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AUSTIN – The Texas Senate, with the bare minimum number of votes, approved the nomination of a formerly indicted Austin police officer to a law enforcement watchdog agency on Wednesday, despite a Democratic effort to block his confirmation over misconduct allegations.

Justin Berry, a senior Austin Police Department officer who had been indicted on charges of aggravated assault during the racial justice protests in 2020, was confirmed Wednesday, 21-10, to serve a second term on the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, which sets standards for police training and conduct.

Senate Democrats, whose ranks had the potential to tank Berry’s nomination if they stayed united, had urged their colleagues to reject Berry on the floor Wednesday.

But state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa — a Democrat from McAllen in South Texas, a region that has recently surged toward the right — broke with his party to provide the critical vote needed to confirm Berry to a second term. Hinojosa is one of the more conservative Democrats in the Senate.

In an interview, Hinojosa said that he “didn’t take the vote lightly,” and had reviewed the allegations against Berry and met with him one-on-one on Tuesday before deciding to approve his confirmation.

Hinojosa found insufficient evidence backing the accusations of misconduct, he said, and had spoken to other members of the law-enforcement commission who described Berry’s work on the board so far as “competent and professional.” Hinojosa alerted the Senate Democratic Caucus chair, Sen. Carol Alvarado of Houston, of his decision Wednesday morning.

“I didn’t feel there was any criminal behavior that would rise to the level of rejecting his nomination,” Hinojosa said, adding that he thought rejecting Berry would make him a “scapegoat” for failures at higher levels of police command. “It’s not an easy one, but at the same time, I’m not here to second guess the governor.”

Berry’s confirmation marked another failed attempt by Democrats to exercise power in a state government long dominated by Republicans. Gov. Greg Abbott nominated Berry in January 2024 for a second term, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who tightly controls the Senate, was determined to win a confirmation vote.

In opposing Berry’s confirmation, Democrats cited past allegations against Berry that said he used excessive force and misused his police power. The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, according to Abbott’s announcement of Berry’s nomination, “establishes and enforces standards to ensure that the people of Texas are served by highly trained and ethical law enforcement, corrections, and telecommunications personnel.”

Abbott’s announcement of Berry’s nomination cited his over 16 years of experience in law enforcement and the “numerous awards, medals and commendations” he had received, including the Austin Police Department Honorable Conduct Medal and the Austin Police Department Meritorious Service Medal.

Before the confirmation vote, Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin, said: “The governor’s selection of an officer with his history is evidence of a growing intolerance of dissent at the highest levels of our government. … There are more than 8,000 peace officers in the state of Texas. Why did the governor pick one with this very public record?”

Berry, who twice ran for the Legislature as a Republican, was indicted on charges of aggravated assault in February 2022 related to an incident in which a Black Lives Matter protester was shot in the face with “less-lethal” munitions. Austin District Attorney Jose Garza dropped the charges against Berry and most of the other 18 officers who were indicted on use of excessive force a year later.

Eckhardt, who led the effort to block Berry’s confirmation, said her teenage daughter was at the protest and witnessed the shooting.

“This incident alone should cause some question regarding his fitness to set the standards of conduct and training for peace officers in Texas,” she said during a committee hearing Monday, adding that other allegations against Berry of employing excessive force or misusing his police power over the past two decades caused her “additional concern.”

The political fight over Berry’s confirmation began when he did not appear for questioning before the Senate Nominations Committee at its March 10 hearing — when his nomination was listed on the agenda — as Democrats had requested.

All 11 Senate Democrats then signed onto a March 19 letter to state Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels and the committee chair, requesting that Berry appear for questioning.

“We are unaware of any prior instance in which a sitting committee member’s request for a nominee to appear has been denied,” the lawmakers said, adding that Berry’s nomination is “not uncontroversial,” and citing three individuals who were seriously injured by munitions during the 2020 protests and $18 million in civil settlements paid by the city of Austin to protesters as a result of police conduct.

“Although most of the indictments have been dismissed (four indictments remain active), questions regarding Mr. Berry’s actions that day go to the heart of his fitness to serve on the commission,” they said.

Berry later met privately with the committee’s three Democrats — Eckhardt, Alvarado and Borris L. Miles of Houston — but did not appear before the larger committee, whose Republican members on Monday unanimously sent his nomination to the full Senate.

On Monday, Eckhardt said that Patrick denied Democrats’ request last week that Berry appear before the committee.

“Senators offer their advice and consent through their deliberations and vote,” Patrick said in a Wednesday statement before the vote. “I will not allow any nominee to be subjected to an unfair process outside of that scope.”

Eckhardt had “made it clear she wanted to turn a committee room into a courtroom,” he added. “That is clearly outside the scope of offering advice and consent.”

The tension over Berry’s nomination came to a head in committee on Monday, as Eckhardt began explaining her concerns with his record and describing a packet of documents she had compiled and shared with lawmakers on the allegations against him.

Campbell quickly interjected. “Senator Eckhardt, you can make these very brief. You will have time to express your concerns on the mic, on the floor,” she said.

Eckhardt continued, and less than a minute into her remarks, Campbell cut her off again and tried to move the hearing forward. The two spoke over each other before Eckhardt, appearing exasperated, concluded.

Berry’s second term is set to conclude in August 2027.

Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.

NEW YORK (AP) — Tesla sales fell 13% in the first three months of the year, another sign that Elon Musk’s once high-flying car company is struggling to attract buyers.

The leading electric vehicle maker has faced a growing backlash from Musk’s embrace of right-wing politics and his role in the Trump administration. Opponents have staged protests at Tesla showrooms in the U.S. and in Europe, where the sales declines have been steeper.

Tesla’s line-up is aging, and some consumers may have held off from buying its bestselling Model Y while waiting for an updated version. The Austin, Texas, company also faces fierce competition from other EV makers offering vastly improved models, including those of China’s BYD.

Tesla reported deliveries of 336,681 globally in the January to March quarter. The figure was down from sales of 387,000 in the same period a year ago. The decline came despite deep discounts, zero financing and other incentives and could be a warning that the company’s first-quarter earnings report later this month could disappoint investors.

Dan Ives of Wedbush said Wall Street financial analysts knew the first quarter was likely bad, but turned out even worse than expected. He called the sales results a “disaster on every metric.”

“The brand crisis issues are clearly having a negative impact on Tesla…there is no debate,” he said.

Musk has been President Donald Trump’s point man in his effort to cut government spending. As criticism of Musk mounted and Tesla’s sales and stock price slumped, Trump last month held an extraordinary press conference outside the White House in which he praised Tesla, blasted boycotts against the company and bought a Tesla himself while TV cameras rolled.

Tesla investors have complained Musk’s work at the Department of Government Efficiency has diverted his focus from running Tesla. On Tuesday, New York City’s comptroller overseeing pension funds holding Tesla stock called for a lawsuit accusing a distracted Musk of “driving Tesla off a financial cliff.”

After falling as much as 6% in early Wednesday, Tesla stock shot up more than 5% on indications that Musk may soon return his attention to Tesla. Politico, citing anonymous sources, reported Trump has told Cabinet members that Musk will step back from his role at DOGE in coming weeks.

Tesla’s stock has plunged by roughly half since hitting a mid-December record as expectations of a lighter regulatory touch and big profits with Donald Trump as president were replaced by fear that the boycott of Musk’s cars and other problems could hit the company hard. Analysts are still not sure exactly how much the fall in sales is due to the protests or other factors.

Still, even bullish financial analysts who earlier downplayed the backlash to Musk’s polarizing political stances are saying it is hurting the company, something that Musk also recently acknowledged.

“This is a very expensive job,” Musk said at a Wisconsin rally on Sunday, referring to his DOGE role. “My Tesla stock and the stock of everyone who holds Tesla has gone roughly in half.”

Tesla cars have been smashed and set on fire in recent weeks, and protests have been staged at hundreds of Tesla dealerships. Owners have put bumper stickers on their cars saying, “I bought this before Elon went crazy.”

Europeans have also balked at buying Tesla, especially Germans upset after Musk publicly supported a far-right party in national elections and gave what many say was a Nazi-like salute at a Trump inauguration rally in January.

Tesla is expected to report earnings of 48 cents per share for the first quarter later this month, up 7% from a year earlier, according to a survey of financial analysts by research firm FactSet.

Nearly all of Tesla’s sales in the quarter came from the smaller and less-expensive Models 3 and Y, with the company selling less than 13,000 more expensive models, which include X and S as well as the Cybertruck.

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AP Business Writer Michelle Chapman contributed to this report from New York.

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — A 17-year-old student was fatally stabbed by another student during an altercation at a high school track meet in suburban Dallas on Wednesday, police said.

The suspect, 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony, was taken into custody and charged with murder, according to police in Frisco, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Dallas. Bond had not yet been set.

A police spokesperson said Anthony was being held at the city jail and would be transferred to Collin County jail. The spokesperson also said he did not know whether Anthony had an attorney yet.

Efforts to find contact information for family members to speak on Anthony’s behalf were not immediately successful.

The Frisco Independent School District said the stabbing happened at a meet where student athletes from eight of the district’s 12 schools were competing.

The student who was killed was Austin Metcalf, an 11th grader at Memorial High School, according to an email the principal sent to parents Wednesday.

Details on what led to the stabbing were not immediately released. Frisco police asked for anyone with information to come forward.

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This story has been updated to correct the age of the student who was killed to 17. Police said previously that he was 16.

HAYS COUNTY – The Texas Department of Public Safety, working with federal agencies on a joint investigation into a Venezuelan gang, arrested more than 40 people and seized drugs after serving a search warrant on an undisclosed Hays County residence, the state agency and the FBI announced Wednesday.

A DPS and FBI news release said the warrant was executed after FBI agents “developed intelligence” earlier this week about a gathering of individuals tied to Tren de Aragua, a gang that started in Venezuelan prisons and has become a target of state and federal officials. DPS did not elaborate on how the dozens of detained people may be linked to the gang.

President Donald Trump’s administration has targeted the criminal organization as part of its broader vow to deport millions of immigrants. But relatives of Venezuelans who have been detained and deported elsewhere in the country say they are not gang members.

It was not clear what potential crimes authorities believe the individuals had committed to be taken into custody. State and federal prosecutors plan to review evidence obtained during the execution of the search warrant to determine potential criminal charges, according to DPS and the FBI.

DPS, the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, which participated in the operation, did not immediately return requests for comment Wednesday.

It was not immediately clear where the dozens of people taken into custody are being held.

The San Antonio Police Department helped with an investigation leading up to the operation, but not with the execution of the search warrant, a department spokesperson said, declining to comment further because it is “part of a larger ongoing case.” The DPS release said several local, state and local law enforcement agencies have been investigating members and associates of the gang for more than a year.

This is a developing story.

Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee announced on Monday that he will file a lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott if he fails to set an election date for Texas’ 18th Congressional District. Menefee called the governor out during a press conference, urging the governor to set the special election for June to fill the congressional seat left vacated after the late Houston mayor and Congressman Sylvester Turner’s death. Per Texas law, Abbott has the sole authority to call a special election. He has done this in the past, most recently when the seat was left vacant after the death of late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee last July. “The governor knows this, and in fact, in the four instances where a seat has become vacant since he’s become governor, he’s gotten to it straight away, sometimes in 16 days, sometimes in 18 days, and once in four days,” Menefee said. “He knows how important it is that people have representation in Congress.”

DALLAS – WFAA reports that one of the biggest healthcare providers in North Texas is no longer in Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas’ network, officials said. Contracts between Southwestern Health Resources – which includes Texas Health Resources and UT Southwestern – and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas expired April 1, according to a statement from the insurance company. North Texas-based Southwestern Health Resources has 31 hospitals, more than 7,000 providers and 650 outpatient facilities and clinics. Blue Cross Blue Shield officials in a statement said the company has “worked closely with SWHR to negotiate new contracts,” but an agreement to “protect the interests of our members and customers” hasn’t been reached yet.

Southwestern Health Resources officials in a statement said Blue Cross Blue Shield “remained unwilling to accept Southwestern Health Resources’ requests for equitable reimbursement to cover the rising costs of providing quality care.” “Our goal is to minimize any disruption to patient care and help guide patients affected by this transition to in-network providers,” the statement said. Starting Tuesday, April 1, Southwestern Health Resources hospitals, doctors and facilities were no longer in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. The impacted Blue Cross plans include: ParPlan, Blue Choice PPO, Blue Essentials, Blue Advantage HMO, Medicaid, Blue Cross Medicare Advantage (PPO), and Blue Cross Medicare Advantage (HMO). Patients with MyBlue Health coverage will remain in-network for Southwestern doctors and hospitals, according to Blue Cross.

AUSTIN – The Houston Chronicle reports tat food stamp recipients could soon be barred from using their benefits to buy chips, sodas and other types of junk food under a bill that passed the Texas Senate. “This bill isn’t about limiting personal choice,” State Sen. Mayes Middleton, R-Galveston said. “But taxpayer dollars should not subsidize unhealthy eating habits that contribute to preventable health conditions and place additional strain on Texas’ health care system.” Middleton said the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is supposed to provide nutritious food that is essential to the health and well-being of Americans. Yet, he said about 20% of SNAP benefits are being spent on things like cookies, candy, chips and soda.

“They don’t just lack nutritional value, they are bad for you,” Middleton said during a debate over the bill late Monday. The bill passed 22-8 in the Texas Senate on Monday night and now goes to the Texas House. If it passes without any changes there, it would go to Gov. Greg Abbott who can let it become law. State Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, said he supports the goal but worries Middleton’s bill will put more burdens on retailers that accept SNAP benefits and potentially lead to more dropping out of the program. Miles said while everyone may want to have healthy food, there are people in urban and rural areas who don’t have access to the type Middleton wants them to eat. He said food deserts that already exist in poor urban areas could grow because of Senate Bill 379. “There are some unintended consequences to this bill that we may not be thinking of,” said Miles, who voted against the measure. “Something to eat is better than nothing to eat.” State Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, voted in favor of the bill but also pushed back, saying if the Legislature is really concerned about Texans getting proper nutrition, it should double the value of food stamps for things like fresh produce so benefits could buy more of the health products and give retailers incentive to stock more of it.

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that for years, Texas politicians have fretted: What will it take for companies to build more natural gas power plants for the state’s strained power grid? As it turns out, for a growing number of developers, even the Texas government handing out taxpayer-backed loans is not sufficient. Four companies have pulled their projects from consideration from the $5 billion Texas Energy Fund, citing various financial and logistical challenges. Another project was denied loans last fall after one company listed on the application accused the other sponsoring company of fraud. In total, nearly a third of new project capacity advanced to the fund’s due diligence review process has left the program.

State lawmakers created the Texas Energy Fund in 2023 and set aside the bulk of the money to give companies low-interest loans towards building new gas-fired generation for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas power grid. The fund was advertised to voters, who approved the program as a constitutional amendment, as a way to bolster the grid after the February 2021 winter freeze caused statewide outages and killed hundreds. Then, last year, ERCOT forecasted an unprecedented increase in electricity demand in the near future as the state’s population and economy grow. Policymakers became even more adamant that Texas needs much more gas-fired power generation for use when wind or solar power isn’t available, even though natural gas is a fossil fuel contributing to climate change. At first, the Texas Energy Fund seemed popular. So many companies applied for loans that state lawmakers — at the urging of Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — are considering appropriating another $5 billion to the program in the ongoing legislative session, so that it totals $10 billion.