KTBB News, Weather, Talk

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to step into a fight over plans to store nuclear waste at sites in rural Texas and New Mexico.

The justices said they will review a ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that found that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission exceeded its authority under federal law in granting a license to a private company to store spent nuclear fuel at a dump in West Texas for 40 years. The outcome of the case will affect plans for a similar facility in New Mexico.

Political leaders in both states oppose the facilities.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has said his state “will not become America’s nuclear waste dumping ground.”

The push for temporary storage sites is part of the complicated politics of the nation’s so far futile quest for a permanent underground storage facility.

Roughly 100,000 tons (90,000 metric tons) of spent fuel, some of it dating from the 1980s, is piling up at current and former nuclear plant sites nationwide and growing by more than 2,000 tons a year. The waste was meant to be kept there temporarily before being deposited deep underground.

A plan to build a national storage facility northwest of Las Vegas at Yucca Mountain has been mothballed because of staunch opposition from most Nevada residents and officials.

The fight over storing nuclear waste is among 13 cases the justices added to their agenda for the term that begins Monday. Other notable cases include a plea by gun makers to end a lawsuit in which Mexico seeks to blame them for gun violence south of the border and an appeal from a death row inmate in Texas whose execution the high court halted at the last minute in July.

In the NRC case, there are two issues before the justices, which will be argued early next year.

The NRC contends that the states forfeited their right to object to the licensing decisions because they declined to join in the commission’s proceedings.

Two other federal appeals courts, in Denver and Washington, that weighed the same issue ruled for the agency. Only the 5th Circuit allowed the cases to proceed.

The second issue is whether federal law allows the commission to license temporary storage sites. Texas and environmental groups, unlikely allies, both relied on a 2022 Supreme Court decision that held that Congress must act with specificity when it wants to give an agency the authority to regulate on an issue of major national significance.

In ruling for Texas, the 5th Circuit agreed that what to do with the nation’s nuclear waste is the sort of “major question” that Congress must speak to directly.

The Biden administration told the court that the commission has long-standing authority reaching back to the 1954 Atomic Energy Act to deal with nuclear waste.

The NRC granted the Texas license to Interim Storage Partners LLC for a facility that could take up to 5,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel rods from power plants and 231 million tons of other radioactive waste. The facility would be built next to an existing dump site in Andrews County for low-level waste such as protective clothing and other material that has been exposed to radioactivity. The Andrews County site is about 350 miles (563.27 kilometers) west of Dallas, near the Texas-New Mexico state line.

New Mexico officials, led by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, are opposed to a license the commission granted to Holtec International for a similar temporary storage site in Lea County, in the southeastern part of the state near Carlsbad. The 5th Circuit also has blocked that license.

A decision is expected by the middle of next year.

MEMPHIS, Texas (AP) — Authorities issued a “Blue Alert” across Texas Friday morning as they searched for a man who allegedly shot and wounded a small town’s police chief.

The Texas Department of Public Safety sent a “Blue Alert” to smartphones statewide shortly after 5 a.m. Friday for Seth Altman, 33, in the shooting of Memphis Police Chief Rex Plant. Local media reports the chief was shot late Thursday when he and another officer tried to arrest Altman on a burglary charge.

KVII-TV reports Plant was listed in stable condition at a hospital in Lubbock. A hospital spokesperson did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press.

Blue Alerts, similar to Amber Alerts for missing children, were created by the executive order of then-Gov. Rick Perry in 2008. They are issued at a local law enforcement agency’s request whenever an officer is killed or wounded by a suspect considered a risk to public safety, according the DPS website.

Police in the Texas panhandle town of Memphis referred questions to the DPS, whose officials did not immediately return phone calls to The Associated Press Friday morning.

DETROIT (AP) — Some 45,000 dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports are returning to work after their union reached a deal to suspend a strike that could have caused shortages and higher prices if it had dragged on.

The International Longshoremen’s Association is suspending its three-day strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract. The union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies, said in a joint statement that they have reached a tentative agreement on wages.

A person briefed on the agreement said the ports sweetened their wage offer from about 50% over six years to 62%. The person didn’t want to be identified because the agreement is tentative. Any wage increase would have to be approved by union members as part of the ratification of a final contract.

Talks now turn to the automation of ports, which the unions says will lead to fewer jobs, and other sticking points.

Industry analysts have said that for every day of a port strike it takes four to six days to recover. But they said a short strike of a few days probably wouldn’t gum up the supply chain too badly.

The settlement pushes the strike and any potential shortages past the November presidential election, eliminating a potential liability for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. It’s also a big plus for the Biden-Harris administration, which has billed itself as the most union-friendly in American history. Shortages could have driven up prices and reignited inflation.

The union went on strike early Tuesday after its contract expired in a dispute over pay and the automation of tasks at 36 ports stretching from Maine to Texas. The strike came at the peak of the holiday season at the ports, which handle about half the cargo from ships coming into and out of the United States.

Most retailers had stocked up or shipped items early in anticipation of the strike.

“With the grace of God, and the goodwill of neighbors, it’s gonna hold,” President Joe Biden told reporters Thursday night after the agreement.

In a statement later, Biden applauded both sides “for acting patriotically to reopen our ports and ensure the availability of critical supplies for Hurricane Helene recovery and rebuilding.”

Biden said that collective bargaining is “critical to building a stronger economy from the middle out and the bottom up.”

The union’s membership won’t need to vote on the temporary suspension of the strike. Until Jan. 15, the workers will be covered under the old contract, which expired on Sept. 30.

The union had been demanding a 77% raise over six years, plus a complete ban on the use of automation at the ports, which members see as a threat to their jobs. Both sides also have been apart on the issues of pension contributions and the distribution of royalties paid on containers that are moved by workers.

Thomas Kohler, who teaches labor and employment law at Boston College, said the agreement to halt the strike means that the two sides are close to a final deal.

“I’m sure that if they weren’t going anywhere they wouldn’t have suspended (the strike),” he said. “They’ve got wages. They’ll work out the language on automation, and I’m sure that what this really means is it gives the parties time to sit down and get exactly the language they can both live with.”

Kohler said the surprise end to the strike may catch railroads with cars, engines and crews out of position. But railroads are likely to work quickly to fix that.

Just before the strike had begun, the Maritime Alliance said both sides had moved off their original wage offers, a tentative sign of progress.

Thursday’s deal came after Biden administration officials met with foreign-owned shipping companies before dawn on Zoom, according to a person briefed on the day’s events who asked not to be identified because the talks were private. The White House wanted to increase pressure to settle, emphasizing the responsibility to reopen the ports to help with recovery from Hurricane Helene, the person said.

Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su told them she could get the union to the bargaining table to extend the contract if the carriers made a higher wage offer. Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told the carriers they had to make an offer by the end of the day so a manmade strike wouldn’t worsen a natural disaster, the person said.

By midday the Maritime Alliance members agreed to a large increase, bringing about the agreement, according to the person.

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that since moving to The Woodlands about two years ago, former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger — one of the most vocal GOP critics of Donald Trump — says he’s met several Texas Republicans who are just as uncomfortable with the direction of his party as him. Now Kinzinger is trying to convince them to do the unthinkable and vote for a Democrat. Kinzinger is leading a group of Republicans supporting U.S. Rep. Colin Allred’s bid against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in one of the most hotly contested Senate races in the nation. It is the latest effort by Kinzinger, who served on the House committee that investigated Jan. 6, to target Republicans involved in the effort to delay the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory. Cruz was a key figure in the effort, objecting to Arizona’s electoral votes just before the mob breached the Capitol that day.

“When I talk to Republicans, I say, ‘Do you like where the GOP is now?’” Kinzinger said in an interview with Hearst Newspapers. “There are some that do, and they’re going to vote for Ted Cruz,” he said. “But there are a lot that are embarrassed about where the Republican Party is that are holding onto this hope that, ‘Just after November, we’re going to wake up and come back to what we were.’ Well guess what, we’re not going to do that — particularly if Ted Cruz wins again, because he’s part of the reason we’re exactly in this position.” Kinzinger, who withdrew from his reelection campaign in Illinois after his district was redrawn to pit him against a Trump-aligned Republican congressman, slammed Cruz for going from Trump’s “nemesis” in the 2016 GOP primary to his “chief supporter.” He argued Allred has no similar allegiance to his party or anyone in it. “If the Democratic Party decided some day to go off the rails, similar to what the GOP did, I guarantee you, he would be like Adam Kinzinger or Liz Cheney, saying this can’t happen,” he said. Cheney, a Republican who also served on the Jan. 6 committee and is a vocal critic of Trump and Cruz, has also endorsed Allred in the race.

FORT WORTH – The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports the Fort Worth Independent School District will pay more than $500,000 in salary, benefits and retirement funds to buy out the contract of outgoing Superintendent Angélica Ramsey, whose resignation as leader of the district was effective as of Tuesday this week. The resignation agreement was released to the Star-Telegram by the district on Wednesday in response to an open records request. It shows that Ramsey will receive two installments of about $247,962 — with the first to be paid this week and the second within the first two weeks of 2025 — as a severance payment. The total of the severance payment is equivalent to one year of salary and benefits. Ramsey also is receiving about $48,540 in unused vacation, sick and personal time.

In addition to the severance, Ramsey began serving as the district’s “ambassador for public relations” as of Tuesday and “shall be placed on school related leave with pay and benefits” during this period, which will continue through Aug. 30, according to the agreement. The agreement states she will continue to receive her full pay and benefits in accordance with the terms outlined in her contract during this employment. Her salary in the contract is $335,000 per year. Ramsey will be allowed to work outside the district during this time span. If Ramsey decided to resign her employment before Aug. 30, the board would accept her early resignation without penalty and future salary payments would stop but she would not lose the severance payments, the agreement states. The previous Fort Worth ISD superintendent, Kent Scribner, received a similar buyout when he stepped down in 2022, with payments of more than $500,000 and the same ceremonial title of ambassador for public relations, according to the Star-Telegram’s archives.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A TikTok personality known as Mr. Prada is charged in the bludgeoning death of a Louisiana therapist whose body was discovered over the weekend in a rolled up tarp near a state highway, authorities said Thursday.

The body of Nicholas Abraham, 69, of Baton Rouge, was found Sunday in rural Tangipahoa Parish, which is east of Baton Rouge and north of New Orleans. On Tuesday, police in Dallas County, Texas, arrested 20-year-old Terryon Thomas, who is known on social media as Mr. Prada, after Baton Rouge police said he fled from them in Abraham’s car.

Thomas’ relationship to the victim and a motive for the killing were unclear as of Thursday morning, the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Thomas is charged with second-degree murder and was awaiting extradition From Texas to Louisiana, the news release said.

“At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that Thomas was a client of Abraham,” the release said.

Online booking records in Dallas County did not list an attorney could be contacted for comment on Thomas’ behalf.

Abraham was seen on surveillance video entering Thomas’ apartment Saturday night, according to an arrest warrant from the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office. He was wearing the same clothing he had on when his body was discovered, the warrant says.

Witnesses told investigators that Thomas was seen hours later struggling to drag something wrapped in a blue tarp down the apartment building stairs before placing the tarp in Abraham’s car, according to the affidavit. Investigators later got a search warrant for Thomas’ apartment, where they found signs of a struggle, including blood “throughout the apartment,” and indications that Thomas had tried to clean up before departing, the affidavit said.

“It was a very physical and very violent attack,” Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Gerald Sticker told WAFB. “He was bludgeoned about in the head shoulders and neck.”

Two of Thomas’ multiple TikTok accounts each has more than 4 million followers.

A biography of Abraham on his website says he had 30 years of experience treating substance abuse, depression and anxiety. It also said he spent 11 years as a Roman Catholic priest.

“Dr. Abraham was a very kind, very tender, very gentle man,” said Jarret Ambeau, a Baton Rouge lawyer who has represented Abraham in legal matters and also counted him as a friend. “No one deserves to die this way, but I would have never expected someone of his disposition to have been violently murdered.”

HOUSTON (AP) — The sentencing of a former Houston police officer convicted of murder in the deaths of a couple during a 2019 drug raid was put on hold Thursday after he suffered a medical emergency in the courtroom.

A prosecutor was addressing jurors during closing arguments in the punishment phase of Gerald Goines’ trial when the ex-officer could be heard breathing heavily as he sat at the defense table.

The jury was taken out of the courtroom, and Goines was helped by one of his attorneys and a bailiff as he walked to a holding area outside the courtroom. Goines was later seen on a stretcher that was loaded onto an ambulance parked in front of the courthouse.

His condition was not immediately known. Due to a gag order in the case, neither prosecutors nor Goines’ attorneys would comment on what happened.

One of the other cases tied to Goines is his 2004 drug arrest in Houston of George Floyd, whose 2020 death at the hands of a Minnesota police officer sparked a nationwide reckoning on racism in policing. A Texas board in 2022 declined a request that Floyd be granted a posthumous pardon for his drug conviction stemming from his arrest by Goines.

One of Goines’ attorneys, Nicole DeBorde, had told jurors during closing arguments that the 60-year-old’s “health is destroyed” after being shot in the face during the deadly raid.

State District Judge Veronica Nelson later told jurors closing arguments could resume either Friday or Monday.

Goines is facing up to life in prison after being convicted last week in the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and his 58-year-old wife Rhogena Nicholas. The couple, along with their dog, were fatally shot after officers burst into their home using a “no-knock” warrant that didn’t require them to announce themselves before entering.

During the trial, prosecutors presented testimony and evidence they said showed Goines lied to get a search warrant that falsely portrayed the couple as dangerous drug dealers. The raid resulted in a violent confrontation in which the couple was killed and four officers, including Goines, were shot and wounded and a fifth injured.

Goines’ lawyers had acknowledged the ex-officer lied to get the search warrant but minimized the impact of his false statements. His lawyers had portrayed the couple as armed drug users and said they were responsible for their own deaths because they fired at officers.

After the raid, investigators said they only found small amounts of marijuana and cocaine in the house.

An investigation into the raid revealed systemic corruption problems within the police department’s narcotics unit.

A dozen officers tied to the narcotics squad that conducted the raid, including Goines, were later indicted on other charges following a corruption investigation. A judge in June dismissed charges against some of them.

Since the raid, prosecutors have reviewed thousands of cases handled by the narcotics unit.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned at least 22 convictions linked to Goines, who also faces federal charges.

Federal civil rights lawsuits filed by the families of Tuttle and Nicholas against Goines and 12 other officers involved in the raid and the city of Houston are set to be tried in November.