KTBB News, Weather, Talk

FORT WORTH – The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker is calling on board members in the city’s largest school district to do more to move its students forward academically, saying lackluster educational outcomes hamper students’ opportunities after high school. In a letter to board members in the Fort Worth Independent School District, Parker noted that Fort Worth is the fastest-growing major city in the country, and said the city is proud of its cultural richness and growth in business and higher education. “A great city demands a great public education system, and our future depends on it,” Parker wrote. “Fort Worth ISD is one of 12 school districts in the City of Fort Worth, and unfortunately, it has not kept pace with our city’s rapid ascent.” The letter, which was co-signed by a number of other city council members and leaders of businesses, philanthropic groups and advocacy organizations, went to every member of the school board ahead of its meeting Tuesday evening. Parker was also scheduled to speak during the public comment section of Tuesday’s board meeting.

In the letter, Parker noted that Fort Worth ISD’s state test scores lag behind those of other large urban districts across the state. On last spring’s state tests, 33% of Fort Worth ISD’s third-graders scored on grade level in reading, placing the district nine points behind Dallas ISD and 12 points behind Houston ISD. She also noted that the district came in 22nd out of the 24 Texas districts that serve more than 20,000 students with similar student populations. “These results are unacceptable,” Parker wrote. “For our city’s children, these results can significantly narrow their ability to access the life and opportunities that they want and deserve. And for our city, there are significant long-term consequences in the areas of workforce, economic development, poverty, public health, and much more.” Parker called on the board to set clear, ambitious student achievement goals, implement high-quality instruction in every classroom and prioritize academic intervention for struggling students. She also called on Fort Worth ISD to pause spending on bond-funded building projects until the district has a facilities plan “that enhances teacher capacity and student resources.” The letter comes two weeks after a closed-door meeting involving Parker, Superintendent Angélica Ramsey and a number of other city leaders. Neither the mayor’s office nor the district would offer details about what was discussed at the Aug. 9 meeting. A Fort Worth ISD spokesperson said only that Parker invited Ramsey and her deputies “to attend a meeting with community members to provide information regarding the district.”

TEXAS (AP) – Freight railroad BNSF is generally striving to improve safety on a consistent basis, but that message doesn’t always reach front-line workers who often don’t feel comfortable reporting safety concerns for fear of being disciplined, according to an assessment released Wednesday by regulators.

The Federal Railroad Administration’s review of BNSF’s safety culture also found that the company continues to be held back by some of the same issues that have been common across the industry for years.

This new report is the second one the agency has completed to address railroad safety concerns following the disastrous February 2023 Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, as it works to review all the major railroads.

The BNSF review is more positive than last summer’s Norfolk Southern report, which said executives at that railroad were too often satisfied with only doing the minimum for safety.

The FRA found that company leaders consistently stressed safety as a core value, but at the lower levels of the railroad, some managers still prioritize keeping the trains moving ahead of safety.

“Changes in messaging create doubt among front-line craft employees as to the true goals, priorities and commitments of the railroad,” the agency said in the report.

Regulators also reiterated their recommendation for BNSF and all the major freight railroads to sign on to the confidential federal safety reporting hotline for workers to report concerns without fear of being punished.

BNSF earned praise for launching a pilot program with that hotline for its dispatchers earlier this year, but the FRA said it needs to be available to all rail workers. The industry has a long history of retaliating against workers who report too many safety concerns, because those issues slow down the trains while repairs are made.

All the major railroads promised to join that federal reporting system after East Palestine, but so far only BNSF and Norfolk Southern have announced limited pilot programs.

“Effective reporting systems improve safety by reducing risks and allow for changes and repairs to be made so safety incidents do not recur,” according to the report.

BNSF didn’t immediately comment on the report after its public release early Wednesday.

BNSF is one of the nation’s largest railroads, with tracks crossing the Western United States. It is based in Fort Worth, Texas, and is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate of Omaha, Nebraska.

HERNANDO, Miss. (AP) — A former employee of a Mississippi jail has been arrested and charged in the June escape of Joshua Zimmerman, an inmate who fled to Chicago and was captured there last week after a 15-hour standoff with police at a restaurant just blocks from the Democratic National Convention.

Ronnie Hunt was charged with conveying articles useful for the escape of a prisoner, Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesperson Bailey Martin said Tuesday. Martin said “additional charges are probable.” She did not respond to a question about whether Hunt is represented by an attorney.

The DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department said Hunt, 32, has been fired from his job as a deputy jailer, WREG-TV reported. He was being held about an hour’s drive away in the jail in Lafayette County, Mississippi.

The U.S. Marshals Service said Zimmerman escaped June 14 from the DeSoto County Courthouse in Hernando, Mississippi, where he was being held on attempted murder and armed robbery charges. He was also awaiting extradition to Houston, where he’s charged with murder, the Marshals Service said.

Investigators said last week that they believe Zimmerman was working at the seafood restaurant where he was captured. The restaurant is about a half-mile from the United Center, where the political convention was being held. The Marshals Service said there was “no connection or threat to the event or those attending.”

Zimmerman was wearing street clothes, not a jail jumpsuit, when he escaped in Mississippi. A screenshot from a courthouse security video showed him wearing khaki pants and a white shirt and no handcuffs.

According to court records in Harris County, Texas, Zimmerman is accused of fatally shooting a woman, Keyanna Mercer, at a Houston motel on Sept. 2, 2023. The two were asked to leave the motel after multiple complaints of fighting, and when staff members checked the room to see if they had left, they found Mercer’s body with a gunshot wound to the head, police said.

Court records also show Zimmerman was arrested in Connecticut in 2022 on a felony sexual assault charge. He pleaded not guilty and was freed on a $200,000 bond, but a warrant was later issued for his re-arrest.

The DeSoto County sheriff, Thomas E. Tuggle II, told WREG-TV after Zimmerman’s escape: “The notion that he had help, that’s false. The notion that he had an extra set of clothes, that’s false. This is a career criminal. He knew what he was doing.”

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — After President Joe Biden this summer announced a new U.S. citizenship pathway for immigrant spouses, Oscar Silva rushed to apply and was elated Monday when an email arrived confirming his appointment for a required biometric exam.

But hours later, Silva received a jolt: a federal judge in Texas was temporarily suspending the program that could benefit an estimated 500,000 immigrants in the U.S., freezing in place one of the biggest presidential actions to ease a path to citizenship in years.

“I don’t know what is going to happen,” Silva said Tuesday. The 23-year-old college student arrived in the U.S. as a baby and lives in Texas with his wife, Natalie, an American citizen who provides for their family as a high school teacher.

Although the Biden administration’s “Keeping Families Together” program only began accepting applications last week, families and immigration attorneys say confusion, uncertainty and frustration is already mounting following the order by U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker. Couples who already applied say they are in limbo and those who haven’t yet must weigh whether to wait for Republicans’ court challenge over the program to play out.

Applicants must pay a $580 processing fee. Following Barker’s order, the Florida Immigrant Coalition said it was asking people “to weigh their options and to make the best decision for their families at this time.”

The court order followed a challenge by 16 states, led by Republican attorneys general, who filed a federal lawsuit days after the program began taking applications on Aug. 19. Barker’s order, known as an administrative stay, will be in place for 14 days but could be extended.

“That ruling is wrong. These families should not be needlessly separated,” Biden said in a statement.

The states claimed the move would cause irreparable harm and accused the administration of bypassing Congress for “blatant political purposes.”

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office is helping lead the lawsuit, applauded the order. “This is just the first step. We are going to keep fighting for Texas, our country, and the rule of law,” he said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security said the government would continue to take applications and defend the program in court. Any applicants whose parole was granted prior to the order will be unaffected, according to the department.

DHS did not respond to questions about how many applications were received or approved or how long it takes to determine the outcome of a case under the program.

Fears of separation returned for Silva and his wife, Natalie. Under the traditional process to apply for a green card, spouses living in the U.S. illegally can be required to return to their home country — often for years — and they always face the risk they may not be allowed back in.

“We thought this was finally our opportunity to be able to go through this process together and not fear the possibility of spending ten years away from each other,” Silva said. Now “I feel pretty heartbroken, very sad… because without it we face so much uncertainty.”

Immigration attorney Laura Flores-Perilla said it was “really unclear” what will happen with Silva’s appointment scheduled for September.

“I cannot underestimate the impact that this temporary pause is having,” said Flores-Perilla, an attorney at the Action Justice Center.

Gregory Chen, the director of government relations for the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said he had heard from lawyers affiliated with the association of at least hundreds of people who had applied since the program was launched, including some who applied and were approved the next day.

Lawyers are rushing to understand what the order means for their clients, too. According to Chen, the organization’s listserv for lawyers interested in the Keeping Families Together program “blew up” after the judge’s decision late Monday with questions about what the decision means.

Advocates are concerned the changes, even temporary ones, created by such litigation “creates chaos and uncertainty” for those looking to apply. Chen said he’s seen the effect litigation has had on other immigration-related programs.

His organization has held three webinars designed to educate lawyers about the program. One of those seminars had about 1,000 lawyers in attendance, an extremely high number for one of the group’s educational offerings, Chen said.

Roberto García, 37, and his wife Maria in Los Angeles had just paid an attorney $3,000 to help them fill out the lengthy application for the program but the application wasn’t submitted yet because of Monday’s order. Now, they’re wondering if they should gamble their chances and pay the processing fee for a program on hold.

“I didn’t think this was going to happen. It’s very hard,” said Roberto Garcia, referring to the order that halted the parole program. “We are not a priority. It is bad that they play with people’s feelings.”

Roberto is the sole provider for the family of five and earns a living through this construction business in California. He also sends money back home to family in Mexico.

If approved, applicants have three years to seek permanent residency. During that period, they can get a work authorization.

But Maria García said she is losing hope and considering moving to Mexico, where her husband has his parents and brothers.

“We will never be able to buy a house here,” she said. “Here if you do things wrong, they reward you. If you do things right, they punish you.”

___

Salomon reported from Miami. Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana in Washington contributed to this report.

FORT WORTH -The Fort Worth Report says that despite declining religious-affiliation numbers across the U.S., a new study reveals how Texas has remained one of the country’s most faithful states. Texas ranks as the third most religious state in the U.S., according to a recent study by the nonprofit tech company SmileHub. The findings, released in early August, used U.S. Census data and research from religious nonprofits to rank states based on the number of people who adhere to a particular faith, religious studies degrees awarded per capita and faith support charities per capita. A majority of Texans are Catholic or Southern Baptist, with over 9 million combined adherents, according to a 2020 membership report from the Association of Religion Data Archives. The two denominations also share the largest number of worshippers in Tarrant County. Leaders of the Catholic and Baptist faiths said the study’s statewide findings mirror Tarrant County.

Texas ranked second in the study’s first category, which looked at the share of adults who consider religion important in their lives, people who attend service at least once a week and places of worship per capita. Southern Baptists are the largest evangelical Protestant group in the United States, according to Pew Research Center. Tarrant County is home to 325 Baptist churches affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Baptist General Convention of Texas, according to a spokesperson with the Tarrant Baptist Association. Jason Whitehead, director of evangelization and catechesis for the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth, said he believes the poll reflects Tarrant County because of how large a reach the diocese has. The Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth comprises 92 parishes and 17 schools across several counties in North Texas. Fort Worth is home to St. Patrick Cathedral, which was dedicated in 1892 and is known as the “mother church” of the diocese. There is also a devotion to attending mass within the Catholic faith, which can contribute to regular attendance numbers, Whitehead said.

HOUSTON – The Houston chronicle reports a Rice University junior was killed on the first day of the fall semester in what police are investigating as a murder-suicide in her dorm room. Andrea Rodriguez Avila was found shot to death in Jones College after a 4:30 p.m. Monday welfare check by the university police department, school officials said. A man who was not believed to be a Rice student was found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. A shelter-in-place was issued for about an hour Monday for all students and staff on campus, and all classes were canceled Tuesday, officials announced late Monday

“It is with deep sadness and shock that I write to you on what should have been a day filled with promise and new beginnings. Instead, we find ourselves mourning the loss of one of our own in a tragic event that has shaken our campus to its core,” university President Reginald DesRoches wrote. “This is a heartbreaking, devastating incident, and it is important to recognize that this loss will affect our close-knit community in the days and weeks ahead.” DesRoches urged students to seek support from friends, faculty and staff in the counseling center. “We encourage you to come together as a community, spend time with each other to mourn and use the campus resources available for counseling,” he said. Authorities conducted a welfare check at the request of the victim’s family and visited the dorm after learning she missed a class, Rice University Chief of Police Clemente Rodriguez said.

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced that the state has removed over 1 million names from the Texas voter rolls, mainly people who moved out of state or died but including 6,500 who Abbott described as potential noncitizens. “Illegal voting in Texas will never be tolerated,” Abbott said in a statement. “We will continue to actively safeguard Texans’ sacred right to vote while also aggressively protecting our elections from illegal voting.” Abbott added in a social media post that the removed names are being passed on to the attorney general’s office for possible criminal charges. The governor’s announcement came five years after a botched attempt in 2019 to purge up to 100,000 suspected noncitizen voters led to the resignation of a Texas Secretary of State and a settlement with voting rights organizations setting parameters for future cleanups.

Ashley Harris, attorney for the ACLU of Texas, said the group has unresolved questions about the accuracy of the state’s latest data because the organization has not been allowed to review it. Several local election officials in 2021 had warned that the state’s data continued to wrongly flag people who became citizens through naturalization. “Gov. Abbott’s recent announcement about voter registration list maintenance lacks context, and instead points to routine voter list maintenance that does not provide evidence of wrongdoing by any voter,” Harris said. “Any attempts to point to this data as evidence of criminal wrongdoing is part of a pattern of voter intimidation and suppression by the state of Texas and certain elected officials.” Senate Bill 1, the Republican-backed election law overhaul passed in 2021, requires that the secretary of state’s office conduct regular sweeps of the voter rolls. It also laid out new consequences for local voter registrars who fail to comply with voter roll maintenance requirements, such as mandated training or audits.