7 Jan 2026

Frederick: Anthony Edwards is doing it all for the Timberwolves

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Minnesota opened Tuesday’s win over Miami with an action designed to get Donte DiVincenzo a touch.

Anthony Edwards brought the ball up the floor and attempted to get the ball to the sharpshooter, but Norman Powell — who went over the top of the off-ball screen — poked the pass away.

Edwards collected the loose ball, got a ball screen from Rudy Gobert and buried a triple.

There was a dead ball on Miami’s ensuing offensive possession in which Edwards and DiVincenzo convened to discuss the coverage, at which point Edwards shouted to his teammates, “Run the same play.”

This time, Minnesota took advantage of the aggressive coverage on DiVincenzo, running the shooter through the entire action that featured three separate screens. A patient Edwards hit the guard in the corner for an open catch-and-shoot 3-point attempt. It didn’t fall, but it was a great look generated by good offense.

And it was identified by a star guard growing more and more comfortable with what he’s being asked to do.

“He’s really settling into kind of his point guard mentality but still maintaining his aggressiveness,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “Figuring out ways to get his teammates involved, whether it be with the screening off the ball, I think he’s done a good job with that, calling their number, just keeping it simple.”

Simple, easy, consistent. Those words haven’t always defined Edwards’ loud brand of basketball, but they were adjectives to define Tuesday’s performance.

His shot diet was exemplary: He fired off-the-dribble triples when opponents abandoned the arc while dropping back in pick-and-roll coverage; he attacked the rim at other points via tactical prods; he found a number of catch-and-shoot chances while playing off the ball.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) and forward Julius Randle (30) celebrate after scoring during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

The latter portion of his offensive game continues to grow, as he ran around screen actions with the necessary force while relocating around the arc and cutting to make himself available in other instances.

As the point, he identified proper sets to get teammates involved while setting a tone of transition via his own attacks and by intentionally seeking out hit-ahead passes to get the ball up the floor.

It was far from the helio-centric offense Minnesota has at times played with the star guard.

The willingness to modify his approach opened natural windows for others to be aggressive. It was Julius Randle and Naz Reid in the first half; it was Jaden McDaniels and Donte DiVincenzo in the second. And it was all supplemented by a steady dose of Edwards throughout.

The Wolves’ top six rotational pieces all scored 12-plus points.

Edwards still scored 26 points in 29 minutes — a higher rate of points per minute (.89) than he has averaged throughout this prolific offensive season (.84). Equally efficient, less exhausting.

Isolation basketball is hard. It requires a significant amount of effort to create and make shots when the entire defense is designed to stop you from doing just that. What Edwards is starting to do on the offensive end looks far easier, and seems to be freeing up energy to expend on the defensive end.

The performance he put forth in that department on Tuesday — the end of the floor on which he’s been disappointing for much of the season — was outstanding. He walled up his man in isolation situations countless times. Edwards was only credited with one steal, but twice his defensive pressure resulted in his man losing the ball out of bounds, and on another occasion it led to an errant pass that resulted in a Naz Reid interception returned for an easy fastbreak layup.

Perhaps more significant was Edwards’ attention to off-ball responsibilities. He was in the proper gaps, providing the proper help. He was one of Minnesota’s best low-man defenders in the paint.

Opponents defended by Edwards are shooting just 7 for 22 from the field over Minnesota’s last two outings.

“His defense has been great the last few games,” Finch said.

On one possession, Edwards was hesitant to step into the lane to help, as he assumed Rudy Gobert had the situation handled in pick-and-roll coverage, as he often does. But Miami scored at the rim.

Edwards went over to the center after the play, discussed the situation, patted Gobert and moved forward.

The superstar was quiet, consistent and efficient, setting the tone for Minnesota’s third-straight workmanlike victory. He is orchestrating the team’s preferred brand of basketball on both ends of the floor with great success.

On the floor following the win, Gobert was asked how good the Timberwolves can be when they consistently play this way.

“A championship team,” he replied.

That is still Minnesota’s ceiling, but it requires consistent effort, tenacity and attention to detail. How much better are the Timberwolves when their best player is driving the bus in those “little things” departments, as he’s been doing of late?

“Exponentially,” Finch said.

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7 Jan 2026

Gov. Ron DeSantis calls for special session in April to redraw Florida’s congressional districts

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By MIKE SCHNEIDER and DAVID FISCHER

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he plans to call a special session in April for the Republican-dominated legislature to draw new congressional districts, joining a redistricting arms race among states that have redrawn districts mid-decade.

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Even though Florida’s 2026 legislative session starts next week, DeSantis said he wanted to wait for a possible ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. The ruling in Louisiana v. Callais could determine whether Section 2, a part of the Voting Rights Act that bars discrimination in voting systems, is constitutional. The governor said “at least one or two” districts in Florida could be affected by the high court’s ruling.

“I don’t think it’s a question of if they’re going to rule. It’s a question of what the scope is going to be,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Steinhatchee, Florida. “So, we’re getting out ahead of that.”

Currently, 20 of Florida’s 28 congressional seats are held by Republicans.

Congressional districts in Florida that are redrawn to favor Republicans could carry big consequences for President Donald Trump’s plan to reshape congressional districts in GOP-led states, which could give Republicans a shot at winning additional seats in the midterm elections and retaining control of the closely divided U.S. House.

Nationwide, the unusual mid-decade redistricting battle has so far resulted in a total of nine more seats Republicans believe they can win in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio — and a total of six more seats Democrats expect to win in California and Utah, putting Republicans up by three. But the redrawn districts are being litigated in some states, and if the maps hold for 2026, there is no guarantee the parties will win the seats.

In 2010, more than 60% of Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting the drawing of district boundaries to unfairly favor one political party in a process known as gerrymandering. The Florida Supreme Court, however, last July upheld a congressional map pushed by DeSantis which critics said violated the “Fair Districts” amendment.

After that decision, Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez last August announced the creation of a select committee to examine the state’s congressional map.

Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social

7 Jan 2026

Could This State Senate Runoff be a Tipping Point for Tarrant County? 

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Even some of his most passionate supporters were surprised by the number of votes Democrat Taylor Rehmet received in the November special election for Texas Senate District 9. 

His competitors, Republicans Leigh Wambsganss and John Huffman, each had mountains of cash and the backing of major PACs and political players across Texas. Even so, Rehmet, an Air Force Veteran and president of the state’s International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers chapter, won nearly 48 percent of the vote—nearly enough for an outright win.

The Tarrant County seat, which covers the suburbs of Keller, North Richland Hills, and Southlake, and part of Fort Worth, was left open by longtime Republican state Senator Kelly Hancock, who resigned earlier this year to become the acting state comptroller. Last year, President Trump won that same district by 17 points. 

“That is not something you might’ve seen as recently as two cycles ago,” said Jason Villalba, a former North Texas Republican legislator who now runs a think tank focused on Latino voters, citing the area’s growing diversity. Backlash to the right-wing Republican candidates was another reason, experts say. 

Now, the January 31 runoff pits Rehmet against Wambsganss, a conservative activist and executive with Patriot Mobile, the Christian nationalist cell phone carrier in North Texas. It’s a race that encapsulates the most turbulent political storylines in Tarrant County, statewide and nationally. The special election in a solid red district is the sort of off-cycle contest that, in the Trump era, have served as bellwether for the national political climate. That’s especially so in this district, smack dab in the largest battleground county in Texas.  

“As Tarrant County goes, so goes Texas,” former Trump consigliere Steve Bannon, who is stumping for Wambsganss, recently said on his podcast. “And as Texas goes, so goes the world.”

EJ Carrion, a progressive activist based in Fort Worth, was chilled by those words from the onetime Trump strategist. He was also motivated. “If Tarrant County is the battleground for a democracy, then Fort Worth is the front lines,” he said. 

It would be difficult to find a more far-right candidate than Wambsganss, who was an architect of the Southlake ISD school board takeover. (Wambsganss’ campaign did not respond to the Observer’s questions for this story.)  

In 2020, she co-founded Southlake Families PAC, which funded school board candidates who killed the school district’s anti-racism plans. Patriot Mobile, the conservative Christian wireless provider where Wambsganss works as chief communications officer, has a PAC that also bankrolled right-wing school board candidates in Southlake, Grapevine, Keller, and Mansfield. 

Wambsganss’ politics are part of an increasingly powerful hardline faction in Tarrant County Republican politics, which has long been a hotbed for right-wingers. In the November election, she bested Southlake Mayor John Huffman, who had backing from more establishment elements of the state GOP as well as with big-money casino interests. The True Texas Project, whose endorsement Wambsganss lists on her website, is an influential Tarrant County-based organization that once claimed there is a “war on white America.”

Brian Mayes, a local Republican strategist, said Wambsganss’ failure to best Rehmet and secure the 50 percent necessary to avoid a runoff shows that people, including some GOP voters, are fed up with the school board controversies that have dominated North Texas politics in recent years. Candidates backed by Patriot Mobile’s PAC suffered big losses in May 2025 elections, Mayes pointed out.  

“I think their policies were so extreme, they caused so much trouble on the school board, that in just a short time period, voters were like, ‘Okay, yeah, we’ve seen enough. We’re done,’” Mayes said. 

Rehmet agrees that he couldn’t have done as well as he did in the November race without some Republican voters casting ballots for him. In an interview with the Texas Observer, Rehmet said that his opponent’s background creates a stark contrast in the runoff. “This is about values. If you look at me and you look at my opponent, we have totally different values. It’s about who’s going to answer to donors and who’s going to answer to the people.”

Still, Rehmet heads into the runoff at a significant monetary disadvantage, according to the last campaign finance reports from November. He raised $160,000—with his largest contribution coming from the Machinist union’s PAC at $15,000—and ended with less than $47,000. 

As of that same date, Wambsganss had spent over $1.3 million and received a total of $2.2 million. (The next campaign reports are not due until a week before the special election). 

Her top donor is Texans United for a Conservative Majority, which is financed by far-right megadonors Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks and provided over $400,000 to her campaign. She also received more than $350,000 from a PAC funded in part by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, and another $300,000 from the Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC.

Mayes, the Republican strategist, said he expects even more money to pour into both sides of the race during the runoff—especially in its final weeks. “I think their plan is to not change any policy positions and to just double down on the spending,” Mayes said of the Wambsganss camp. With their spending, he added, the goal will be “to overwhelm the Democrat opponent with door knockers, texting, phone calls, the usual stuff you need to do in a runoff to get to vote, vote. And I think she’ll go even more negative.”

Meanwhile, Alexander Montalvo, a longtime grassroots organizer in Tarrant County, says “people power”—local organizing and get-out-the-vote messaging, for instance —was the key to Rehmet’s first victory. It’s the key to the runoff, too. 

“The most powerful thing that we will ever have is people,” he said. “I mean, our vote is powerful. Our dollars are powerful. All these assets we have that we can utilize are powerful, but nothing’s more powerful than just people.” 

Rehmet also emphasized how eager he is to reach across partisan lines. He’s spent months canvassing and making phone calls with voters, he said, and that means regular conversations with conservatives and registered Republicans. “I couldn’t have gotten 48 percent if I didn’t have conservatives believe in wanting something different,” he said. 

During her campaign, Wambsganss has largely focused on two issues: property taxes and public safety. In a November interview with CBS, she talked at length about giving Texans “property tax relief” and increasing the homestead exemption. Wambsganss’ website says she wants to ensure public schools are fully funded; it also touts her role in “one of the most impactful fights against Critical Race Theory in the country, advancing parental rights and transparency in education.” On election night in November, Wambsganss told the local CBS News affiliate: “My message has been consistent. I have over thirty years of fighting for faith, family and freedom.”

She added, “Texans are really, really sick and tired of being taxed out of their homes. Texans want secure borders. They want to support their first responders. And all parents in Texas want a good education for their kids. And the Republican message and the conservative policies and laws are good for all Texans.”

For his part, Rehmet told the Observer that he wants to increase teacher pay and hire more teaching assistants, as well as crack down on corporate price gouging and expand access to affordable healthcare and childcare. But first, he’ll have to win the January 31 runoff, then be elected once again later in 2026 before beginning a full state Senate term the following year.

Supporters like Carrion know they’re in for a difficult fight in the weeks ahead, especially since powerful right-wing political machines—at the local, state, and national level—are lining up behind Wambsganss. Carrion finds it particularly frustrating that the Fort Worth Professional Firefighters Association, a labor union, endorsed Wambsganss instead of the candidate with strong union bona fides. 

“They endorsed the book ban lady,” he said. “Like Fahrenheit 451. Do we remember what firefighters did? They burned books. It’s a little too real.” 

The post Could This State Senate Runoff be a Tipping Point for Tarrant County?  appeared first on The Texas Observer.

7 Jan 2026

MN audit finds weak oversight, fraud risk in Human Service grants

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The Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor says a program run within the state Department of Human Services does not have appropriate oversight of funds it is disbursing.

The report presented to a committee of lawmakers earlier this week found that the Behavioral Health Administration did not comply with certain requirements and did not have adequate internal control over grant funds.

The Behavioral Health Administration is a division of Human Services responsible for administering grants to programs meant to help children and adults treat different mental health conditions and substance abuse disorders. BHA partners with counties, providers and tribes to deliver services. The division has more than 200 employees.

During OLA’s audit, which spanned from July 2022 to December 2024, auditors visited different program sites, reviewed finances and spoke to BHA staff members. Within that time period, BHA managed 830 unique grant agreements that received $426 million in state and federal funding.

Key findings

Key findings include:

• BHA paid nearly $1 million to grantees for work performed before BHA completed its grant agreements.

• A majority of the grant recipients surveyed had missing or past-due progress reports.

• One grantee could not provide OLA with detailed invoices or data to support a payment of nearly $700,000 from BHA for a single month of work. The BHA grant manager who approved the payment left the agency a few days after approving the grant. The former BHA grant manager now works for the same grant recipient for whom they approved the nearly $700,000 grant.

• In a survey, the majority of staff said they did not receive sufficient training to manage grants.

• BHA paid nearly $300,000 to 11 grantees for unsupported costs and reimbursement requests with errors.

• BHA was not able to demonstrate that it had conducted required site visits to monitor how grant funding was disbursed.

‘It is frankly unacceptable’

Judy Randall, the state’s legislative auditor, noted that her team identified a number of documents BHA either backdated or created after the audit began. Because of this, OLA said they could not fully rely on documentation provided by the department.

“It is frankly unacceptable for the agencies we audit to do this type of activity,” Randall said. “In the 27 years I’ve been with OLA, I have never seen this before.”

During the hearing, temporary commissioner Shireen Gandhi said DHS is working to implement recommendations presented by OLA.

“The findings provide us with a roadmap for our focus going forward to continue strengthening oversight and integrity of behavioral health grants,” she said. “I take the report seriously, I accept responsibility for the findings.”

Gandhi could not answer specifically whether all BHA grantees were providing services to people who need it, but said DHS has the authority to cancel any contracts suspected of being fraudulent.

“The work that we’re doing now to shore up the internal controls is going to give me much greater confidence in the future in answering that question,” she said. “I think we strive to always achieve outcomes, and we are putting in tighter internal controls so that we can, with more confidence, tell you that we are achieving that with the dollars we’re spending.”

Questions on MN social service programs

The findings in the OLA come amid questions surrounding the integrity of Minnesota’s social service programs. On Monday, Gov. Tim Walz announced he would not seek a third term as allegations of fraud in child care centers garnered national attention.

Some members of the Legislative Audit Commission signaled the audit findings could be indicative of more fraud in another program run by DHS.

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“We have another rogue agency that is acting not in the spirit and manner of the law but is rogue and working outside of the law,” said Sen. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa. ”I just can’t believe what we have in this state government in the state of Minnesota.”

Last March, the Department of Human Services lost nearly $30 million in grant funding through Trump administration federal funding cuts. The grants included drug prevention programs in schools, treatment and recovery programs for mental health and substance use, and harm reduction strategies amid the nation’s opioid epidemic.