It’s no secret that restaurants mark up various menu items in order to turn a profit, but there’s one particular offering that can see a markup of over 1,000%.
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While there’s no doubt that the Midwest is the bratwurst epicenter of the United States, who holds the title of the “Bratwurst Capital of America?”
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Bacon was among the four basic foods that the “cookie” – or cook – prepared from the chuckwagon to serve hardworking cowboys in the Old West.
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Benny Melendez voted for President Donald Trump in 2024. But since Trump returned to the White House, it has been increasingly difficult for Melendez to run his small construction company in south Texas. He says immigration officers have detained workers at his job sites and while driving his company trucks. Since the beginning of 2025, more than 10 of those workers have been deported.
The chaos of the past year-and-a-half has convinced Melendez to abandon his support for Trump and Republicans, and instead back the Democrat in this year’s U.S. Senate election, state Rep. James Talarico.
“How can we continue voting for someone that is targeting our community?” Melendez said. “There’s no way possible we’re going to support that. No way.”
Melendez is not alone. One in five Hispanic business owners in Texas say they’ve had an employee deported in the past year, according to a new survey commissioned by the U.S. Hispanic Business Council and shared first with POLITICO. Seven in ten said their businesses had been impacted by Trump’s tariffs. Among those surveyed, Talarico holds a seven-point lead over Attorney General Ken Paxton, the GOP nominee, even though a plurality of the over 1,000 respondents self-identify as Republican. Almost one quarter who supported Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary now say they’ll back Talarico, while over half say they’ll back Paxton.
The survey is the clearest sign yet of Paxton’s vulnerability among Texas’ robust Hispanic business community amidst broader signs that Hispanic voters around the country are swinging hard against him, thanks to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the shaky economy. The survey was conducted from June 2 to 15 and included 1,012 Texas-based USHBC members. Respondents included business owners in construction, food services, retail, manufacturing and other industries.
Those business owners pointed to the fear the deportation push created in the community, as well as their bottom lines, for why they were turning on Trump and toward Talarico.
“The fear factor that it creates, the disruption that it creates, the environment that it creates, is debilitating,” said Javier Palomarez, president and CEO of USHBC. “If you’ve got a small business of 10 people or so, and you get even one person deported, you can imagine what that does to the morale of that business unit and to the fear of the business owner.”
Meanwhile, Paxton, long an immigration hardliner, has doubled down, touting his support for a controversial Texas immigration law and suing to stop publicly funded legal defense for undocumented immigrants.
The Texas Senate race will be one of the nation’s most watched — and most expensive — this cycle. Early polling shows it in a dead heat: A New York Times/Siena poll released last month showed Paxton and Talarico tied. Among Hispanic voters, Talarico led by 32 points. In 2024, Trump won Texas Latinos by 10 points.
In a statement, Paxton spokesperson Madison Cercy said Hispanic voters want “lower taxes, less regulation, affordable energy, and a strong economy.”
“Ken Paxton has a proven record of fighting for those priorities, while James Talarico has consistently opposed the tax-cutting policies that help Texans thrive, declares that ‘God is non-binary,’ and said that there are ‘six biological sexes,’” Cercy said. “Texans deserve to hear the truth about Talarico’s radical record and the damage his agenda would do to families and businesses across our state. Once they do, it will kill Talacreepo’s campaign for their vote.”
In a statement, Talarico offered an olive branch to Hispanic voters: “We should be supporting Hispanic small businesses — not crushing them under the weight of high costs and failed immigration policies,” he said. “Here’s my message to Hispanic communities across Texas: if you feel like you’ve been conned, if you feel like you’ve been let down by both political parties, if you feel like politicians aren’t doing anything to lower your costs or fix this broken immigration system — you’ve got a place in this campaign.”
Across south Texas, business owners say immigration enforcement is a major reason why they’re turning on the GOP. In 2024, Trump rode concerns over former President Joe Biden’s border policy to victory in the heavily Latino communities along the U.S.-Mexico border, a massive shift in the historically deep-blue region. Trump won 14 of those 18 border counties, including Starr County, a 90-percent Latino county that Hillary Clinton won with 79 percent of the vote in 2016 and hadn’t gone for a Republican since the 1890s.
But now, many feel the Trump administration’s interior enforcement policy has gone too far. 70 percent of those surveyed in the USHBC poll had a negative view of the immigration raids on the workforce, and that impact on families and businesses risks kneebuckling Republicans running in those same border districts.
“I didn’t like what Biden was doing here on the border,” Melendez said. “But now with Trump, it’s all the opposite, 180 degree change. He doesn’t let us work. He’s taking the best we have.”
Earlier this year, construction executives in south Texas sounded the alarm on immigration enforcement. Some trade association leaders met with officials in the White House and Congress to discuss concerns in February.
Immigration enforcement at worksites subsided for several months, executives said. But activity ticked up again last month. Now, Melendez says, immigration officers are again rounding up workers at construction sites and pulling over vehicles that have work equipment like ladders. The Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to request for comment on this characterization of enforcement.
“It just seems now more than ever, if you’re brown, they’re gonna stop you,” said Mario Guerrero, a three-time Trump voter who leads the South Texas Builders Association. “And I know that sounds really racist, but it’s what we’re facing, man.”
Across the state, story after story of the immigration crackdown consume local media: An undocumented man in Houston shot and killed by an ICE officer; a mariachi musician in San Antonio detained after playing at a birthday party; a Catholic nun in McAllen detained while walking to Sunday Mass.
Even some Republican officials have denounced the activity. “As I have repeatedly said, our immigration enforcement should target violent criminals,” GOP Rep. Monica de la Cruz, who represents a battleground district in the Rio Grande Valley, wrote on Facebook. “A Catholic nun on her way to church is not a threat to our community.”
One construction company owner in south Texas, granted anonymity to speak openly, said the nun’s arrest — which was plastered all over local news last month — was “the final nail in the coffin” for many Hispanics in the community who had voted for Republicans.
“We’re pissed off at the current administration. Everybody’s pissed off down here in south Texas,” the construction executive said, noting that most Hispanics in the area are Catholic. “Remember, we’re conservative, we’re not far left. We’re in the middle, conservative Latinos in south Texas. It doesn’t make sense.”
Guerrero, who leads a trade group with over 160 members across south Texas, said the idea that deportations will create jobs for American workers is ill-informed. “When people say, ‘Why don’t you hire American citizens to do foundation or to do concrete?’ I’m like, ‘Dude, tell me what f—ing United States citizen is gonna want to go and pour concrete at 103 degrees down here in the valley,’” Guerrero said.
Palomarez echoed that sentiment.
“This notion that these immigrants are taking American jobs is bullshit,” said Palomarez. “The districts in South Texas that swung decidedly Republican are paying the price, because that fear-mongering has come home to roost. And now you don’t have employees, or enough employees, to get that project done.”
Politics
Shelby Blackstock and his wife Marissa chose the sweetest name for their baby boy to be. Continue reading…Country Music News – Taste of Country
Shelby Blackstock and his wife Marissa chose the sweetest name for their baby boy to be. Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs
Old West saloons served plenty of beer, but it looked and tasted different from today’s brews. Find out what frontier patrons were really served.
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When you’re pressed for time or low on energy, even pan-frying scrambled eggs can be a hassle. Fortunately, there’s a much easier alternative.
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This week’s All-Star festivities in Philadelphia will be a hometown showcase. The Phillies have two players — Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber — competing in the Home Run Derby on Monday. One day later, four more Phillies players — Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo, Brandon Marsh and Jhoan Duran — will be joining Schwarber and Harper at the All-Star Game. On the American League side, it will also be a return home for Mike Trout, the native of Millville, New Jersey, whose 12th All-Star Game will hold a special meaning. With All-Star week about to get going, here are 10 storylines to watch. Cease And Sanchez Get The Starts Rowan Kavner: There are two strong options for American League manager John Schneider. The Yankees’ Cam Schlittler leads AL pitchers in bWAR, ERA and WHIP, while Schneider’s Blue Jays ace Dylan Cease leads AL pitchers in fWAR, strikeouts, strikeout rate and opponents’ batting average. They’ve clearly been the top two pitchers in the AL. Cease has thrown 15 consecutive scoreless innings in his last two starts, having allowed just four hits and four walks while striking out 20. He will start the game for the AL. It’s a little more complicated in the National League. Jacob Misiorowski would have been the obvious choice in the middle of a historically overpowering season. He leads all qualified MLB starters in ERA, strikeouts, WHIP and opponents’ batting average. Shane Bieber (in the shortened 2020 season) and Gerrit Cole (in 2019) are the only qualified starters who have ever logged a strikeout rate higher than Misiorowski’s (39.6%) over the course of a full season. The only problem? Miz won’t be there. He has been replaced because he will be pitching on Sunday and unavailable for the All-Star Game. Paul Skenes might have made sense, but he will be facing off against Misiorowski on Sunday (and hasn’t had the first-half numbers of other top contenders). NL manager Dave Roberts told me last week that being the hometown pitcher “has got to have some weight” as he mulls his decision. If he chooses to go with a Phillies pitcher, there are two options: Sánchez and Luzardo. Sánchez would have been the clear choice until he coughed up nine runs in Kansas City on Monday. Despite that clunker, he gets the call. Atlanta’s Chris Sale, Cincinnati’s Chase Burns and Roberts’ World Series star Yoshinobu Yamamoto had to have been among the other top considerations. A Farewell To Justin Verlander Deesha Thosar: This week’s All-Star week festivities will double as a farewell stage for Verlander, giving his peers and fans a chance to celebrate his remarkable career. After announcing that he will retire following the season, the future first-ballot Hall of Famer will take one final All-Star bow as one of the sport’s most accomplished pitchers. Verlander is a throwback from a generation of pitchers that played the game with different priorities, including pitching deep into games, emphasizing durability and wins, and defining a legacy through consistency and longevity. It’s fair to question whether we will ever see anyone like him take the mound again. Few careers can match Verlander’s resume. The 43-year-old is a 10-time All-Star, three-time Cy Young Award winner, a two-time World Series champion, and the 2011 AL MVP. The right-hander has spent over two decades overpowering hitters, presiding as the active leader in strikeouts (3,554), wins (266), complete games (26), games started (556) and innings pitched (3,571.1). Whatever MLB has in the works to honor Verlander in Philly, it’s certain to be a fitting tribute to one of baseball’s all-time greats. Hometown Stars In Home Run Derby Kavner: In 2018, the Nationals’ Bryce Harper beat the Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber in the finals to win the Home Run Derby. Eight years later, now Phillies teammates, they’ll face off again in front of their hometown fans. It’s the first time since that 2018 Derby that two teammates will compete. (That year, it was Schwarber and Cubs teammate Javier Báez). Harper has tabbed Dodgers third-base coach Dino Ebel, one of his World Baseball Classic Team USA coaches, as his Derby pitcher. Ebel threw to Schwarber during last year’s All-Star Game swing-off, helping Schwarber launch three home runs on three pitches to earn MVP honors. Speaking Of That Swing-Off… Thosar: Could another Home Run Derby-style swing-off decide the All-Star Game? After last year’s dramatic tiebreaker captivated fans, including Schwarber going a perfect 3-for-3 with three home runs, the possibility is back on the table in Philadelphia. Under MLB’s All-Star rules, games tied after nine innings skip extra innings and move straight to a swing-off. Three manager-selected hitters from each league get three swings apiece, and the team that hits the most home runs after all rounds will claim the win. The format was introduced to avoid overworking pitchers while adding late-game drama. There’s no way to predict another tie, but all the ingredients are there. There’s elite pitching, stacked lineups and every run will come at a premium, so another swing-off remains a real possibility. If it happens, who will be crowned the hero? Last year in Atlanta, after the NL and AL ended the ninth in a 6-6 tie, we got to see Brent Rooker vs. Kyle Stowers in round one, followed by Schwarber vs. Randy Arozarena in round two, and finally Jonathan Aranda vs. Pete Alonso in round three. The NL won the All-Star Game, 7-6, after the unprecedented swing-off. Trout To Start In Hometown All-Star Game Kavner: Trout’s 12th All-Star Game will be a particularly memorable one. Trout’s hometown of Millville, New Jersey, is less than 50 miles from Philadelphia, and the Angels superstar has thought about the possibility of playing in this All-Star Game since before the season began. “It would be huge,” Trout told me two weeks ago, when he was still on the injured list with a hamstring strain. “It’d be special, for sure.” Trout has returned from his hamstring strain — as he vowed to do — just in time. He’ll be starting in the outfield for an AL team that could use his pop with Aaron Judge injured. Which AL Rookie Will Step Up? Kavner: It’s a special year for rookie talent, and much of it will be on display on the American League roster. Munetaka Murakami returned from his hamstring injury just in time to be added to the American League roster after launching 20 homers in his first 57 big-league games. Kevin McGonigle is already one of the most valuable shortstops in the game at 21 years old. Cleveland has two AL Rookie of the Year contenders in the game in second baseman Travis Bazzana and pitcher Parker Messick. All of them have risen to the occasion in their first MLB season, and it will be fascinating to see who holds their own — or takes their game to another level — against the sport’s top competition. MLB Continues To Showcase International Stars Thosar: Is it the World Baseball Classic, or the All-Star Game? Just four months after another successful WBC, which ended with Venezuela beating the United States for its first-ever WBC title, the All-Star Game will continue to showcase baseball’s global reach. From Latin America to Asia to the land down under, Philly’s Midsummer Classic will feature plenty of stars whose baseball journeys began in different countries. There are 22 internationally born players earning spots on the All-Star rosters (33.8%), including 12 players in the NL and 10 in the AL. The list features players from Cuba (7); the Dominican Republic (5); Venezuela (4); Canada (2); Japan (2); Australia (1); and Curaçao (1). Guardians rookie second baseman Travis Bazzana, a native of Hornsby, Australia, will become just the fourth-ever native of Australia to make the All-Star Game, joining Grant Balfour (2013); Liam Hendriks (2019, 2021-22); and Dave Nilsson (1999). Diverse All-Star rosters represent the international talent pipeline that’s become essential to MLB’s grandest stages. Will This Week Be The Showcase Of Junior Caminero? Kavner: Caminero is one of the hottest hitters on the planet right now — he had 12 homers in his last 16 games entering the weekend before the break — and he’s out for revenge after falling just short of becoming the youngest player ever to win the Home Run Derby last year. Would anyone be surprised if he won the Derby and then took home All-Star MVP honors? At just 23 years old, the AL starting third baseman is quickly ascending into one of the league’s most promising superstars. The First-Time All-Stars To Watch Thosar: Some have been there, done that (looking at you, Trout, Freddie Freeman, Chris Sale, Juan Soto, Matt Olson, et al.). And then, some will have no idea what to expect and will be taking in the All-Star week festivities with fresh eyes. There is a record, eye-popping total of 29 players who will be making their All-Star Game debuts this year. Among that large group, there are several names worth keeping an eye on who could steal the show. Notable names making their first trip to the Midsummer Classic include Blue Jays right-hander Dylan Cease, Yankees first baseman Ben Rice and burgeoning star right-hander Schlitter, breakout Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker and local Phillies in Luzardo and outfielder Brandon Marsh rounding out the group of some of the game’s best players of the first half. “I don’t necessarily come into the season saying, ‘I really want to be on the All-Star team,’” Rice told me of whether it was his goal to be selected. “But you can only hope that if you do your best every day and stick to your process and the results follow, that maybe you’ll get the chance.” Key Stars Will Be Absent. Who Will Capitalize? Thosar: We’ve been spoiled over the years with so many household names regularly appearing at MLB’s annual All-Star Game festivities, but this year, the Midsummer Classic will be missing some of its biggest headliners. Shohei Ohtani (left knee irritation), Judge (stress fracture in right rib), and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (elected not to play) are among the superstar absences, with aces Skenes and Misiorowski also unable to play in the All-Star Game because they’re both starting on Sunday. In addition, Byron Buxton is dealing with a right hip impingement, while Nick Kurtz will also miss the game due to a right thumb sprain. Still, these absences create opportunity. With a handful of marquee names sidelined or unavailable, the spotlight shifts to first-time All-Stars and underrated talents who are all eager to make a name for themselves. Keep an eye on All-Star Game replacements like first baseman Willson Contreras and Murakami to make the most of their chances. How to Watch the 2026 MLB All-Star Game The 2026 MLB All-Star Game is Tuesday, July 14, with first pitch at 8 p.m. ET on FOX, live from Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Watch the MLB All-Star Game on FOX One for live and on-demand streaming.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
England’s win over Norway didn’t come without post-match controversy for the Three Lions. Star midfielder Jude Bellingham scored twice to give England a 2-1 win in extra time that sent them to the World Cup semifinals for the fourth time ever. After the match, during an on-field interview, head coach Thomas Tuchel pointed out that his team could have been much better. “We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today,” Tuchel said in a post-match interview on FOX Sports. “The result is fantastic. We’re in the last four. It’s amazing, but not happy with the performance … in every sense.” Bellingham, who scored both of England’s goals to bring his tally for the tournament up to six, seemed to disagree with his coach’s critique after England prevailed in the heat and humidity of South Florida, with temperatures reaching 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33 Celsius) at the start of warmups. “Well, whatever,” Bellingham said, shaking his head. “It’s difficult out there. It’s a tough shift. My thoughts and appreciation goes to the players out there who put in a great shift.” “Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those conditions,” Bellingham said, mentioning the top talent of Norway, incuding Erling Haaland, Martin Ødegaard, Antonio Nusa, and Alexander Sørloth. “I think it would probably catch you a little off-guard,” former World Cup defender Walk Zimmerman told us for the comments and Bellingham’s response. “That’s the kind of thing that would fly, I think, at the club level when you’re playing game in, game out. For a knockout tournament, I think the most important thing is that you can say we didn’t play well, then you immediately acknowledge, ‘We won, we’re moving on. We’re going to enjoy this today and look at what we can do better.’” Former U.S. men’s national team coach and FOX Sports analyst Bob Bradley downplayed the impact of Tuchel’s comments, which struck a chord with Bellingham. “I don’t think it’s anything,” Bradley said, calling the comments “postgame emotions.” “Tuchel, like a lot of us, is never satisfied and always demanding,” Bradley told us. “Bellingham represents the players and the effort against a good team.” Thierry Henry also seemed confused by the line of questioning from the interviewer in FOX’s postgame. “I didn’t understand the questions,” Henry said. “The guy is telling you it was all effort and mentality – and you’re asking about mentality. He was talkinga bout the technical aspect of the game. […] He wasn’t happy with the speed, he wasn’t happy about it. That’s why he changed stuff right away. You don’t even need to ask that question. If he’s changing stuff, it’s because he’s not happy with what’s on the field.” Tuchel clarified in his news conference that he was “proud and happy” with how his squad has overcome adversity, but added, “I’m also a football coach and I also have demands. … I think we can play faster. I think we can play more clinically.” Bellingham added, “The game is split into loads of different facets. Some of it is technical, tactical. For me, the biggest one is psychological and how you can manage setbacks, how you can manage adversity. This team showed yet again that they can do it, and that’s a really valuable skill and trait to have.” Former U.S. national team midfielder and FOX Sports analyst Sacha Kljestan believes the comments won’t affect England as it approaches a semifinal matchup with reigning champion Argentina. “I don’t think it’s a very big deal,” Kljestan told us. “He was clearly exhausted after putting in a huge effort. Maybe after watching the game back, he will see that England was a little sloppy on the day. He has a right to say what he said, and I don’t think it should be a big thing.” “Ultimately, I think it’s a non-story, honestly,” Zimmerman added. “That’s going to be totally fine in the locker room. Neither of them are going to be thinking twice about it.” Alexi Lalas appreciated Tuchel’s approach as well, noting that it’s more about perception than any sort of “bristling” between media and coach on the most recent episode of State Of The Union. “Tuchel’s response was as German as I’ve seen him in this moment, and I think it was by design,” Lalas said. “I think Thomas Tuchel recognizes that in order for this England team to get over this hump and do things we haven’t seen before, he has to treat not just the team but the extended team, the fanbase, in a different way. Because in that moment you’d expect Thomas Tuchel or most coaches to extoll the virtues of what they just say, ‘hey it’s a hard fought game.’ […] He’s zigging while everyone else is zagging. I’m here for it.” On Bellingham’s comments, Lalas had more to say. “I also love the fact that Jude Bellingham in this moment recognized that, ‘well that’s my coach saying this, but we are going to celebrate this and sing while you’re winning.'” “This team is endearing,” Lalas added. Next up for England is a semifinal round matchup against Argentina on Wednesday, July 15 in Atlanta (3 p.m. ET on FOX and streaming on FOX One). It’s the latest in a long history between Argentina and England, one built on ghosts, thorns and legends. “Thomas Tuchel can rain all day long on the parade,” Lalas continued. “And I think it’s done strategically, and I think it’s smart, but I also like the fact that there was pushback from his players that this was not easy.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
