O'Hare International Airport

Tarrant County commissioners voted 3-2 to reduce the number of polling locations for early voting and Election Day, cutting sites from 316 in 2022 to 224 this November. The final plan cuts fewer locations than an August proposal that would have eliminated 92 sites. The elections administrator framed the reduction as an efficiency measure, and Judge Tim O'Hare said the new count still exceeds the state's statutory minimum, citing inoperable buildings and ADA compliance issues.

Dozens of residents spoke against the cuts during a public comment period lasting more than two hours. Commissioners Alisa Simmons and Roderick Miles opposed the plan, tying it to the county's contested 2025 redistricting and warning it could suppress turnout in communities of color by removing sites at colleges and community centers. An amendment to preserve polling locations at UT Arlington and two Tarrant County College campuses failed twice on the same 3-2 vote. Texas law gives counties discretion over polling site numbers; Tarrant County has 1.3 million registered voters.

Mark Stephens, 67, chairman of the Triton College board and a son of late Rosemont founder Donald E. Stephens, was arrested on drug charges during a traffic stop in Harvard, in the far northwest suburbs. Police say Stephens was seen dropping an unmarked prescription bottle under his car after being pulled over for speeding; the bottle later tested positive for cocaine. Officers also reported smelling unburnt cannabis in the vehicle, and Stephens handed them an open container of cannabis. He was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of cannabis by a driver, and cited for speeding.

Stephens is the brother of current Rosemont Mayor Bradley Stephens, whose spokesman confirmed the mayor is aware of the arrest, calling it a "personal matter" and wishing his brother well. Mark Stephens has long run Bomark Cleaning Service Corporation, which has held maintenance and parking contracts at Rosemont-owned venues, and has chaired Triton College's board since the early 1990s. The arrest follows recent friction between Bradley Stephens' village government and Triton College over taxing districts.