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Students who created pro-Palestinian artwork now on display at the University of North Texas said they removed a piece of their exhibit two days early. State Republican lawmakers had complained about it and an upcoming lecture, calling them antisemitic.

The action comes as conservatives who have historically championed free speech are now showing interest in policing it in the wake of student protests of the Israel-Hamas war.

It also happened during a session of the Texas Legislature in which university officials across the state are under pressure to eliminate any offerings that could be seen as divisive or lose critical funding.

State Rep. Mitch Littl e, R-Lewisville, sent a letter to UNT officials on Sunday, requesting the exhibit entitled “Perceptions: Observations & Reflections of the Western Muslim” be removed within 48 hours. He pointed out that one piece in the exhibit featured Hebrew writing that reads, “The murder of people = genocide.”

The letter was signed by four other Republican state representatives: Richard Hayes of Hickory Creek; Ben Bumgarner of Flower Mound; Jared Patterson of Frisco; and Andy Hopper of Decatur.

“While we understand it is the mission of the University of North Texas to keep its students informed of geopolitical issues and create an environment where free speech can thrive, you surely appreciate that this framing is not only inflammatory, but factually false with regard to the allegation of ‘genocide,’” wrote Little, who publicized his letter on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday afternoon.

Little questioned the university’s compliance with a federal antidiscrimination law and Gov. Greg Abbott ’s May 27 executive order requiring all higher education institutions in Texas to review their free speech policies to establish and enforce “appropriate” punishments for antisemitic rhetoric.

On Tuesday afternoon, Steve Moore, chief marketing and communications officer for the UNT System, said the students chose to take their artwork down early. Those students, Dania Bayan and Fatima Kubra, later clarified they took down one piece of their exhibit, but the rest of it remains until their show ends on Thursday as the space hosts exhibits from students throughout the semester who apply for the opportunity. They declined to provide any additional comment.

Students apply to show their work in the student union. The application asks about the topic they will explore, how it represents or challenges that topic and for scholarly research to support their representation. It is reviewed by a committee of faculty, staff and students at the College of Visual Arts and Design and other colleges within the university.

In his letter, Little also called for the cancellation of a lecture entitled “Palestinian Children and the Politics of Genocide.” Nancy Stockdale, the associate dean for academic affairs at the university’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, is scheduled to give that lecture on April 3 at the student union.

He pointed out that Stockdale, who is also an associate professor of history, has described Israel as “oppressive” and its response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel as “disproportionate” in a story about the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on UNT’s main campus in Denton last year.

In a statement to The Texas Tribune on Tuesday, Little said he isn’t concerned the lecture exists or that UNT employs Stockdale, but that higher education in Texas and elsewhere elevate her view that Israel is engaged in genocide “without ever meaningfully presenting a countervailing view.”

“Her ideas are treated with respect and prominence; opposing views are omitted in academia,” he said.

A top United Nations Court found last year that it is “plausible” that Israel has committed acts that violate the Genocide Convention, but hasn’t made a final determination as to whether it is guilty of genocide.

Moore, with UNT, did not have an update on the status of the lecture and declined to respond to the accusations Little makes in the letter that UNT is tolerant and even indulgent of antisemitic rhetoric.

Stockdale did not respond to a request for comment.

Many Texas college students, including those at UNT, walked out of their classes, set up encampments and protested for their institutions to divest from manufacturers supplying Israel with weapons in its strikes on Gaza last spring.

Republicans cheered when those students were arrested and also pushed for their expulsion.

There are at least two bills, one in the Senate and one in the House, that would require universities to use the state’s definition of antisemitism when considering disciplinary action against students. The state uses the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which free speech advocates say is problematic because it includes criticisms of Israel’s government. They believe that is political speech protected by the First Amendment.

The measures stand in stark contrast to a law passed in 2019, which allows anyone to express themselves in the common outdoors areas of a college campus so long as they do so in a way that is lawful and does not disrupt the institution’s function.

Little did not respond when asked how the lecture Stockdale plans to give would not be considered expressive speech protected under that law.

Alex Morey, vice president of campus advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, suggested the Legislature look to a 1999 Supreme Court decision if it is interested in protecting Jewish students from discriminatory harassment.

The court found then that discriminatory harassment can include speech, but it needs to be so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it denies a student an education, she said.

She encouraged UNT not to cow to this political pressure.

“All that’s going to do is send out a bat signal to others who might want to impose their own brand of censorship,” she said.

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

U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, a former Houston mayor, state legislator and institution in Houston Democratic politics, died Tuesday evening. He was 70.

Turner’s death comes two months into his first term representing Texas’ 18th Congressional District, the seat long occupied by his political ally, former U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who also died in office last year amid a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Turner said in 2022 that he had secretly been recovering from bone cancer. Last summer, as he was seeking the nomination for Jackson Lee’s seat, Turner said he was cancer-free.

Before joining Congress, Turner served as Houston mayor from 2016 to 2024. He served for nearly 27 years in the Texas House.

Gov. Greg Abbott can call a special election to fill Turner’s congressional seat for the rest of his term. State law does not specify a deadline to call a special election, but if it is called the election is required to happen within two months of the announcement.

Turner’s death comes at a critical time in Congress. House Republicans have few votes to spare as they look to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda, including extending his 2017 tax cuts. With Turner’s safely Democratic seat vacant, Republicans now control 218 seats to Democrats’ 214 — an extra vote of breathing room in the narrowly divided chamber.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire, Turner’s successor, confirmed the news at Wednesday’s Houston City Council meeting. Turner was working in Washington, D.C., and was taken to a hospital, where he died, Whitmire said.

“This comes as a shock to everyone,” Whitmire said. “I would ask Houstonians to come together, pray for his family, join us in celebrating this remarkable public servant. Celebrate his life, which we will be doing.”

Whitmire, who has recently clashed with Turner over several political and policy issues, said he and Turner were very close and had “been together in good times and bad times.” The two overlapped in the Texas Legislature — Whitmire in the Senate, Turner in the House — for Turner’s entire legislative career.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said House Democrats were “shocked and saddened” by Turner’s sudden death.

“Though he was newly elected to the Congress, Rep. Turner had a long and distinguished career in public service and spent decades fighting for the people of Houston,” Jeffries said in a statement. He noted that Turner was at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday evening for Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress, calling him a “fighter until the end.”

To highlight his opposition to proposed Medicaid cuts, Turner invited a constituent to the speech, Angela Hernandez, whose daughter has a rare genetic disorder. In a video posted to social media Tuesday evening alongside Hernandez, Turner finished by saying, “Don’t mess with Medicaid.” Jeffries invoked that as Turner’s “final message to his beloved constituents.”

During his time in Austin, Turner wielded outsized power for a Democrat serving in a Republican-controlled Legislature. He spent nearly 20 years on the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee and at the time of his exit was the only Democrat to chair a budget subcommittee, overseeing funding for the judiciary, criminal justice and public safety.

Turner also served for more than 15 years on two of the state House’s most powerful committees: State Affairs, which oversees a sweeping range of key legislation, and Calendars, which sets the agenda for bills heard on the House floor.

During budget debates on the House floor, Turner was known for using an abacus as a prop to underscore his opposition to GOP tax cuts.

“When the abacus came out, I knew I was done,” State Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, wrote on social media. “You will be missed, my friend.”

State Rep. Gene Wu, a Houston Democrat and the House Democratic Caucus leader, said Wednesday on the Texas House floor that he was “devastated” by Turner’s death.

“Sylvester was more than just a colleague for me. He was my adviser. He was my mentor. He was my personal hero,” Wu said, getting choked up.

When Wu began working as a legislative staffer in 2005, he recalled, “there were only two names that I knew before coming to work here, and that was [longtime Rep.] Senfronia Thompson and Sylvester Turner. Because they were people who were outspoken for fighting for their communities and defending the poor and the working class and anybody who got stepped on.”

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

EAGLE PASS (AP) — Vice President JD Vance is visiting the U.S.-Mexico border on Wednesday to highlight the tougher immigration policies that the White House says has led to dramatically fewer arrests for illegal crossings since Donald Trump began his second term.

Vance will be joined in Eagle Pass, Texas, by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard as the highest-ranking members of Trump’s Republican administration to visit the southern border.

The White House says Vance is set to tour the border, hold a roundtable with local, state, and federal officials and visit a detention facility. State authorities and local activists say Vance’s itinerary also likely includes a visit to Shelby Park, a municipal greenspace along the Rio Grande that Republican Gov. Greg Abbott seized from federal authorities last year in a feud with the Biden administration. Abbott accused that administration of not doing enough to curb illegal crossings.

“Border security is national security,” Hegseth told Fox News before the trip. He added, “We’re sending those folks home, and we’re not letting more in. And you’re seeing that right now.”

Trump made a crackdown on immigration a centerpiece of his reelection campaign, pledging to halt the tide of migrants entering the U.S. and stop the flow of fentanyl crossing the border. As part of that effort, he imposed 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, saying neither is doing enough to address drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

“They are now strongly embedded in our country. But we are getting them out and getting them out fast,” Trump said of migrants living in the U.S. illegally as he delivered an address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.

Although Trump has not made a trip to the border since Inauguration Day, the visit of three of his top officials is evidence of the scope of his administration’s focus on the issue. He has tasked agencies across the federal government with working to overhaul border and immigration policy, moving well beyond the Department of Homeland Security, the traditional home of most such functions.

Arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico plummeted 39% in January from a month earlier, though they’ve been falling sharply since well before Trump took office on Jan. 20 from an all-time high of 250,000 in December 2023. Since then, Mexican authorities increased enforcement within their own borders and President Joe Biden, a Democrat, introduced severe asylum restrictions early last summer.

The Trump administration has showcased its new initiatives, including putting shackled immigrants on U.S. military planes for deportation fights and sending some to the U.S. lockup at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. It has also expanded federal agents’ arrests of people in the U.S. illegally and abandoned programs that gave some permission to stay.

Trump border czar Tom Homan said migrants with criminal records have been prioritized in early efforts to round up and deport people in the U.S. illegally, but he added of other migrants, “If you’re in the county illegally, you’re not off the table.”

“When we find the bad guy, many times they’re with others, others who aren’t a criminal priority, but were in the country illegally,” Homan told reporters outside the White House on Tuesday. “They’re coming, too.”

Since Trump’s second term began, about 6,500 new active duty forces have been ordered to deploy to the southern border. Before that, there were about 2,500 troops already there, largely National Guard troops on active duty orders, along with a couple of hundred active duty aviation forces.

Of those being mobilized, many are still only preparing to go. Last weekend, Hegseth approved orders to send a large portion of an Army Stryker brigade and a general support aviation battalion to the border. Totaling about 3,000 troops, they are expected to deploy in the coming weeks.

Troops are responsible for detection and monitoring along the border but don’t interact with migrants attempting to illegally cross. Instead, they alert border agents, who then take the migrants into custody.

Biden tasked Vice President Kamala Harris with tackling the root causes of immigration during his administration, seeking to zero in on why so many migrants, particularly from Central America, were leaving their homelands and coming to the U.S. seeking asylum or trying to make it into the county illegally.

Harris made her first visit to the border in June 2021, about 3 1/2 months deeper into Biden’s term than Vance’s trip in the opening weeks of Trump’s second term. Trump has routinely joked that Harris was in charge of immigration policy but didn’t visit the border or even maintain close phone contact with federal officials.

Vance’s trip also comes as the Trump administration is considering the use of the Alien Enemy Act of 1798 to detain and deport Venezuelans based on a proclamation labeling the gang Tren de Aragua an invasion force that could be acting at the behest of that country’s government. That’s according to a U.S. official with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration deliberations.

It is unclear how close the decisions are to being finalized. Some officials have questioned whether the gang is acting as a tool for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom the U.S. has not recognized as that country’s legitimate leader. There are some concerns that invoking the law would require the U.S. to more formally recognize Maduro.

Still, the 1798 law allows the president to deport any noncitizen from a country with which the U.S. is at war, and it has been mentioned by Trump as a possible tool to speed up his mass deportations.

Six years after Texas lawmakers inadvertently triggered the state’s booming consumable hemp market, one chamber of the Legislature is pushing to shut down the industry by barring products that contain tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.

Yet even with the backing of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the powerful Texas Senate leader, the proposal to ban THC faces uncertain prospects in the House, where the hemp industry is bullish about getting lawmakers to tighten regulations rather than quashing most of their products altogether.

In the lower chamber, efforts to ban THC products have failed to gain traction, and this session no House lawmaker has filed anything akin to Senate Bill 3, which would outlaw products containing any amount of THC. House leadership has avoided weighing in on the matter, including Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, who did not respond to a request for comment.

Mark Bordas, executive director of the Texas Hemp Business Council, said his group is “cautiously optimistic” that House lawmakers will forgo a ban and accept “thoughtful regulations” such as restricting THC products to Texans 21 and older, requiring tamper-proof packaging, and barring sales within a certain distance of schools. Some have also proposed tighter and more consistent testing requirements to ensure hemp products do not contain excessive levels of THC.

“We think at the end of the day, cooler heads will prevail,” Bordas said. “We hope the Legislature will recognize that there are more than 50,000 jobs and lots of small businesses at stake, people’s livelihoods as well as lives. People that have problems with alcohol or opioid addiction have turned to hemp so that they can be functional members of society again.”

Thousands of cannabis dispensaries have popped up across Texas since 2019, when the GOP-controlled Legislature authorized the sale of consumable hemp. That law, passed one year after hemp was legalized nationwide, was intended to boost Texas agriculture by allowing the commercialization of hemp containing trace amounts of non-intoxicating delta-9 THC, the psychoactive element in marijuana.

What ensued was a proliferation of hemp products, ranging from gummies and beverages to vapes and flower buds, that can now be bought at more than 8,300 locations around the state, from dispensaries to convenience stores. The products are not allowed to contain more than a 0.3% concentration of THC; anything higher is classified as marijuana, which remains illegal in Texas aside from limited medical use. Still, the hemp-derived products look, taste and sometimes have intoxicating effects similar to their more potent sibling. (Hemp and marijuana plants are both cannabis plants; the difference lies in their THC levels.)

Sen. Charles Perry, a Lubbock Republican who carried the 2019 hemp legalization bill, says lawmakers did not intend to allow for such an explosion of consumable products. His latest proposal, SB 3, would make it illegal to possess or manufacture products containing THC outside the state’s medical marijuana program. Violators would face up to a year in jail for possessing such products and 2 to 10 years in prison for manufacturing them under Perry’s bill, which is among Patrick’s top priorities this session.

At a hearing on SB 3 this week, Perry blasted the hemp industry, saying that they had “exploited” the 2019 law he helped pass “to the point that it has endangered public health” with dangerously high THC concentrations.

“From a credibility perspective, the current industry providers — and there are several that are controllers of this industry — have shown not to be trustworthy,” Perry said. “And now what they’re all screaming about is, we want regulation, but we want it the way we want it.”

It is now time, Perry said, to “get the genie back in the bottle.”

Not everyone is on board with the idea. Critics say the ban would effectively eliminate Texas’ hemp industry and its roughly 50,000 jobs, along with tax revenue from the $8 billion it generates annually, by one estimate. And instead of solving public health concerns, critics argue, a ban would make things worse by forcing consumers into an unregulated black market, promoting easier access to even more potent products.

“You don’t cure alcoholism by banning light beer,” Bordas said. “Hemp is the light beer of cannabis offerings. If Texas has a THC problem, doesn’t it stand to reason that the source of that THC problem is the high-potency marijuana with higher concentrations of THC?”

Supporters of Perry’s bill say those high THC levels are already found in retail products that purport to be under the legal limit. Steve Dye, chief of the Allen Police Department in north Texas, said recent undercover operations in his city found THC concentrations “that tested up to 78%” in some products — well above the 0.3% threshold. (The manager of one shop raided by Allen authorities has filed a lawsuit challenging the legitimacy of the search warrants and lab tests.)

“Labels on many products do not reflect the actual level of THC inside the packaging, which is leading to accidental intoxications, overdoses and increased addiction for these psychoactive products, particularly to our youth,” Dye told Senate lawmakers at Monday’s hearing on SB 3.

For now, state and federal law places no age limits and loose and inconsistent testing requirements on Texas’ hemp industry. While SB 3 would ban THC products, it would continue to allow the non-intoxicating, non-psychoactive cannabidiol known as CBD. And it would place firmer restrictions on those products — along the lines of what hemp industry leaders propose for THC consumables, including barring sales or marketing to minors under 21 and requiring “tamper-evident, child-resistant, and resealable” product packaging.

Throughout the several-hour hearing, scores of people urged senators to impose tighter regulations to rein in high THC levels, rather than banning the products. Law enforcement cleared the Senate gallery after multiple outbursts from attendees cheering on witnesses who criticized the bill.

Kevin Hale, legislative coordinator for the Texas Libertarian Party, said Perry’s bill amounts to “blatant government overreach” and “pulls the rug out from under” hemp business owners who spent the last six years “investing in storefronts, payrolls, marketing and supply chains.”

“These products are in demand by your constituents. They are not dangerous,” Hale said. “Libertarians believe in a free and open, transparent market. This bill does the opposite, pushing consumers and suppliers back into the black market, where the labels and ethics are unchecked.”

Some patients and doctors say the THC in cannabis can be used effectively to combat pain, depression, anxiety, appetite problems and nausea. Under the state’s Compassionate Use Program, lawmakers have allowed some Texans to use medical marijuana to treat conditions that include epilepsy, seizures, autism, cancer and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Though some veterans use the medical marijuana program for PTSD and other conditions, a number of veterans groups oppose Perry’s bill, with some telling the Senate committee Monday that they prefer to use the more affordable and accessible THC products found at everyday retailers.

But David Bass, an Army veteran who founded a group called Texas Veterans for Medical Marijuana, said it would be expensive to properly regulate the hemp industry. He urged lawmakers to support SB 3 and focus on expanding the state’s Compassionate Use Program.

“I do not want our veterans using these hemp derivatives,” Bass said. “The reason is, they have no idea what they are taking and they are not using these products under the care of a physician.”

Under Texas’ Compassionate Use Program, Bass said, “we know exactly the origin and formulation of our meds. DPS inspects and certifies CUP meds, and we use CUP meds under the care of our doctors.”

As things stand, however, the hemp industry has “overwhelming advantages” over the state program, said Jervonne Singletary, senior director of government relations at Goodblend, one of three medical marijuana providers in Texas. For one, she said, patients have to jump through so many hoops to place and receive orders that some may opt to simply pick up THC products from the gas station around the corner.

“Right now, hemp businesses can really locate anywhere throughout the state that they want. They can be next door to your child’s school,” Singletary said. “Most liquor stores can’t do that, we certainly can’t do that, and we think it only makes sense to bring them in line.”

Another Perry bill, SB 1505, would take aim at the issue by allowing medical marijuana providers to operate satellite storage facilities designed to make it easier for patients to access their prescriptions. The bill would also double the cap on licensed medical marijuana dispensers, to six from three.

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

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Powerful storms killed two people in Mississippi, tore the roofs off an apartment building and a nursing home in a small town in Oklahoma and threatened more communities across the nation Tuesday with wide-ranging weather.

The large storm system also brought blinding dust storms to the Southwest, blizzards with whiteout conditions to the Midwest and fears of wildfires elsewhere.

In Irving, Texas, a tornado with winds up to 110 mph (177 kph) struck, while another touched down in the 16,000-resident city of Ada, Oklahoma, according to preliminary information from the National Weather Service. There were also two tornadoes in Louisiana’s northern Caddo Parish and at least five in eastern Oklahoma.

High winds forced some changes to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, which moved up and shortened the two biggest parades to wrap them up before the bad weather moved in.

The weather didn’t stop Shalaska Jones and her 2-year-old daughter from waving at passing Mardi Gras floats and hoping to catch one of the coveted coconuts thrown to the crowd.

“We was coming out, rain, sleet or snow,” Jones said.

The alarming weather could be one of the first big tests for the National Weather Service after hundreds of forecasters were fired last week as part of President Donald Trump’s moves to slash the size of the federal government. Former employees said the firing of meteorologists who make crucial local forecasts nationwide could put lives at risk, though it was too soon to know the impact on forecasts and warnings for this storm.

Deaths from storms in Mississippi

Two people died due to the severe weather, Gov. Tate Reeves posted on the social platform X, without going into detail.

WAPT-TV reported that one person died from a falling power line in Madison County, while a driver in the same county was killed by a tree falling on his car.

Hundreds of thousands left without power

Storms that swept through Texas and Oklahoma brought high winds and rain, overturning tractor-trailers and damaging roofs. More than 178,000 customers were without power in Texas, about 23,000 in Louisiana, another 18,000 in Mississippi, about 88,000 in Alabama, more than 16,000 in Oklahoma and more than 23,000 in Tennessee, according to PowerOutage.us.

More outages were expected as a line of storms raced across Mississippi and Louisiana and headed for Alabama, producing gusts of 70 mph (113 kph), the weather service said.

Strong winds lead to fires and damage in Texas

In San Antonio, high winds caused at least two grass fires that damaged several structures and prompted officials to order mandatory evacuations in two areas south of the city. One fire prompted officials to call for the evacuation of about 30 homes, San Antonio Fire Chief Valerie Frausto told reporters.

By late Tuesday afternoon, the Texas A&M Forest Service was responding to 13 active wildfires across the state, service spokesperson Adam Turner said.

In North Texas, strong thunderstorms with gusts over 70 mph (113 kph) damaged apartments, schools and RVs. At the Las Haciendas Apartments in Irving, northwest of Dallas, winds blew out windows and damaged brick siding along the walls of a building.

Power was knocked out to several Irving schools. In Plano, north of Dallas, winds tore off parts of a high school’s metal roof. In Parker County, west of Fort Worth, at least three RV trailers were overturned by strong winds.

Central Plains and Midwest brace for blizzard conditions

Blizzard conditions were forecast that could make travel treacherous.

Schools will be closed Wednesday in several southern Minnesota districts with 5 to 11 inches (about 13 to 28 centimeters) of snow expected. More concerning were winds forecasted to gust over 50 mph (80 kph) and stay high.

The National Weather Service in the Twin Cities said on X Tuesday night that travel was not advised over a large portion of southern Minnesota.

“It’s tough to find a @MnDOT road camera that isn’t covered in ice or blocked completely by blowing snow,” the post said.

South Dakota was expected to receive up to 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) of snow in some areas, and by Tuesday evening, high winds had already deteriorated road conditions.

Jay Jones, who works at Love’s Truck Stop in Sioux Falls, said he saw garbage cans flying around as winds gusted around 50 mph (80.5 kph). Parts of Interstate 29 heading north to North Dakota were shut down.

“It looks really bad out there,” Jones said, adding that he walked to work and would have to “have to tough it out” on his way home.

In Des Moines, Iowa, gusts up to 65 mph (105 kph) were expected Tuesday night — a rare occurrence, forecasters said.

Strong winds and snowfall were making travel hazardous Tuesday night in eastern Nebraska, according to the National Weather Service. Part of Interstate 80 was temporarily closed and the agency recommended staying off the roads if possible.

Nationwide, more than 500 flights were canceled, according to FlightAware.com, which tracks delays and cancellations. Airports in Dallas canceled the most flights.

Severe weather threatens during Mardi Gras

New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick ordered parade-goers to not bring umbrellas, tents or “anything that could fly in the wind and cause mayhem.” In neighboring Jefferson Parish, officials canceled planned parades due to anticipated high winds and thunderstorms.

Even with winds sweeping through New Orleans, the city’s festive Bourbon Street was packed with revelers clad in purple, gold and yellow, shouting for bead necklaces tossed from balconies.

Ashley Luna and her aunt danced and skipped down the street holding beverages beneath the darkening sky, unconcerned about the evening’s prospects.

“The weather can always change. I’m not really worried about it,” Luna said. “I am just going with the flow.”

ATLANTA (AP) — As Donald Trump prepared Tuesday to address a joint session of Congress, protest groups gathered at parks, statehouses and other public grounds across the country to assail his presidency as dangerous and un-American.

The rallies and marches — set in motion by the fledgling 50501 Movement, a volunteer-driven group organized in the weeks after Trump’s inauguration — mark the latest attempt at national resistance to the hardened support of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” base and the success it has had in reshaping the Republican Party in the president’s populist image.

Yet some early scenes Tuesday vividly demonstrated the difficulty Democrats, progressives and everyday citizens face in marshaling a tangible response to Trump and the swift, sweeping actions of his second administration. Protesters have so many things to push back against — from tariffs to Trump’s reset on the war in Ukraine to the aggressive and sometimes legally dubious actions of the Department of Government Efficiency and its leader, billionaire Elon Musk, that it’s hard to know what to focus on.

“There are so many things to fight, but I hope by being here we are starting some conversations,” said Sara Grummer-Strawn, who held a sign declaring “So Much Wrong, So Little Space,” followed by a small-print litany of topics from Ukraine and tariffs to potential education cuts to the denial of climate and vaccine science.

Around her in Atlanta were hundreds of people marching and chanting about a range of Trump initiatives. There were Palestinian flags and Ukrainian flags, along with signs bemoaning Trump ending military aid to Ukraine as it fights off the invading Russian troops of Vladimir Putin.

Trump was called a fascist, a “Russian asset,” “Putin’s Puppet” and “Wannabe King,” among other, more profane monikers. One signed implored “Punch Nazis,” reflecting an increasingly common effort to compare Trump’s presidency to Nazi Germany. Musk was a frequent target of mockery and ire. But there were also appeals for transgender rights, abortion rights and diversity. One understated sign appealed simply, “Save Our Parks.”

Events were scheduled throughout the day in all 50 states, ending late Tuesday in Hawaii.

In Austin, Texas, those gathered at the statehouse leaned in to support Ukraine. Pops of yellow — a nod to the colors of Ukraine’s national flag — dotted the crowd as protesters affixed sunflowers to their hair, hats and clothing. The Texas crowd, which numbered in the hundreds, eventually made its way through downtown, chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go.”

“I think protests can be impactful,” said Carol Goodwin, an Austin resident active in the local advocacy scene. “I think these smaller protests are valuable for the people who come to express their frustrations, and I think this movement will grow over time.”

For some participants, Tuesday recalled 50501’s first day of national action on Feb. 5 — or the many women’s marches in 2017, at the outset of Trump’s first term. But for many others, it was a new step in their engagement.

Goodwin cited Trump’s tariffs against Canada and Mexico and the Oval Office exchange between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week as her reasons for attending.

In San Francisco, Michael Gray also pointed to that White House exchange with the Ukrainian leader. “The meeting with Zelenskyy … just made us so disgusted to see an American president act that way on the world stage,” said the Santa Rosa, California, resident.

Grayson Taylor, a 33-year-old who came to the Atlanta event, had not protested until this year. He described the actions of Trump, his Cabinet and Musk as a “billionaire coup” leading a government that “will be serving the ultra-rich.”

At the same rally, Sherri Frias, 58, said her concerns about the extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans — in conjunction with GOP proposals to roll back Medicaid and other aid programs — drew her to her first protest. Trump has urged Congress to renew the tax cuts, which are set to expire.

Another Atlanta attendee, 67-year-old Phyllis Bedford, said she came to her first political protest because she felt overwhelmed by the breadth of Trump’s actions.

“I was thinking on my way here what I want to say about the situation,” said Bedford, who drove from Republican-leaning Snellville, on the outer edges of metro Atlanta. “All I could come up with is, ‘I’m sorry.’ I am sorry to Canada. I’m sorry, Mexico. I’m sorry, Greenland. I’m so, so sorry, Ukraine and President Zelensky. … We’re just so wrong. And we don’t all support this man.”

“For my own mental health, because it makes me feel like I’m doing something other than just the screaming inside of my head, right? That goes on every day, And I want to be heard.”

The protests come after some Republican members of Congress met angry town hall crowds during a recent congressional recess and as Democrats on Capitol Hill face pressure from voters on the left to be more outspoken.

Taylor wants Democrats to be “rude and aggressive” like Republicans “have been for years.”

“The Republican Party right now is so much more organized, and not divisive,” Smith said. “The Democratic Party, they have individual issues, but in my observation it’s hard for them to come together to deal with the real issues they want.”

Multiple demonstrators said they want to see Democrats relentlessly highlight the real-world impact of Trump’s executive orders, Musk’s commission and the pending Republican budget plan.

Bedford worked in the financial aid office at Georgia State University. “Most of the kids I dealt with would not have been enrolled without Pell Grants and the (federal) financial aid system,” she said. “And now there’s just a war on education, and higher education especially.”

Grummer-Strawn divides her time between Atlanta and Geneva, where her husband works for the World Health Organization after having spent 24 years at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Trump has withdrawn the U.S. from supporting WHO and clamped down on the CDC’s research and public health advocacy.

“We need to get people to stop and pause and see what each of his actions is leading to, connecting the dots,” Grummer-Strawn said, “even if people don’t think Ukraine and tariffs and public health policy affect them directly.”

Frias, meanwhile, thinks Democrats are doing everything they can given GOP control on Capitol Hill and in the White House. The ultimate responsibility for action, she said, rests with “the people of the U.S.”

(TEXAS) — The number of measles cases associated with an outbreak in Texas has grown to 159 — an increase of 13 cases in the past five days, authorities said on Tuesday.

The Texas Department of State Health Services updated its website with the new numbers Tuesday afternoon and said the majority of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or those whose vaccination status is unknown, with 80 unvaccinated and 74 of unknown status.

At least 22 people have been hospitalized, two more than the last update on Friday, according to the DSHS.

“Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in the outbreak area and the surrounding communities,” the DSHS said.

Five cases have occurred in people vaccinated with one dose of the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, a number that did not change from the last DSHS update on Feb. 28.

Youths between ages 5 and 17 make up the majority of cases with 74, followed by 53 cases among children 4 and under, the DSHS said. The virus was found in 27 people who are 18 or older, according to the agency.

The number of fatalities from measles remains at one: an unvaccinated, school-aged child who lived in the outbreak area. The DSHS said Tuesday that the child had no underlying conditions.

The death marks the first time in a decade that someone has died in the United States from the measles, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gaines County in West Texas is the epicenter of the outbreak, with 107 cases, up from 98 on Friday, according to DSHS. Terry County, which neighbors Gaines County, had the second highest number of measles cases with 22.

At least four measles cases were reported in three counties not associated with the West Texas outbreak — Harris, Rockwall and Travis counties.

State health data shows the number of vaccine exemptions in the county has grown dramatically. Roughly 7.5% of kindergarteners in the Gaines county had parents or guardians who filed for an exemption for at least one vaccine in 2013. Ten years later, that number rose to more than 17.5% — one of the highest in all of Texas, according to state health data.

The CDC has separately confirmed 164 measles cases in eight other states this year: Alaska, California, Georgia, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Rhode Island. The total, however, is an undercount due to delays in reporting from states to the federal government.

About 95% of nationally confirmed cases are in people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown. Of the cases, 3% are among those who received one dose of the MMR shot.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans. Just one infected patient can spread measles to up to 9 out of 10 susceptible close contacts, according to the CDC.

Health officials have been urging anyone who isn’t vaccinated to receive the MMR vaccine.

The CDC currently recommends that people receive two vaccine doses, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective. Most vaccinated adults don’t need a booster.

Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000 due to the highly effective vaccination program, according to the CDC. However, CDC data shows vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years.

In a statement posted on social media earlier Tuesday, the CDC said it has sent a rapid response team from the agency’s Epidemic Intelligence Service to Texas “to tackle urgent public health issues like disease outbreaks.”

“The measles outbreak in Texas is a call to action for all of us to reaffirm our commitment to public health. By working together — parents, healthcare providers, community leaders, and government officials, we can prevent future outbreaks and protect the health of our nation,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement on Tuesday. “Under my leadership, HHS is and will always be committed to radical transparency to regain the public’s trust in its health agencies.”

In an interview that aired Tuesday on Fox News, Kennedy said the CDC’s rapid response team had treated 108 patients in the first 48 hours of arriving in Texas. He said patients are being treated with Budesonide, a steroid; Clarithromycin, an antibiotic; vitamin A; and cod liver oil, which has high concentrations of vitamins A and D.

“They’re getting very, very good results,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy has long questioned the effectiveness and safety of MMR and other vaccines, but told Fox News that the federal government has sent 2,000 doses of MMR to Texas to fight the measles outbreak.

“What we’re trying to do is really to restore faith in government and make sure that we are there to help them with their needs and not particularly to dictate what they ought to be doing,” Kennedy said.

ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.

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TEXAS – KUT Radio reports the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has laid off hundreds of employees as part of a federal workforce reduction initiative under the Trump administration. According to the agency’s former head of research, these cuts could reduce the accuracy of weather forecasting in Texas, a state frequently affected by severe weather events. According to Craig McLean, former assistant administrator for research at NOAA who says he’s been in contact with people “at all levels of the agency,” between 600 to 800 people were fired last week, including meteorologists and staff from the National Weather Service (NWS), a subsidiary agency of NOAA. McLean says these firings could lessen the accuracy of severe weather warnings, prevent storm hunters from making routine flights, and overburden “the existing number of forecasters who are on the job,” leading to “greater risk for the American people.”

“When the system is stressed, the quality of those forecasts is then put in jeopardy and the ability of the public to take early and appropriate action will be compromised,” McLean said. “We’re diminishing the capacity, the skill level and we’re also delaying the technical delivery of many advances that we know we can be producing.” Texas is no stranger to devastating weather events. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, causing catastrophic flooding in Houston. The storm left more than 100 people dead and about $125 billion in damages. In 2021, an arctic blast knocked out power for millions throughout the state – more than 200 people died. Hurricane Beryl resulted in more than 40 deaths in the Houston area last summer. Before all of these storms, the NWS provided up-to-date forecasts hours, and even days, in advance – a practice that’s now being threatened by recent federal firings, according to McLean. This could impact local news forecasts as well. Meteorologists primarily rely on NWS data, along with other government and private sources. The layoffs come amid a broader wave of federal job cuts under billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has moved to reduce federal staffing across multiple departments, citing budget and efficiency concerns. Thousands of government employees have already been fired.