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DALLAS – The Dallas Morning News reports that frustrated with President Joe Biden’s policies related to immigration enforcement, Gov. Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021, deploying National Guard soldiers and state troopers to the border with Mexico. The goal was to make border crossings more difficult by installing razor wire and other physical barriers along the Rio Grande and, further inland, to arrest suspected undocumented migrants for trespassing and other state criminal charges. That first year, Abbott shifted almost $1 billion from several state agencies, including the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, to support the operation. With later allocations from the Texas Legislature, a total of $11 billion in state money has been spent on Operation Lone Star — and Abbott recently asked lawmakers for another $2.9 billion to run the program through 2027.

The money has paid for more than 100 miles of razor wire, more than 45 miles of a state-built border wall, and a 1,000-foot-long buoy barrier on the Rio Grande. The operation also has bused more than 119,400 migrants from Texas to six Democratic-run cities across the country and built a military base near Eagle Pass to house Texas National Guard soldiers. More than 522,800 migrants had been apprehended under Operation Lone Star as of Oct. 3, including 47,640 criminal arrests — 11,890 for trespassing. Abbott, a Republican who has been governor since 2015, has raised his national profile with aggressive border policies, including taking over an Eagle Pass park in January that had been a popular spot for border crossings. In February, Abbott hosted a border visit by GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump, who praised the governor’s response and called him a possible running mate.

SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Express-News says that Texas’ labor force hit a new high in September with 15.45 million people on the job or looking for work — and the state added a record number of jobs. More than 29,000 jobs were added last month, bringing the total to 327,000 jobs added over the past 12 months. Texas has added jobs at a rate of 2.3%, outpacing national growth by 0.7 percentage points. The state’s seasonally adjusted rate of unemployment held steady at 4.1%, the Texas Workforce Commission said Friday. That matched the national rate. In the San Antonio-New Braunfels metro area, unemployment fell slightly to 3.8% from 4% in August. The region’s job count grew by 0.5% to nearly 1.2 million jobs, led by growth in the government and construction sectors.

“The record-setting 15.4 million Texans who make up our civilian labor force are strengthening and innovating our state’s economy,” Workforce Commissioner Alberto Treviño III said in a statement. The state’s civilian labor force has added 318,500 people so far this year, including the 51,500 who joined in September. That was up from 44,800 people the month prior. Statewide, job growth was led by the professional and business services sector with its 10,500 new jobs. Private education and health services, a combined sector, added 10,400 jobs; and construction added 8,100 jobs. Construction has consistently led the state’s job growth, with a 5.1% growth rate over the year. In the San Antonio area, the construction sector — which is combined with mining and logging job categories for the report — has grown 4.2% over the past 12 months, adding 76,500 jobs. The San Antonio area wasn’t the only one to record a lower unemployment rate last month — all 25 major metro areas saw rates drop. The Midland metro had the state’s lowest unemployment rate with a rate of 2.6%, followed by the Amarillo at 3% and College Station-Bryan at 3.2%. Beaumont-Port Arthur had the highest rate on unemployment at 6%, followed by McAllen-Edinburg-Mission at 5.9% and Killeen-Temple at 4.7%. While the statewide unemployment rate is seasonally adjusted, rates for metro areas are not.

DALLAS – The Dallas Morning News reports that the Texas Supreme Court declined a request Sunday from the state attorney general to reconsider its unprecedented order staying the execution of Robert Roberson III, ensuring the man on death row will testify before a House Committee on Monday. The Thursday stay, which was issued hours after Roberson was scheduled to be executed, came after the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence issued a subpoena calling Roberson to testify about how the state’s 2013 “junk science” law allowing people to challenge convictions with new science was applied in his case. In the Sunday order, the state Supreme Court did not rule on a dispute between the attorney general’s office and lawmakers: whether Roberson will testify in person or via teleconference. Roberson’s attorneys argue that testifying virtually would “profoundly” limit the committee’s ability to assess his credibility, while the attorneys general’s office says bringing him to the Capitol in Austin presents “myriad security and logistical concerns.”

In a 24-page petition filed on behalf of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the attorney general’s office had said the House committee’s subpoena was “defective on its face” and that the state Supreme Court — which handles civil matters — lacks jurisdiction in the case. The high court’s Thursday order “flouts” the separation of powers and pushed Texas to the “brink of a constitutional crisis,” an attorney with the attorney general’s office said in the filing. State Reps. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, and Joe Moody, D-El Paso, responded Sunday night on behalf of the House of Representatives. They argued the attorney general’s office already conceded the legitimacy of the subpoena in an earlier hearing and that this case highlights the “interdependence” of the branches of government, but does not breach their separate powers. During the Travis County hearing Thursday, Assistant Attorney General Ed Marshall said the case was not a “shaken baby” case and argued the Court of Criminal Appeals had exclusive jurisdiction.

DALLAS—The Texas Employment Forecast released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas indicates jobs will increase 2.5 percent in 2024, with an 80 percent confidence band of 2.3 to 2.7 percent.

This is an increase from the previous month’s forecast of 2.2 percent for 2024.        

The forecast is based on an average of four models that include projected national GDP, oil futures prices, and the Texas and U.S. leading indexes.

“Texas employment growth was strong again in September, adding 33,800 jobs. Employment growth has normalized to a rate more consistent with trend growth. This comes after a summer of volatile data characterized by storms that disrupted labor markets in large parts of the state,” said Jesus Cañas, Dallas Fed senior business economist. “Gains in September were led by construction, education and health services, and professional and business services. Employment fell in information, financial activities and government. Employment growth in the major metropolitan areas was led by Austin followed by Dallas and Houston.”

Additional key takeaways from the latest Dallas Fed report:       

The forecast suggests 348,900 jobs will be added in the state this year, and employment in December 2024 will be 14.4 million.    

Texas employment increased by an annualized 2.9 percent month over month in September, while the August growth was revised upward to 7.7 percent.  

The unemployment rate decreased in Dallas–Plano–Irving, Fort Worth–Arlington and San Antonio–New Braunfels, according to seasonally adjusted numbers from the Dallas Fed.    

The rate remained unchanged in Austin–Round Rock, in Brownsville–Harlingen, El Paso, and Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land.

The rate increased in Laredo.

The Texas statewide unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.1 percent in September.     

HOUSTON (AP) — Four people aboard a helicopter were killed when it crashed into a radio tower in Houston and burst into flames, officials said.

The helicopter went down just before 8 p.m. Sunday in a neighborhood east of downtown after taking off from Ellington Field, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) away, Mayor John Whitmire said at a news conference. He didn’t know the flight’s destination.

Officials said no one on the ground was injured, and no nearby homes were damaged, though some vehicles were. The crash sparked a fire that burned about 100 to 200 yards (91 to 183 meters) of grass, officials said.

Firefighters at a nearby station heard the crash and responded, Whitmire said. He said it was a “terrible accident scene” and that the tower and helicopter were destroyed. Some area residents lost power, Whitmire said.

“It is surrounded by residences and that’s where we were very fortunate — that it didn’t topple in one direction or another,” Whitmire said. “And the fireball pretty much was isolated.”

The National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement that it is investigating the crash of the Robinson R44 II helicopter, which preliminary information shows was operating as an air tour flight. The NTSB said the helicopter crashed into a radio tower “under unknown circumstances,” resulting in a fire.

Officials said the four people aboard the helicopter included a child but the identities of the victims and their ages have not yet been released.

Police and fire officials have urged residents near the crash site to call 911 if they find anything on their property that could help in their investigation.

Police officers on Monday were scouring an area of around 4 acres (1.6 hectares) for debris from the crash, said Lt. Jonathan French.

NTSB investigators, who arrived on site Monday, started collecting evidence and will return Tuesday to continue that work, said Brian Rutt, an air safety investigator for the agency. The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas man whose execution was halted after a last-ditch maneuver by lawmakers who believe Robert Roberson did not kill his 2-year-old daughter was expected to testify before a state House panel on Monday, four days after he had been scheduled to die by lethal injection.

Roberson had been set to become the first person in the U.S. executed over a murder conviction connected to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. His claims of innocence are backed by a group of Republican and Democratic legislators who say he was convicted based on outdated science.

Once Roberson testifies to lawmakers, prosecutors could seek a new execution date at any time, according to Gretchen Sween, one of his attorneys.

Lawmakers have sought to have Roberson transported from death row to appear in person, raising the possibility of an extraordinary scene in the Texas Capitol, but the state attorney general’s office told the committee he would appear virtually.

Rebuffed by the courts and Texas’ parole board in their efforts to spare Roberson’s life, legislators last Thursday subpoenaed Roberson to testify in an unusual tactic to buy him more time. Lawmakers on the House committee have expressed frustration with Texas’ junk science law, which they say has failed to work as intended, including in Roberson’s case.

The 2013 law allows a person convicted of a crime to seek relief if the evidence used against them is no longer credible. At the time, it was hailed by the Legislature as a uniquely future-proof solution to wrongful convictions based on faulty science. But Roberson’s supporters say his case points to faults in the judicial system where the law has been weakened by deliberate misinterpretation from the state’s highest criminal court.

In the last 10 years, 74 applications have been filed and ruled on under the junk science law. A third of applications were submitted by people facing the death penalty. All of them were unsuccessful.

Anderson County District Attorney Allyson Mitchell, whose office prosecuted Roberson, has previously told the committee that a court hearing was held in 2022 in which Roberson’s attorneys presented their new evidence to a judge, who rejected their claims.

Roberson was sentenced to death for the killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in 2002. Prosecutors argued the infant’s death was caused by serious head trauma from being violently shaken back and forth. Roberson’s attorneys say that the bruising on Curtis’ body was likely due to complications with severe pneumonia and not child abuse.

Almost 90 lawmakers across party lines, medical experts and best-selling author John Grisham had called on Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to stay his execution. Abbott has not commented on Roberson’s case and the Texas parole board rejected pleas to grant clemency.

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Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

TRINITY COUNTY – Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace said that one man was arrested on Sunday after he reportedly said he was “going pig hunting” or planning to kill police officers. According to our news partner KETK,the sheriff’s office was notified that a man had displayed a firearm and said he was going to drive around the town of Trinity and kill police officers.

Randall Konetzke was reportedly seen driving recklessly on FM 356, stopping in front of the Trinity Police Department and then speeding back onto FM 356 where he stopped. When officers responded Wallace said Konetzke was outside of his vehicle, which was parked on the side of the road, talking to another driver.

When he saw the officers, he started to walk back to his vehicle and then the officers told him to stop but he continued to try and get into his truck. A brief struggle ensued and Konetzke was arrested. He was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, terroristic threat to a public servant and resisting arrest, search or transportation.

AUSTIN (AP) — When Robert Roberson’s execution was abruptly halted in Texas, it was due to a subpoena ordering him to testify over a legal backstop that both Republicans and Democrats say should had saved him long ago: Texas’ junk science law.

The 2013 law allows a person convicted of a crime to seek relief if the evidence used against them is no longer credible. At the time, it was hailed by the Legislature as a uniquely future-proof solution to wrongful convictions based on faulty science. But Roberson’s supporters say his case points to faults in the judicial system where the law has been weakened by deliberate misinterpretation from the state’s highest criminal court.

On Monday, Roberson is scheduled to testify to members of a state House committee, four days after he had been scheduled to die by lethal injection.

“He’s seen how the prosecution has really stood in the way of bringing new science forward,” Democratic state Rep. John Bucy told The Associated Press. “I think his first hand account will be helpful for that.”

Roberson, 57, was convicted of murder the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in Palestine, Texas. Prosecutors alleged that he violently shook his daughter back and forth, causing fatal head trauma. A bipartisan group of lawmakers, medical experts and the former lead prosecutor on the case have thrown their support behind Roberson, stating that his conviction is based on flawed science.

In his clemency petition to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, several medical professionals wrote that Roberson’s conviction is based on outdated scientific evidence and that Curtis likely died from complications with severe pneumonia.

Shaken baby syndrome — now referred to as abusive head trauma — was a popular misdiagnosis at the time that has largely been debunked, according to Roberson’s attorneys.

Courts have rejected numerous attempts by his attorneys to hear new evidence in the case, and Texas’ parole board voted to not recommend Roberson clemency, a necessary step for Abbott to stay the execution. The governor has not commented on Roberson’s case.

No one facing execution has had their sentence overturned since the junk science law was enacted in 2013, according to a report by civil rights group Texas Defender Service.

In the last 10 years, 74 applications have been filed and ruled on under the junk science law. A third of applications were submitted by people facing the death penalty. All of them were unsuccessful.

Of the applications that led to relief, nearly three-quarters were for convictions related to DNA evidence despite making up less than half of all applications.

Legal experts suggest the reason for this is the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals misinterpreting the law and assessing applicants based on their innocence rather than the evidence.

“In practice, the CCA is applying a much higher standard than what the legislators wrote,” said Burke Butler, executive director for Texas Defender Service. “It (proving innocence) is a virtually impossible bar for anyone to meet,” she said, adding that DNA claims are likely more successful because the court can point to another perpetrator.

A House committee is set to discuss how the junk science law has failed to work as intended. In their subpoena to block the court’s execution warrant, lawmakers argued that Roberson’s testimony is vital to understanding its ineffectiveness.

Prosecutors have stated that the evidence in Roberson’s case has not changed significantly since his conviction. The Anderson County District Attorney Office did not respond to phone calls and voice messages Friday from The Associated Press.

Texas’ junk science law was the first of its kind in 2013 and a model for other states across the country, according to legal experts. California, Connecticut, Michigan, Nevada and Wyoming have similar “junk science” statutes, but it has not been studied how successful they are at overturning death penalty convictions.

There are many instances when prosecutors rely on inconsistent or faulty evidence during trial, and junk science laws can be a necessary tool to combat wrongful convictions, according to University of Oklahoma law professor Jim Hilbert.

“The Roberson case is a classic case that the Texas law was meant to address,” Hilbert, who has written about discredited science used in criminal trials, said.

“It has had a positive impact, but in such a limited way. There is so much more it can do.”