Trump seeks to remain dominant in Texas as DeSantis erodes his base
DALLAS — Texas is former President Donald Trump’s second home. En route to becoming U.S. president in 2016, he developed a formidable network of Texas grassroots activists, GOP leaders and campaign donors, much of it grounded in the Dallas area.
But for Trump’s third run at the White House, will home still feel like home? “Texas has been a bedrock for Donald Trump and the Trump administration,” said Republican political consultant Matthew Langston.
“There’s a natural curiosity of who else is out there, but it’s going to be hard for many of the grassroots activists to move off of Trump. They might not like everything that he does, but he’s going to go out and fight every day for items that Texans believe in.”
An early test of Trump’s Texas strength is Saturday, when he’ll stage his first major campaign rally in Waco, a Central Texas city that doesn’t get a lot of visits during presidential campaigns. Organizers expect a large, festive event that will not only serve to kick off Trump’s presidential campaign, but send a message to prosecutors in New York and other places who are expected to indict the former president.
—The Dallas Morning New
Snowpack in southern Sierra hits all-time record levels, nearly triple its average
LOS ANGELES — After years of extreme drought and dismal snowpack, California has had a remarkably wet winter and is now veering into record-setting territory for snowfall.
As of Friday, the snowpack in the southern Sierra was at 286% of normal — the highest figure ever, easily eclipsing the region’s benchmark of 263% set in 1969.
In a tweet, the University of California, Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab said this year recently surpassed 1982-83 as the second-snowiest on record since measurements began in 1946. “We’ll get closer over the next week” to the top spot on the list, the lab said.
In the central Sierra, snowpack was at 230% of normal, ahead of the 1983 record level. In the northern Sierra, the figure was 182%, trailing the 1983 level. Statewide, the snowpack is hovering near the record level: 228% of normal for this date. The level during the annual April 1 snow survey in 1983 was 227%.
—Los Angeles Times
Fix to stop leak at Xcel's nuclear plant Minnesota did not work, prompting shutdown
MINNEAPOLIS — Xcel Energy started shutting down its Monticello nuclear power plant Friday after the company's repair of a leaking pipe did not fully do the job — causing more radioactive water to seep into the ground.
Xcel officials said they plan to do a full analysis of why the pipe sprang a leak once the utility completes the shutdown, which will take a couple of days.
Groundwater well testing at the plant Wednesday indicated that a tritium leak into groundwater, first reported last week, had restarted, Christopher Clark, Xcel's Minnesota president, told reporters Friday at the Monticello Community Center.
The new leak was in the "hundreds of gallons," according to Xcel, far smaller than the initial leak of about 400,000 gallons. Tritium is a moderately radioactive form of hydrogen created in nuclear power production.
—Star Tribune
Russia seeks 400,000 more recruits as latest Ukraine push stalls
The Kremlin has dialed back plans for a further offensive in Ukraine this spring after failing to gain much ground and will focus on blunting a new push by Kyiv’s forces expected to begin soon.
Digging in for a long fight, the Kremlin is seeking to sign up as many as 400,000 contract soldiers this year to replenish its ranks, according to people familiar with the planning who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that aren’t public.
The ambitious recruiting campaign would allow the Kremlin to avoid another forced mobilization of reservists as it ramps up the campaign to re-elect President Vladimir Putin later this year, the people said. Last fall’s call-up shook public confidence and triggered an exodus of as many as a million Russians from the country.
Even with the battlefield and political challenges, Putin has signaled he’s confident Russia will be able to outlast Ukraine’s supporters in the U.S. and Europe, betting that if his forces are able to prevent another breakthrough by Ukrainian troops in the coming months, backing for Kyiv will weaken.
—Bloomberg News
