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NEW LONDON – KUT reports the London Museum & Cafe is sort of in the middle of nowhere on Main Street in New London, Texas, a town of just under 1,000 people about half an hour east of Tyler. The location is a challenge that volunteers at the museum are well aware of, but they say visitors who make the trek are often surprised by what they find. “I think they don’t know what to expect. And they walk back there and they’re kind of pleasantly surprised, you know. So we do hear, ‘it’s so well done.’ We hear that quite a bit,” said archivist Becky Tyner, who’s volunteered at the museum since 1997 — even before it officially opened. The London Museum & Cafe sits to the west of the town’s four-lane Main Street. To the east is West Rusk High School, which had been known as London High School until 1965. In a grassy opening where the road splits, marked by a brown historical marker sign, is the London School Explosion Memorial. It’s a 32-foot cenotaph made of Texas pink granite to remember the lives lost on March 18, 1937 – the day the London School exploded.

JOURDANTON (AP) — A mother and stepfather have been arrested after the death of their 12-year-old daughter, who lay unconscious in their home for four days before medical treatment was sought as the pair tried to feed her smoothies, according to the county sheriff.

“They thought they could nurse her back to health,” said Atascosa County Sheriff David Soward.

Denise Balbaneda, 36, and Gerald Gonzales, 40, both of Christine, each face a felony charge of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury by omission, Soward said during a news conference Wednesday.

Gonzales remains jailed while Balbaneda is free on bond, according to online jail records, which do not list attorneys who could speak on their behalf. A phone call Friday to a number listed for Balbaneda was answered by a recording saying the call could not be completed.

The Associated Press also left a telephone message with the sheriff’s office Friday morning.

Sipps received life-threatening injuries on Aug. 8, but the parents did not seek medical care until Monday, when Balbaneda called 911 and later met an ambulance that took the girl to a hospital in Jourdanton, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of San Antonio, where she died, Soward said.

Soward said the couple were arrested Tuesday and have told investigators how the girl was injured. The sheriff declined to describe the girl’s injuries, citing an ongoing investigation and pending autopsy results.

“She was not talking, she basically could flutter her eyes and move her hands a little bit over a four-day period” until medical care was sought, Soward said.

“We do not think they wanted the attention this would draw to them if the little girl was injured, which is strangely ironic,” now that both face charges following the girl’s death, Soward said.

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that Texas Children’s Hospital notified the state that it laid off 997 employees through job cuts announced last week, the first time the hospital has officially disclosed the number of affected workers. The figure included in a Workforce Adjustment and Retraining Notification submitted to the Texas Workforce Commission includes employees from all Texas Children’s locations. The hospital system includes more than 120 locations, including its Woodlands, West Campus and Austin hospitals. The hospital previously told the Chronicle that it was laying off 5% of its approximately 20,000 employees, or roughly 1,000 workers, but declined to provide an exact number. The number disclosed in the WARN notice is in line with that approximation.

The WARN notice offers more insight into the scale of the layoffs at the nation’s largest children’s hospital. Texas Children’s attributed the job cuts to a series of financial challenges, including lower patient volumes in Houston and a two-week delay in the opening of the new Austin campus. The hospital reported an operating income loss of nearly $200 million through the first six months of its current fiscal year. The layoffs have also affected patients. Families with children with complex medical needs told the Chronicle that their appointments for speech, physical and occupational therapy were postponed or canceled in the wake of the layoffs. Texas Children’s said Friday that it is working to reschedule appointments.

TEXAS – The education news service, The 74, reports that the state won’t say. Almost three months after Texas sparked a firestorm of criticism for a new curriculum heavily infused with Bible lessons, state education officials still won’t say who authored the material or how much they were paid. And because of the pandemic, they say they don’t have to. A state official told The 74 that the work — an $84 million contract the state signed in March 2022 — falls under a disaster declaration Gov. Greg Abbott issued to speed up delivery of masks, vaccines and other critical supplies during the height of the pandemic. That means the paper trail that typically follows people who contract with the state, including work and payment reports, doesn’t exist in this case, the official said. Some members of the state board of education, which will vote on the curriculum in November, are accusing education Commissioner Mike Morath and his staff of a lack of transparency.

“I did not get a lot of my questions answered when it came to who wrote the curriculum,” said Evelyn Brooks, a Republican board member whose district includes the Fort Worth suburbs. She’s one of at least three members who asked officials at the Texas Education Agency for more details. “It’s hard and it shouldn’t be. Someone knows this information.” Morath said the overhaul will bring classical education to over 2 million K-5 students in Texas. The model is designed to strengthen kids’ reading skills while also teaching them culture, art and history, including the Bible’s influence. Interviewed in early May, the commissioner would only say that “hundreds of people” worked on the project. But that doesn’t satisfy board members who say the curriculum borders on proselytizing and promotes a distinctly evangelical view of American history. A teacher’s guide for a third-grade lesson on ancient Rome, for example, devotes eight pages to the life and ministry of Jesus — presenting many of the events as historical facts, scholars say. But the Islamic prophet Muhammad isn’t named anywhere. A kindergarten lesson on “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” draws parallels to Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. And an art appreciation lesson walks 5-year-olds through the creation story from the Book of Genesis. “Who are the people that sat down in this fancy room and said this is the knowledge that every Texas student should have?” asked Staci Childs, a Democrat who represents the Houston area. She said she understands teaching the importance of religion in American history, but thinks the balance is off. “I just don’t think that it’s fair to have that many biblical references in the text in public schools across the state.”

NEW YORK (AP) — A Mexican drug lord who was arrested in the U.S. could be headed to trial in New York City, after prosecutors filed a request Thursday to move him from Texas.

Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, known as a top leader and co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, faces charges in multiple U.S. locales. He and a son of notorious Sinaloa kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán were arrested last month after being flown into New Mexico. Zambada has said he was kidnapped in his home country en route to what he thought was a meeting with a Mexican official.

Zambada, 76, has so far appeared in U.S. federal court in El Paso, Texas, which is in one of the jurisdictions where he has been indicted. He has pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, drug conspiracy and other charges.

Federal prosecutors in Texas asked a court Thursday to hold a hearing to take the procedural steps needed to move him to the New York jurisdiction that includes Brooklyn, where the elder Guzmán was convicted in 2019 of drug and conspiracy charges and sentenced to life in prison.

If prosecutors get their wish, the case against Zambada in Texas would proceed after the one in New York.

A message seeking comment was sent to Zambada’s attorneys.

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn declined to comment. Zambada is charged there with running a continuing criminal enterprise, murder conspiracy, drug offenses and other crimes.

Meanwhile, Joaquín Guzmán López, the “El Chapo” son arrested with Zambada, has pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges in a federal court in Chicago.

Zambada ran the Sinaloa cartel with the elder Guzmán as it grew from a regional presence into a huge manufacturer and smuggler of illicit fentanyl pills and other drugs to the United States, authorities say.

Considered a good negotiator, Zambada has been seen as the syndicate’s strategist and dealmaker, thought to be more involved in its day-to-day doings than the more flamboyant Guzmán.

Keeping a lower profile, Zambada had never been behind bars until his U.S. arrest last month.

He has often been at odds with Guzmán’s sons, dubbed the Chapitos, or Little Chapos. Fearful that Zambada’s arrest could trigger a violent power struggle within the cartel, the Mexican government quickly dispatched 200 special forces soldiers to the state of Sinaloa, and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador publicly pleaded with the cartel factions not to fight each other.

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Once a month, for the last two decades, Lubbock’s First Friday Art Trail has transformed the few downtown blocks it spans into a bustling scene filled with people enjoying live music, food from local businesses and admiring art.

It has become a cornerstone for the city’s creative community and a mecca for art lovers and tourists alike.

And before the free event became the latest political flashpoint in a statewide debate over LGBTQ+ expression, it was one of the few opportunities artists have to showcase their work to the public and to experience diversity in Lubbock, a conservative city of 240,000 on Texas’ South Plains, said Dametria Williams, a local artist.

Williams’ collection of work largely consists of bold and colorful semi-realistic portraits, with careful attention to detail on hair, lighting and texture. Her paintings often depict the beauty and uniqueness of Black people because they aren’t represented as much, she said.

“It’s hard in Lubbock, it’s a struggle to try and make a sale,” Williams said. “That’s why the art trail is such a big deal.”

So when a local reporter shared on social media that the City Council last month stripped $25,600 from the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, the nonprofit that puts on the art walk, it sent shockwaves through the city. The news was plastered all over social media, acting as a distress signal.

The council’s majority — made up of several newly elected members — was motivated by what others have called misinformation. David Glasheen, a first-time council member, accused the art center of using the money to promote drag shows and other LGBTQ+ programs as family-friendly. Mayor Mark McBrayer agreed with Glasheen’s sentiments, saying they couldn’t spend taxpayer money on “sexualized performances.”

The art center was not responsible for the drag show and it was not held on its property, nonprofit officials said.

Since the council’s surprise decision, the arts community mobilized. Leaders have written letters informing the public and to the council, and organized fundraising events to make up for the loss ahead of the 20th anniversary celebration in September. Earlier this week, dozens of residents packed the council chambers and pleaded — for hours — with the seven-member board to reverse its decision.

It didn’t.

Art, diversity on display in Lubbock
The City Council’s July decision is an example of ongoing efforts by Texas elected officials seeking to limit the role of LGBTQ+ people in their communities. Local and state conservative leaders have sought to ban certain books, shut down public drag performances, and limit access to public restrooms.

Ten days after the first vote, thousands of supporters endured sweltering heat at the art walk. People wrote why they love the art trail in chalk on brick walls, and the art studios were full. Many attendees wore shirts that said “I support LHUCA and the First Friday Art Trail” while they laughed with friends or listened to live music.

“That felt like one of our largest crowds, especially with the hot weather,” said Lindsey Maestri, executive director for the art center.

Since its creation 20 years ago, the art trail has rarely — if ever — been a source of tension or disagreement in Lubbock.

Jane Underwood Henry, daughter of the art center’s founder and namesake, Louise Hopkins Underwood, said her mother envisioned a place to bring people together from each corner of the city to see art in all forms.

“When I go to First Fridays, I see hundreds of people from all over town,” said Henry. “All ages, kids, and dogs, not so many of them that I know.”

The art trail has made that a reality. It’s one of the few free events in the city, highlights local and regional artists, and adds culture to Lubbock, which is mostly known for the city’s music scene and Texas Tech University.

“The art trail shows the true melting pot Lubbock actually is,” said Simone See, a Lubbock resident. “Even though people don’t think it is.”

See is the owner of Taste Buds Food Co., a food truck that frequents the art trail. While the funding doesn’t directly affect the vendors, See said it is the biggest event for small businesses every month. According to representatives with the Charles Adams Studio Project, another venue that’s next to the art center, there are 24 food trucks every month. There’s also more than 30 vendors displaying arts and crafts.

Three hours of public comment
The council’s first vote to defund the art center was a surprise. The city’s creative community would not let that happen again.

In fact, Tuesday’s council meeting only added to tensions between residents and the council members who voted to take away the funds, which comes from the Hotel Occupancy Tax.

Council member Christy Martinez-Garcia, whose district includes downtown where the art walk is held, placed a potential compromise on this week’s agenda.

The proposal restored funding on certain conditions. These include not using the grant fund for various art trail programming, whether it’s for or against a political party, position or candidate, or promoting events with exclusive audiences that do not allow participation of the general public, so programming geared toward youth or 21 and older audiences. Another term prohibited the promotion of activity depicting “sexual acts” or activities of a sexual nature that could be interpreted as sexual conduct.

At the council meeting, the room was almost as crowded as the art trail itself — every seat was filled, while some chose to stand or sit on the floor. Charles Adams, CASP’s founder, recalled how, in the past, the city was excited to invest in an “unsellable” area. It’s since become a popular attraction and an economic driver.

“We get more people on a First Friday than anything besides football and the county fair,” Adams told the council.

The council sat through three hours of public comments, the majority of which were people expressing their displeasure over the vote and love for Lubbock’s arts scene. Tempers flared throughout — one speaker wished the ghost of Louise Hopkins Underwood would haunt disapproving members until they made “the right decision.” The council’s chambers erupted, and Mayor McBrayer reminded everyone that cheering and applauding was not allowed. From then on, the audience snapped their fingers to show approval.

Another resident, Andy Seger, described a double standard for city-sponsored venues — the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center regularly has a knife and gun show on the property. Seger said he has seen memorabilia from hate groups on display, as well as books linked to domestic terrorism. The Civic Center, he argued, operates the same way as the art center, by providing a space for vendors.

“If we’re going to talk about regulating the content of individual exhibitors for a planned event with city dollars, we’re going to have to ban the civic center too,” Seger said, wishing the council good luck.

“You’ve all won a pie eating contest where the prize is more pie.”

More than 60 people spoke at the meeting, less than a handful of them voiced support for the council’s initial decision to end funding for the art center, saying there needed to be accountability for taxpayer money.

Martinez-Garcia, the council member, said the art center was held to a different set of standards. And while she had pitched the compromise, she later said that she wanted the money returned without any conditions, citing the misinformation leading to the vote. Martinez-Garcia was one of the two votes against cutting the money in the July vote.

“We made a mistake, and we need to correct it,” said Martinez-Garcia. “How we’re going to correct it is by granting these folks their money. If we can’t do that, it sends a wrong message.”

Glasheen held his stance from the last meeting, saying that awarding the grant money without restrictions is worse than the first time it was proposed to the council.

“It’s more than an LGBT issue,” Glasheen said. “It’s a broader question on what are the common sense restrictions on the type of expression that should be promoted or supported by tax dollars.”

McBrayer agreed, saying it’s still their responsibility to oversee the tax money, and it’s not a censorship issue. Without the money, McBrayer said the art center would be able to do what they want.

“Artists are free to express themselves however they want,” McBrayer said. “They do not have a right to expect taxpayer money to do that.”

McBrayer emphasized the council is not “anti-art.” He referenced the late musician Buddy Holly — a beloved icon in Lubbock where he was born and raised — who many audience members brought up in their comments to the council. McBrayer said he’s sure Holly didn’t get all the support he wanted but “it didn’t keep him from being one of the greatest artists ever.”

McBrayer offered a compromise — provide $5K for security at the art trail. Glasheen was also against this. The resolution eventually passed 4-3.

In a statement, the art center said they were disappointed the funding wasn’t fully reinstated but grateful that security will be funded.

Maestri, the art center’s executive director, told the Tribune before the meeting that the art trail has grown so much, she hadn’t stopped to reflect on how much the event does for the community.

“Sometimes it’s hard to, until there’s moments where you feel like something might be taken away or in jeopardy,” Maestri said.