, dusty, in-person show.”
H-E-B ranked top national grocery chain – again
Chicago-based Sophia Compton, reporting for Fox Business, reports on how our very own Texas chain H-E-B regularly “crushes Costco and Trader Joe’s” in claiming the title of top grocery store. H-E-B has won the top slot, says Compton, five times in the past nine years, an annual ranking done by Dunnhumby – a global customer data science company that helps retailers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies analyze customer data to make informed, data-driven decisions.
According to the study done by Dunnhumby, the family-owned H-E-B, which was founded in 1905 and now operates more than 450 stores in Texas and Mexico, is “firmly entrenched as the top retailer due to its superior ability to deliver a combination of better savings, quality, experience, and assortment.”
Catherine Douglas Moran, writing in Grocery Dive on national trends in the U.S. grocery industry, notes new H-E-B expansion plan: the purchase of a vast track of more than 600 acres in Valley View, TX, about 60 miles north of Fort Worth.
Chief Supply Chain Officer Carson Landsgard, based at H-E-B HQ in San Antonio, TX, is quoted Moran’s story: “Buying this property marks the first step in developing a master-planned campus that will strengthen our ability to serve more Texans. This project reinforces our commitment to communities across the state and will generate more local job opportunities in the years ahead.”
Will A.I. and equine herpes enter the rodeo arena in 2026?
Russell Contreras, based in Albuquerque, NM, for Axios, notes that artificial intelligence is moving swiftly into rodeo arenas in Texas and bringing modern analytics to one of America’s most tradition-bound sports.
Russell’s Axios story includes an image of a Texas bull rider wearing a digitally connected black helmet while riding a bucking bull — all tracked by an AI system — with instant stats shown on screen about kicks and spins. Russell, a graduate of the University of Houston, normally covers race and justice for Axios but apparently couldn’t resist a story about hometown rodeo.
Further West, Associated Press reporter Jessica Hill covered the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, NV, late last year, noting concerns about the 2025 equine virus outbreak that will be looming still over the entire western rodeo circuit in 2026.
The equine herpesvirus 1, or EHV-1, has made its rounds in the past, Hill reported, but owners must keep it in check by proactively taking the temperature of their horses daily and minimizing co-mingling with other horses. The AP story featured Texas horse owner Taylor Larson: “She drove her two horses from New Waverly, Texas, for almost 22 hours without stopping. If her horses stepped hooves into states in between Texas and Nevada, they’d need new health paperwork and another vet check.”
Buc-ee’s expands its list of out-of-state locations
H-E-B expanded some time ago into Mexico to the south and now other high-visibility Texas-based companies are also growing beyond Lone State borders. A story by Fast Company’s Jennifer Matson reports that Buc-ee’s, our very own Texas-based mega gas-station chain, will be opening first-ever locations in Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
The story of the chain’s latest out-of-Texas expansion is out there in numerous local news account, says Mattson, but the company is playing coy and gave her only a “no comment” when she called for confirmation.
The charms of Buc-ee’s are many, reports Mattson: “… numerous gas pumps (more than 100 in some locations), award-winning bathrooms, and a fan-favorite BBQ brisket sandwich. Its merch is even sold at Walmart.” Buc-ee’s, with a headquarters just south of Houston, is privately held and was one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in the dining category in 2024. The founder of Buc-ee’s, of course, is the colorful Texas A&M grad Arch “Beaver” Aplin and he is co-owner with Don Wasek.
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