State Headlines
Uvalde school officer pleads not guilty
Posted/updated on: July 27, 2024 at 4:06 amUVALDE (AP) — A former school police officer who was part of the slow law enforcement response to the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of failing to take action as a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers inside a fourth-grade classroom. Adrian Gonzales was among the nearly 400 law enforcement personnel who responded to the scene but then waited more than 70 minutes to confront the shooter inside the school. During a court hearing in Uvalde, a city of roughly 15,000 people about 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of San Antonio, teary-eyed family members of some of the victims watched as Gonzales was arraigned on charges of abandoning and failing to protect children ... Read More
Powerful cartel leader ‘El Mayo’ Zambada was lured onto airplane before arrest in US
Posted/updated on: July 27, 2024 at 4:10 amWASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful Mexican drug cartel leader who eluded authorities for decades was duped into flying into the U.S., where he was arrested alongside a son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, according to a U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the matter. Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada got on an airplane to the U.S. believing he was going somewhere else, said the official, who spoke on the condition on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. The official did not provide additional details, including who persuaded Zambada to get on the plane or where exactly he thought he was going. Upon arriving in the El Paso area, Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of notorious drug kingpin “El Chapo,” who ... Read More
Paxton sues over Nixon-era contraceptive program
Posted/updated on: July 27, 2024 at 4:06 amAUSTIN - The Texas Tribune reports that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday announced he is suing the Biden administration over a federal contraception program that provides teens birth control without requiring parental consent. The Title X program has long been the only way minors in Texas can access confidential contraception, but since a court ruling in 2022, Texas providers have been required to get parental sign-off. Here’s what you need to know The background: Title X is a Nixon-era program that provides confidential contraception to anyone, regardless of income, immigration status or age. Federal regulations, and several court rulings, have long held that Title X providers cannot require teens to get parental permission to be prescribed birth control. In 2020, an Amarillo father ... Read More
Dan Patrick calls Kamala Harris ‘queen of DEI,’ bucking party leaders
Posted/updated on: July 27, 2024 at 4:06 amDALLAS - The Dallas Morning News reports Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, bucking guidance from Washington Republicans, called Vice President Kamala Harris — the daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother — the “queen of DEI” in an interview Thursday. Patrick disparaged Harris’ rapid rise as the Democrats’ likely presidential nominee, calling it the result of diversity efforts. “She would be the queen of DEI if elected. She is DEI,” Patrick said to Chris Salcedo on Newsmax. Patrick is the chair of former President Donald Trump’s campaign in Texas and helped lead the effort to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Texas public universities in 2023. Several Washington Republicans were quick to refer to the vice president as a “DEI hire” after she emerged ... Read More
Texas deaths from Hurricane Beryl climb to at least 36, including more who lost power in heat
Posted/updated on: July 27, 2024 at 4:06 amHOUSTON (AP) — The number of Texas deaths after Hurricane Beryl came ashore and knocked out power to millions of residents climbed to at least 36 on Thursday as officials confirmed more people who died in homes that were left without air conditioning during sweltering heat. The medical examiner's office in Fort Bend County confirmed nine more deaths, including four that were at least partially attributed to hyperthermia, or when a person's body temperature rises far above normal. At least a dozen other residents in the Houston area also died from complications due to the heat and losing power, according to officials. Most Houston residents had their electricity restored last week after days of widespread outages during sweltering summer temperatures. Officials had said some residents ... Read More
US arrests 2 leaders of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel: ‘El Mayo’ Zambada and son of ‘El Chapo’
Posted/updated on: July 27, 2024 at 4:06 amWASHINGTON (AP) — Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, a longtime leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, and Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of another infamous cartel leader, were arrested by U.S. authorities in Texas on Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department said. A leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel for decades alongside Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, Zambada is one of the most notorious drug traffickers in the world and known for running the cartel’s smuggling operations while keeping a lower profile. A Mexican federal official told The Associated Press that Zambada and Guzmán López arrived in the United States on a private plane and turned themselves in to authorities. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized discuss the matter. The U.S. government ... Read More
House Republicans vote to rebuke Kamala Harris over administration’s handling of border policy
Posted/updated on: July 27, 2024 at 4:06 amWASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are moving quickly to emphasize Vice President Kamala Harris's role in the Biden administration’s handling of the U.S. border with Mexico, passing a resolution Thursday that condemns her performance in the job. The resolution, which is purely symbolic, echoes an attack line that Republican Donald Trump has taken against Harris since she rose to become the likely Democratic presidential nominee. All House Republicans and six Democrats in tough reelection races voted for the resolution. President Joe Biden tasked Harris early in his administration with addressing the root causes of migration. Border crossings eventually became a major political liability for Biden when they reached historic levels. Since June, when Biden announced significant restrictions on asylum applications at the border, arrests for ... Read More
President Biden coming to Austin Monday
Posted/updated on: July 27, 2024 at 4:06 amAUSTIN - The Dallas Morning News reports that President Joe Biden will deliver remarks in Austin on Monday as he returns to public life after his COVID-19 diagnosis last week, White House officials said Tuesday. Biden has not made any public appearances in the days after the diagnosis or since he announced Sunday that he was ending his reelection bid. He returned Tuesday to the White House from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del., where he had been recovering. Biden will speak at an LBJ Presidential Library event commemorating 60 years since the historic passage of the Civil Rights Act. The event had been postponed after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was the target of an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13. ... Read More
Texas deaths from Beryl climb to at least 36
Posted/updated on: July 27, 2024 at 4:06 amHOUSTON (AP) — The number of Texas deaths after Hurricane Beryl came ashore and knocked out power to millions of residents climbed to at least 36 on Thursday as officials confirmed more people who died in homes that were left without air conditioning during sweltering heat. The medical examiner's office in Fort Bend County confirmed nine more deaths, including four that were at least partially attributed to hyperthermia, or when a person's body temperature rises far above normal. At least a dozen other residents in the Houston area also died from complications due to the heat and losing power, according to officials. Most Houston residents had their electricity restored last week after days of widespread outages during sweltering summer temperatures. Officials had said some residents ... Read More
Operation Lone Star arrests overwhelming El Paso County
Posted/updated on: July 27, 2024 at 4:06 amEL PASO - The publication Border Report says El Paso County is asking the State of Texas for millions of dollars to cover the cost of jailing individuals arrested through Operation Lone Star. County Commissioners Court on Monday voted unanimously to submit a grant application to the Office of Gov. Greg Abbott for detainee processing, housing, judicial processing and medical costs. The vote authorized a separate application to the Texas Indigent Defense Commission to provide legal assistance to those detainees. Commissioners also gave the green light to County Judge Ricardo Samaniego to send a letter requesting those detained by the Texas Department of Public Safety to be taken to a state jail, rather than the El Paso County Jail. “In order to apply for that ... Read More
Texas woman’s lawsuit on murder charge over abortion can proceed
Posted/updated on: July 27, 2024 at 4:06 amMcALLEN (AP) — A Texas woman who was jailed and charged with murder after self-managing an abortion in 2022 can move forward with her lawsuit against the local sheriff and prosecutors over the case that drew national outrage before the charges were quickly dropped, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton denied a motion by prosecutors and the sheriff to dismiss the lawsuit during a hearing in the border city of McAllen. Lizelle Gonzalez, who spent two nights in jail on the murder charges and is seeking $1 million in damages in the lawsuit, did not attend the hearing. Texas has one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bans and outlaws the procedure with limited exceptions. Under Texas law, women seeking ... Read More
Judge’s order shields Catholic Charities from deposition
Posted/updated on: July 27, 2024 at 4:06 amMcALLEN (AP) — A judge on Wednesday rejected Texas' attempts to compel a deposition from one of the largest migrant shelters on the U.S.-Mexico border, dealing a new legal setback to a widening Republican-led investigation into migrant aid groups. The ruling by state District Judge J.R. Flores does not stop the state's investigation into Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, which provides temporary housing for as many as 2,000 women and children when border crossings are at their highest. The border nonprofit is among several targeted by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over claims that aid groups are helping migrants enter the U.S. illegally. Catholic Charities and other organizations have denied the accusations, saying the state has produced no evidence. The one-paragraph order by ... Read More
American Federation of Teachers rallies against HISD takeover
Posted/updated on: July 27, 2024 at 4:06 amHOUSTON - The Houston Chronicle reports that the American Federation of Teachers condemned the state takeover and backed the Houston local as union delegates from across the country meet in Houston this week. In a Wednesday rally at Discovery Green, union leaders reiterated their support for Houston and opposition to the state takeover, which reached its one-year mark with appointed leadership in June. The rally coalesces national support for the the district's largest teachers union, the Houston Federation of Teachers, led by President Jackie Anderson who vocally opposes the district's proposed $4.4 billion bond. The district said the bond would go largely to upgrading and rebuilding aging campuses, as well as co-locating schools to other existing campuses. Anderson brought up the bond to a chorus ... Read More
Top of page
