State Headlines
Oath Keepers founder Rhodes barred from entering Washington without court’s permission
Posted/updated on: January 24, 2025 at 4:34 pmWASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday barred Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes from entering Washington without the court's approval after President Donald Trump commuted the extremist group leader's 18-year prison sentence in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who oversaw the seditious conspiracy trial of Rhodes and other Oath Keepers, issued the order two days after Rhodes visited Capitol Hill, where he met with at least one lawmaker, chatted with others and defended his actions the day of the riot. Mehta’s order applies to seven other defendants who were charged in one of the most serious conspiracy cases brought by the Justice Department over the riot. The order also prohibits them from entering the Capitol ... Read More
Trump orders JFK assassination files to be released
Posted/updated on: January 24, 2025 at 4:34 pmDALLAS (AP) — Millions of documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas have already been made public, but President Donald Trump has ordered the release of thousands of still-classified files. Trump signed the executive order Thursday as part of a flurry of executive actions taken in the first week of his second term. Many people who have studied what’s been released so far say the public shouldn’t anticipate any earth-shattering revelations, but there is still intense interest in details related to the assassination and the events surrounding it. And the possibility of significant new information is tantalizing to researchers. Here are some things to know: Trump's order Thursday's order directed the national intelligence director and attorney general to develop ... Read More
Prisoner at large after escaping from Texas hospital
Posted/updated on: January 24, 2025 at 4:34 pmPolice are searching for a prisoner who escaped custody while undergoing testing at a hospital in Bellville, Texas, on Thursday. The inmate, Salvador Saucedo, has red hair and tattoos and isn't handcuffed. He was wearing an orange shirt and blue pants when he escaped, according to the Bellville Police Department. He is missing his front teeth and has face tattoos, according to the Austin County Sheriff's Office. Saucedo was in custody on charges of possession of a controlled substance, resisting arrest and assault on a peace officer, according to the Waller County Sheriff's Office. Saucedo escaped from custody at Bellville Hospital shortly after 7 p.m. on Thursday, police said. He has not been seen since, according to law enforcement. Authorities from the Bellville Police Department, ... Read More
US active duty troops beginning to arrive in Texas and San Diego to support border security
Posted/updated on: January 24, 2025 at 4:34 pmWASHINGTON (AP) — Active duty military troops will begin arriving in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego on Thursday evening, in what defense officials said is the first batch of the new forces being deployed to secure the southern border. The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that about 1,500 troops were being sent to the border this week, as the department scrambles to put in motion President Donald Trump’s executive order demanding an immediate crackdown on immigration. U.S. officials said they expect additional troops to be ordered to deploy in the next few days as defense and homeland security leaders iron out requests for more support. The officials said it’s not yet clear how many more service members would be sent in the near future, but ... Read More
Texas bar association drops lawsuit against AG Ken Paxton over 2020 election challenge
Posted/updated on: January 24, 2025 at 4:34 pmAUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The State Bar of Texas is dropping efforts to discipline Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton over allegations that his failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election amounted to professional misconduct. The decision, revealed Wednesday in court filings, ends a yearslong attempt to potentially sanction Paxton over making false claims of fraud when he filed a lawsuit that questioned Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Republican President Donald Trump. The move comes a month after the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Paxton's top deputy could not be sanctioned over similar accusations. A disciplinary commission for the state bar cited that December ruling in moving to drop its lawsuit against Paxton. A spokesperson for the State Bar of Texas declined ... Read More
School choice, vouchers and the future of Texas education
Posted/updated on: January 24, 2025 at 4:54 pmAUSTIN (AP) - School vouchers, often referred to as “school choice” programs, use public funds to help families pay for their children’s private education. Supporters say families should receive state support to send their child to a different school if public schools aren't adequately serving them. Opponents worry a voucher program would strip vital funds away from already cash-strapped public schools. Texas lawmakers and Gov. Greg Abbott failed to agree on the details of a voucher proposal during the 2023 legislative session, but passing such a bill will once again be a top priority for voucher supporters this year. Abbott, the state’s leading voucher advocate, successfully campaigned last year to replace many voucher critics in the Texas House with new members who have voiced support ... Read More
Former Texas congressman John Ratcliffe confirmed as CIA director
Posted/updated on: January 24, 2025 at 4:34 pmThe U.S. Senate confirmed former Texas Congressman John Ratcliffe to serve as the next director of the CIA on Thursday. Ratcliffe represented the 4th Congressional District from 2015 to 2020, when he was confirmed to serve as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence. He held that position until the end of the first Trump administration. He was succeeded in Congress by Rep. Pat Fallon. The Senate confirmed Ratcliffe’s nomination to lead the CIA on a widely bipartisan vote of 74-25. Twenty Democrats voted in favor, including Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, who previously worked at the CIA. Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine also voted in favor. Ratcliffe’s nomination was far less controversial compared to others Trump has named for his administration. In his confirmation ... Read More
Brooke Rollins of Texas says she’ll shield farmers from impacts of Trump’s tariffs
Posted/updated on: January 24, 2025 at 4:34 pmWASHINGTON — Brooke Rollins, President Donald Trump’s pick for Agriculture Secretary, stood behind the president’s proposals for mass deportations and tariffs even as she acknowledged they could make life harder for farmers. But she told senators at her nomination hearing Thursday that she will find ways to cushion the blows. Trump believes tariffs are “a very important tool in his toolkit to continue to bring America back to the forefront of the world, and to ensure that we have a thriving economy,” Rollins said. “But just as he did and we did in the first administration, he also understands the potential devastating impact to our farmers and our ranchers. So I fully understand and we are prepared to do something similar — to ensure that ... Read More
Asylum-seekers pushed to new extremes in Mexico after Trump’s border crackdown begins
Posted/updated on: January 24, 2025 at 4:34 pmATOTONILCO DE TULA, Mexico (AP) — When Dayana Castro heard that the U.S. asylum appointment she waited over a year for was canceled in an instant, she had no doubt: She was heading north any way she could. The 25-year-old migrant, her husband and their 4- and 7-year-old children had nothing left at home in Venezuela. They already had trekked the perilous Darien Gap jungle dividing Colombia and Panama and criminal groups that prey on migrants like them. Castro was one of tens of thousands of migrants across Mexico with appointments to apply for U.S. asylum at the border scheduled out through February until President Donald Trump took office and issued a series of executive orders to beef up border security and slash migration. One ... Read More
Greg Abbott seeks $11 billion in federal reimbursements for border security
Posted/updated on: January 24, 2025 at 4:56 pmAUSTIN (AP) - Gov. Greg Abbott is asking the federal government for more than $11 billion in reimbursements to Texas for the costs of border security operations and wall construction during the Biden administration. In letters sent Thursday to U.S. House and Senate leaders, Abbott requested $11.1 billion in federal funding to reimburse the state for spending since 2021 on border wall construction and costs stemming from Operation Lone Star. The letter, also sent to Texas’ congressional delegation, largely blames former President Joe Biden’s border security policy for leaving Texas “defenseless,” forcing state officials to expend billions. “The burden that our State has borne is a direct result of a refusal by the federal government to do its job,” Abbott said in the letter. Since ... Read More
Texas Republicans look to crack down on abortion pills
Posted/updated on: January 24, 2025 at 4:34 pmAUSTIN - The Austin American-Statesman reports that over the past two years, Texas women barred from terminating their pregnancies have shared their stories on the national state and on the campaign trail, and many of them challenged the state’s laws in high-profile court cases. Democrats and abortion advocates had hoped that the attention on Texas’ near-total ban, which bars abortions except when a pregnant person faces a “life-threatening condition,” would lead to electoral gains in the state Capitol and in D.C. But that didn't pan out in 2024, and after Texas Republicans strengthened their supermajority in the state Legislature, and federally the GOP won the White House and both chambers of Congress, they are positioned to move the state farther right on abortion issues this ... Read More
Texas’ economy stands to lose billions of dollars without investments into its water infrastructure
Posted/updated on: January 24, 2025 at 4:34 pmAUSTIN - KUT reports that the outlook for water in Texas is looking a bit ... dry. The state will face a long-term water deficit if fails to develop new supplies and gets hit by another multi-year drought, according to a new report. The report also suggests that a prolonged, severe drought, like that of the 1950s or 2011, could cost the state’s economy hundreds of billions of dollars. Texas 2036, a non-profit, public policy organization, commissioned the report to explore the possible consequences of under-investment in the state's water infrastructure. That potential large loss of money is because industries such as agriculture, manufacturing and energy production heavily rely upon water availability, said Jeremy Mazur, director of infrastructure and natural resources policy at Texas 2036. ... Read More
Texas budget writers want $1 billion for school vouchers, $5 billion for teacher pay raises
Posted/updated on: January 24, 2025 at 4:34 pmAUSTIN - The Austin American-Statesman reports the Legislature is proposing $1 billion for school voucher programs over the 2026-27 biennium, solidifying a commitment to the controversial program that's become a top priority for Republican state leaders, according to proposed budget numbers released by the House and Senate on Wednesday. The program, which would use public money to help pay for private schooling, bitterly divided Republican lawmakers two years ago. In both the House and Senate budget proposals, school vouchers would receive top dollar, according to news releases from Speaker Dustin Burrows and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. The issue in 2023 divided House Republicans, with some GOP members from rural communities joining Democratic lawmakers to defeat the proposal. In response, three-term Republican Gov. Greg Abbott launched ... Read More
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