LAMPASAS – Candidate for Texas Agriculture Commissioner Clayton Tucker praised Henderson County residents Thursday after a proposed AI data center near Cedar Creek Lake was withdrawn, according to local officials. Diode Ventures informed county leaders that it will no longer pursue development at the Key Ranch-Cedar Creek Lake location, after hearing concerns from residents and local leaders, officials said.
The proposal sparked widespread community engagement, including public meetings, thousands of petition signatures, and calls for stronger state oversight of large-scale AI infrastructure projects. “This is a victory for the people of Henderson County,” Tucker said. “When Texans organize, stay informed, and speak with one voice, they can make even the largest corporations stop and listen.”
“The Henderson County community showed what happens when ordinary Texans refuse to be ignored,” Tucker continued. “This should be the standard across Texas. Every community deserves transparency, meaningful local input, and a fair review before billion-dollar AI projects break ground.” Tucker cautioned that while this proposal has been withdrawn, similar projects continue to be proposed across Texas.
“The fight isn’t over,” Tucker said. “Developers are still looking at communities across our state. Texans deserve leaders who will put people first and protect our water, farmland, and way of life before another irresponsible AI data center breaks ground.”
Pedro Pascal attends 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' Los Angeles World Premiere in Los Angeles, California on May 14, 2026. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
The list for the Hollywood Walk of Fame class of 2027 is in.
On Thursday, Walk of Famers Ming-Na Wen and Sheila E. joined Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Ron Frierson to announce the list of names to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2027.
Among the names receiving stars are Keke Palmer, Pedro Pascal and Lisa Kudrow.
Dakota and Elle Fanning will also be the first sister duo to get a double star ceremony.
Country music icon Waylon Jennings, who died in 2002, will also receive a posthumous Hollywood Walk of Fame Star.
"This class continues the proud legacy of the Walk of Fame," Frierson said during a press conference about the 2027 Walk of Fame class at Funko Hollywood. "This year's honorees reflect the breadth, diversity and imagination of the entertainment community: Performers whose voices moved us, storytellers who expanded our view of the world, visionaries who brought unforgettable characters to life and trailblazers whose influence will be felt for generations to come."
See the full list of names below for categories across motion pictures, television, music, sports and entertainment.
Motion pictures Cheech and Chong Idris Elba Sam Eliot Elle Fanning and Dakota Fanning Kate Hudson Delroy Lindo Sam Rockwell Ted Sarandos
Television David Allen Grier Lisa Kudrow Bill Lawrence Pedro Pascal Adam Scott Jeff Probst Keke Palmer Raven-Symoné
Recording Karol G David Guetta Waylon Jennings Ramones Grandmaster Flash Sia Marc Shaiman The Smashing Pumpkins Linkin Park Lil Wayne
Live Theater/Performance Jo Koy Nicole Scherzinger Roberto Bolle
Walker Scobell and Leah Sava Jeffries star in 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' season 2. (Disney/David Bukach)
Good news, Half-Bloods.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 3 will premiere on Nov. 20, Disney+ has announced.
The news arrived as stars Walker Scobell (Percy Jackson), Aryan Simhadri (Grover Underwood), Charlie Bushnell (Luke Castellan), Tamara Smart (Thalia Grace), Levi Chrisopulos (Nico di Angelo) and Olive Abercrombie took to the stage at San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday.
Leah Sava Jeffries, who plays Annabeth Chase, could not appear due to her prior commitment filming The Cheetah Girls: Next Gen. Even still, she sent over a video message for the fans that teed up a look at the opening act of season 3.
The third season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians is based on the third installment in author Rick Riordan's bestselling Percy Jackson book series, The Titan’s Curse.
"The stakes are higher than ever before as Percy is faced with the sudden disappearance of Annabeth and the impending Great Prophecy provided by the Oracle of Delphi, dictating the fate of Olympus," according to an official description for the season. "As foretold by the Oracle of Delphi, one demigod child of the 'Big Three' is fated to raise Olympus to new heights or bring it crashing into ruin, with their own life hanging in the balance."
Disney+ also shared a teaser video to announce the release date. It finds Percy Jackson in pain as he holds up the entire sky.
"It was my choice to hold the weight. The Titan's curse. I knew the risk. But if I needed to sacrifice myself to save the world, to save my friends, was it really a choice?" Scobell's Percy says.
Riordan and Jonathan E. Steinberg created the series. They both executive produce alongside Dan Shotz, Craig Silverstein and Rebecca Riordan.
Disney is the parent company of ABC News and Disney+.
NEW YORK (AP) — Brent oil shot to its highest price since May after increased fighting in the Middle East on Thursday threatened to slow the global flow of crude. At the same time, sharp drops for two of Wall Street’s most influential companies, Alphabet and Tesla, yanked the U.S. stock market to its worst loss in a month.
The S&P 500 fell 1.2% and is on track for its first back-to-back weekly loss since March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 506 points, or 1%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.2%.
Stocks fell under the pressure of rising oil prices, which raise costs for businesses and erode their customers’ ability to spend. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, jumped 7% to settle at $100.69.
It touched $102 during the day, the highest price since May for the most actively traded Brent contract in the market. The cause: attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. That threatens another avenue that oil companies use to move their crude from the Middle East to customers worldwide, along with the Strait of Hormuz.
Underscoring the importance of the sea route for the economy, President Donald Trump threatened “major military punishment” against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are backed by Iran, if they keep attacking ships.
It was just a few weeks ago that Brent had dropped below $72 per barrel, roughly back to where it was before the United States and Israel attacked Iran to begin their war, on hopes that a wind-down in the war would fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The jumps in oil prices will worsen inflation, just when it had begun to decelerate by more than economists expected. That in turn could push the Federal Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates, which would slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and other investments.
The European Central Bank held its main interest rates steady at its meeting Thursday. But traders are betting on a 36% chance the Fed will hike the federal funds rate at its meeting next week. That’s up from the nearly 12% probability seen a week ago, according to data from CME Group.
An increase by the Fed would be the first since 2023.
Higher oil prices pushed the yield of the 10-year Treasury up to 4.69% from 4.67% late Wednesday and from just 3.97% before the war with Iran began. That’s a significant increase, and it’s already brought long-term U.S. mortgage rates to their highest levels in nearly a year.
Gasoline prices tend to follow oil prices higher, and a gallon of regular costs an average of $4.09 across the United States, according to AAA. That’s still below highs of roughly $4.56 in May, but it was at just $3.93 a month ago.
On Wall Street, stocks of companies with big fuel bills fell to sharp losses on worries about higher expenses.
American Airlines fell 8.4% even though it reported a much bigger profit for the spring than analysts expected, something that usually sends a stock’s price higher. It raised airfares, which helped it offset its higher fuel prices, during the latest quarter.
Southwest Airlines lost 6.2%, even though it also reported better profit and revenue than analysts expected.
One of the heaviest weights on the U.S. stock market was Tesla, which tumbled 14.5% after Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle company reported a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Because it’s one of the largest stocks in the S&P 500 by market value, its stock has more influence on the index than nearly every other.
One of the few that’s larger is Alphabet, and its stock fell 7.1% even though the parent company of Google delivered stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected.
Investors focused instead on how much Alphabet is planning to spend on artificial-intelligence investments. Alphabet raised its forecast for capital spending over the full year after its investments last quarter doubled to nearly $45 billion from a year earlier.
CEO Sundar Pichai said AI helped its cloud revenue growth accelerate to 82% last quarter, but unease nevertheless remains about whether all the money going into AI will pay off in terms of productivity and profits.
Such worries have been shaking the AI industry broadly in recent weeks, leading to big swings for the overall stock market.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 90.66 points to 7,408.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 506.93 to 51,711.65, and the Nasdaq composite sank 553.21 to 25,137.69.
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell sharply in Europe after oil prices jumped. France’s CAC 40 dropped 1.6% for one of the larger losses.
Indexes in Asia were stronger earlier in the day, and South Korea’s Kospi jumped 4.4%.
Socialism is having a moment in America. In the late 1980s I naïvely believed that when the Soviet Union finally collapsed of its own moral bankruptcy and manifest unsustainability, socialism/communism as a viable political idea was at last finished.
Silly me.
We now see that far-left ideas about socialism/communism that fairly recently were considered fringe are making their way into the political mainstream. The once semi-sane Democratic Party is being hijacked by socialist loons right before our eyes.
It’s undeniable that the political left has an enormous advantage, occupying as it does the commanding heights of American culture. The left dominates academia, entertainment, the legacy media and many of the institutions that shape how many Americans – particularly the young – understand their country. We are living with the result of the miseducation of an entire generation of our kids that have been exhaustively instructed in America’s sins while being deliberately kept ignorant of America’s triumphs.
These kids know about slavery, discrimination, inequality and corporate greed in granular detail. Fine. They should. Those are real chapters in our history.
But they should also understand – and clearly don’t – that America created the most prosperous large society in human history. American free enterprise unleashed extraordinary innovation. Capitalism, despite its imperfections, has lifted more people from poverty and created more broadly shared material abundance than any economic system ever devised.
We conservatives can be forgiven for occasionally looking at the cultural landscape and feeling discouraged. But look beyond the campuses, newsrooms, the Hollywood studios, the gated estates of Palo Alto, California and the penthouses of Manhattan and instead consider the vast American heartland — the places condescendingly dismissed by our betters on the coasts as “flyover country.”
That’s where millions of people still build things, grow things, fix things, transport things, start businesses, raise families and keep the country running.
The heartland is Moline, Illinois where farm equipment is made, Akron, Ohio where they make tires and Louisville, Kentucky where they manufacture major appliances. It’s Dalton, Georgia where the mills turn out carpet and Columbus, Indiana, America’s diesel engine capital. And it’s Tyler, Texas where we make air conditioners.
Then, of course, there are the millions of acres of land on a vast, wonderful, bountiful and beautiful continent stretching from the west bank of the Hudson to the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, from which good, hardworking, patriotic Americans toil from sunup to sunset so that we might have grocery stores and restaurants full of gorgeous, delicious food.
The heartland folks know that America isn’t perfect. But they also know that America is good. Proudly self-sufficient, they are deeply skeptical of politicians promising prosperity through government dependency and equality through government control. The commanding heights of academia, media and entertainment may shape the conversation, but the folks in the heartland who put food on our tables, make and fix our machines, pick up after us and stand up to defend us shape the country.
So, take heart. On the subject of socialism, the heartland folks will have their say.
BULLARD (KETK) — A new public golf experience is coming to East Texas at Eagles Bluff Golf course in Bullard, set to open July 27.
Eagles Bluff announced the opening of a new state of the art golf performance center, earlier this year. The country club said the facility will be home to the John Sikes Golf Academy, offering personalized instruction, clinics, junior development programs, club fitting and club repair services.
“The golf performance center was created to fill a significant need in East Texas for a truly complete golf development facility,” Eagles Bluff’s Director of Instruction John Sikes said. “Golfers deserve more than a driving range—they want meaningful feedback, professional coaching, and a clear path to improvement, the golf performance center delivers all of that in a first-class setting.”
The golf performance center amenities include the following:
10 covered outdoor TrackMan® bays
Indoor simulator bay with TrackMan® technology
30,000-square-foot grass tee featuring a TrackMan® range
5-Acre short game practice area
Indoor putting studio
Club fitting services
Junior golf development programs
Group clinics and individual instruction
Corporate and private event party space
Unlike any other facility in the region, the golf center offers public day passes starting at $30, with different tiers of membership for golfers seeking unlimited access to all the amenities.
For more information on the golf center’s grand opening, membership or amenities visit the website The Golf Performance Center.
EAST TEXAS (KETK) – After many areas of East Texas reported temperatures of over 100 degrees this week, it’s more important than ever to stay cool and know the signs of heat-related illness.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, average temperatures in the lower 48 states have gone up by 60% from the global average since 1970. The agency expects temperatures to continue to rise in the U.S. because of climate change.
They also expect the number of extremely hot days over 95 degrees to increase, alongside an increase in multi-day heat waves, which may become even hotter and more widespread. This means it’ll only be more important to know how to stay cool going forward.
In order to help East Texas beat the heat, KETK News has put together the following list of tips that can help people, pets and homes stay cool:
Drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated, but stay away from very sugary drinks.
Wear loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing.
Avoid high-energy activities or work outdoors during midday heat if possible.
Wear sunscreen; sunburn affects the body’s ability to cool down and can make you dehydrated.
Watch for heat-related illnesses.
Consider pet safety.
For pets outside, make sure they have plenty of cool water and access to shade.
Take cool showers or baths.
Do not leave children or pets in cars.
Stay up to date on heat advisories from local weather sources.
Pace yourself.
If you’re not accustomed to working or exercising in a hot environment, start slowly and pick up the pace gradually.
Cover windows with drapes or shades.
Use weatherstripping on doors and windows.
Use window reflectors to reflect heat back outside.
Add insulation in your home to keep the heat out.
Identify cool places to go in the community such as libraries and shopping malls or contact the local health department to find a cooling center near you.
Anyone who’s a child, over 65, pregnant, has a pre-existing medical condition, a mental health condition, or even anyone with a substance use disorder faces a higher risk of heat-related illness like heat stroke, heat cramps, or heat exhaustion.
In order to help East Texans notice and recover from those heat-related illnesses, KETK News has put together the following list of symptoms and remedies for heat stroke, heat cramps or heat exhaustion:
Heat Stroke Symptoms to look out for:
High body temperature
Hot, red, dry or damp skin
Fast, strong pulse
Headache
Dizziness
Nausea
Confusion
Losing consciousness
What to do:
Call 911 right away
Do not give the person anything to drink
Move the person to a cooler place
Help lower the person’s temperature with cool cloths or a cool bath
Heat Exhaustion
Symptoms to look out for:
Heavy sweating
Cold, pale and clammy skin
Fast, weak pulse
Nausea or vomiting
Muscle cramps
Tiredness or weakness
Dizziness
Headache
Fainting
What to do:
Move to a cool place
Loosen clothes
Put cool, wet cloths on body or take a cool bath
Sip water
Get help immediately if you are throwing up, if symptoms get worse or last longer than an hour.
Heat Cramps
Symptoms to look out for:
Heavy sweating during intense exercise
Muscle pain or spasms
What to do:
Stop physical activity and move to a cool place
Drink water or a sports drink
Wait for cramps to go away before you do any more physical activity
Get help immediately if cramps last longer than one hour, if you’re on a low-sodium diet or if you have heart problems.
The Environmental Protection Agency also warns that extreme heat can negatively impact people’s mental health, leading to a potential risk of increased suicide rates and violence between people.
Those who work outdoors face an added risk from heat as well, with the agency saying the number of days in a year that are unsafe for farmworkers is expected to double by the middle of this century.
HOUSTON (AP) — The immigration officer who shot and killed 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston was not in danger of being run over, two passengers in his van told a federal court this week.
The Department of Homeland Security said shortly after the July 7 shooting that Salgado Araujo had “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer,” and that the officer had fired in self-defense.
But two men who were riding with Salgado Araujo wrote in statements submitted in court that the officers with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement were to the sides of their van, never in front or behind it; one of them described the government’s account as “a lie.”
Homebuilder died in front of his construction crew
Salgado Araujo, who was living without legal status in the U.S. for 35 years and running a homebuilding business, died that morning in front of his construction crew, including his own brother. His family said he had no criminal record.
His killing, one of at least 10 during immigration enforcement operations since the start of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, sparked widespread protests in Houston and calls for an i ndependent and transparent investigation. The officers were not wearing body cameras, and no photos and videos of the shooting have surfaced.
The three men who were with him that morning were arrested, and are now in immigration detention facilities. They have each filed habeas corpus petitions, alleging their confinement is unconstitutional and asking the court to order their release.
Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego and Daniel Tirado Pantoja attached their accounts of the shooting to their petitions, which was first reported by the Texas Tribune. They both wrote that they have been in the U.S. for decades and have no criminal history. Victor Salgado, the brother of the man killed, has also asked a judge to order him released. But his attorney asked the court that his petition be sealed to protect his privacy, so his account of the killing is not yet public.
Rojas Pliego wrote in Spanish that Salgado Araujo picked him up at 6:30 that morning, which was their daily routine. They then picked up the other two men.
Passengers said they were ‘startled’ by vehicle following them
Tirado Pantoja said a vehicle soon began following them, “almost crashing” into their van. He wrote that they were “startled” and ran over a curb attempted to turn around.
The ICE vehicle chased them, Rojas Pliego wrote, and Salgado Araujo eventually thought they lost the tail. Then suddenly, the agents had them cornered.
Tirado Pantoja wrote that the ICE vehicle hit them from behind, then again on the driver’s side.
DHS, which oversees ICE, has said it was the other way around: they allege Salgado Araujo rammed the ICE vehicles with his van. A federal prosecutor in Texas has said that ICE officers were targeting two Guatemalan men who were potentially subject to deportation and driving a van similar to Salgado Araujo’s. DHS said he ignored commands and attempted to run over the officer with his vehicle, and the officer fired in self-defense.
Rojas Pliego wrote that’s “a lie” and “impossible:” “there wasn’t a single officer behind or in front of us, they were only on the sides.”
Tirado Pantoja, too, wrote that the agents were never in front of the vehicle, adding that Salgado Araujo had “put vehicle in park as the agents were shooting.”
After being shot, Salgado Araujo was handcuffed and thrown to the ground
Rojas Pliego wrote that the officers pulled Salgado Araujo wounded out of the car, handcuffed him and “threw him to the ground.”
Tirado Pantoja wrote that Salgado Araujo at some point said “Ya me mataron” – “they’ve already killed me.”
Rojas Pliego wrote that the same officer who fired the shot then “dragged us out violently, throwing us to the ground while we were handcuffed and chained from head to toe.”
Aaron Reitz, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, issued a statement last week promising a full investigation by his office, the FBI, DHS and state and local law enforcement.
“We are doing everything we can to seek the truth and do the right thing,” he wrote.
DHS said in a statement Wednesday that its Office of Inspector General is also investigating. It said the FBI’s Houston office “is leading an investigation into the potential assault on a federal law enforcement officer.”
A judge on Monday barred the government from deporting Rojas Pliego or removing him from the district without the court’s approval. A different judge, overseeing Tirado Pantoja’s case, on Wednesday ordered the federal government to notify the court with at least five days notice if they plan to transfer him outside of the district or deport him.
Raed Gonzalez Olivieri, a lawyer representing both men, wrote in their petitions that the circumstances of their detentions “are exceptional: those who now administer his custody shot at him at close range.” The petition says that puts them at increased risk of emotional and physical pain while incarcerated.
Both men applied for visas designed to protect immigrants who are victims of crimes and assist law enforcement. Gonzalez Olivieri wrote in their petitions that they survived “aggravated assault with a deadly weapon” and are material witnesses to the killing.
FILE – This photo made available by the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office shows Vance Luther Boelter, the man charged with killing the top Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband, and wounding a state senator and his wife, as he was arrested on June 15, 2025. (Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office via AP, File)MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Friends and family of Minnesota Democratic lawmaker Melissa Hortman said the man sentenced Thursday to two life terms plus 40 years after pleading guilty to her murder failed to eliminate her spirit and her legacy, but caused enduring fear and fury as he changed their lives forever.
Fellow lawmakers and survivors of the shooting spoke Thursday at the sentencing hearing for Vance Boelter, the man who pleaded guilty last month to federal charges related to the killing of former House Speaker Hortman and her husband Mark, as well as critically wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette.
Boelter, 59, agreed to plead guilty in June, almost a year after the Minneapolis-area attacks, so federal prosecutors would not seek the death penalty. Mark Hortman’s father and siblings voiced anger that he could not be sentenced to death.
U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim said it was “the longest sentence I have imposed after hearing thousands of cases over the years, but I do believe it is deserved.”
Victims and survivors describe the impact of the attacks
In court Thursday, Sen. Hoffman said he and his family are constantly reminded of the extraordinary violence of that night, even in the mundane details of day-to-day life. He said they don’t receive mail at home anymore, they have installed solid steel doors for protection, and they have changed how they do everyday tasks because of their injuries.
“The defendant looked me in the eyes and pulled the trigger. The defendant looked at my wife and chose to do the same,” Hoffman said. “My wife and I now live with injuries. We live with our bodies remembering the gunfire.”
Yvette Hoffman said she has been too traumatized to work since the attack in their home, and that she sees a therapist weekly.
“I will never forget looking down and watching my blood slowly stream down that white washing machine as I felt myself sinking to the floor,” she said, barely holding back tears. “We always have an escape plan now. This isn’t how people should live.”
Boelter admitted he spent months identifying and stalking his targets, before driving to their homes disguised as a police officer with the intention of killing them. The killings sparked the largest police search in state history.
Democratic State Rep. Kristin Bahner was one of two other legislators whose homes Boelter visited that night, but she and her family were on vacation. Bahner said the shootings had left her shaken.
“I could not fathom why I was spared and (Hortman) was not,” she said. “You failed because I carry her with me. In my mind and in my heart, she guides me.”
The proposed sentence sparks fury
Mark Hortman’s parents and siblings spoke of their anger Thursday, both at the man who killed him and of the justice system.
“It will not offer me peace of mind that he will have room and board provided for the rest of his life, paid for by my tax dollars,” said Lisa Hortman Bean, Mark’s sister.
Melissa Hortman’s mother and father and the Hortman’s children changed the tone of the statements when they spoke Thursday, remembering them as attentive, loving parents and grandparents and people who had a positive impact on thousands of lives.
Sophie Hortman, their daughter, described in vivid detail having to say goodbye to Gilbert, the golden retriever, also shot by Boelter but who was still alive when they arrived at the veterinary hospital. She talked about the bedtime routine her mother had with Gilbert, who failed his service dog test because he was too friendly, and the care and love she gave him.
“I miss my mom. I miss my dad. I miss my best friends. And I miss believing in the goodness of humanity. I hope that one day these aches feel less sharp. And I know just like the love I feel for my parents, the pain will never go away,” she said through tears.
Colin Hortman talked about his parents not being at his recent wedding, about not dancing with his mother who he had hoped would make his wedding cake. He described the horror of the house, and the panic attacks and crying that have persisted in the year since their murders.
“My days are filled with gray, and the blood that was spilled is the last thing I see before I go to sleep and the first thing I see when I wake,” he said. “There is no sentence that weighs 15 gunshots, a murdered dog and the rest of my life.”
“It is impossible to realize the damage that has been done not only to our family, but to our society,” said Melissa’s father Harold Haluptzok, who repeatedly referred to her as his “little girl.”
“I wish the perpetrator would have sat down and talked to Melissa about his political positions. … if only he did that before he decided to kill them,” Haluptzok added.
Defense attorney says Boelter has remorse
Federal defender Manny Atwal spoke only briefly after the victim impact statements Thursday, saying Boelter showed remorse for his actions by pleading guilty and accepting the life sentences.
Boelter remained silent and sat extremely still for most of the hearing, showing little emotion or reaction to the anguish expressed by the survivors and family members.
“To every person I have caused loss, pain, heartache, confusion, sadness, shame, or loneliness, I am truly sorry,” Boelter said.
Boelter pretended to be a police officer to gain access
Boelter went to Hortman’s home, wearing a tactical uniform and mask, about 3:30 a.m. on June 14, 2025. He rang the doorbell while shouting he was a police officer doing a welfare check, according to court documents.
Mark Hortman answered the door. Boelter gave him a fake name and badge number before requesting he summon Melissa Hortman to the door as well. He shot Mark Hortman multiple times before pushing into the house and shooting the lawmaker as she fled upstairs. Melissa and Mark Hortman were killed.
Boelter had already visited the Hoffmans’ home that night, shooting and critically injuring the senator and his wife, according to police and court documents. Court documents said Boelter also went to two other lawmakers’ houses that night, including Bahner’s, but was scared away by a police officer in one instance, and no one was home at the other address.
Boelter also faces state charges, including two counts of murder, four counts of attempted murder, impersonating a police officer and animal cruelty. Hoffman and his family filed a personal injury lawsuit against Boelter in April.
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This story has been corrected to show Boelter apologized for causing loss, pain, heartache, confusion, sadness, shame, or loneliness, not for causing emotions.
CHICAGO (AP) — Patrick Kane has rejoined the Chicago Blackhawks, agreeing to a $16 million, two-year contract with his first NHL team.
The deal, which includes a full no-movement clause, was announced by the Blackhawks on Thursday.
Kane, 37, became one of the NHL’s most dynamic players while spending his first 15-plus seasons in Chicago, helping the Blackhawks win three Stanley Cup championships. He ranks among the franchise’s career leaders with 446 goals, 779 assists and 1,225 points.
“Day in and day out for 16 seasons, Patrick captivated the city of Chicago with his dazzling skill, creating some of the most memorable moments in Blackhawks history as he helped bring our storied franchise back to the pinnacle of our sport,” general manager Kyle Davidson said in a release. “He’s shown on countless occasions that he knows what it takes to win at the highest levels.”
The addition of Kane adds another offensive presence to a lineup that will begin the season without Connor Bedard, who had surgery on his left shoulder on July 8. Kane likely will play with Bedard when the 21-year-old center returns to the ice.
The rebuilding Blackhawks went 29-39-14 last season, an 11-point improvement on the previous season. The team has finished No. 31 in the NHL each of the past three years.
Chicago is looking for its first postseason appearance since the NHL used an expanded playoff format after the 2020 season was affected by the pandemic.
Kane isn’t same player he was during his first stint with the Blackhawks. But he had 16 goals and 41 assists in 67 games with the Detroit Red Wings last season. He has recorded at least 50 points in 18 of his 19 seasons.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 draft passed Mike Modano in January for the most NHL points by a player born in the United States. He has 508 career goals — fourth on the U.S. list — and 1,400 points in 1,369 regular-season games.
Kane was one of Chicago’s biggest stars during the best stretch in franchise history, winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. The Blackhawks also made it to the Western Conference Final in 2014, losing to the Los Angeles Kings in an epic seven-game series.
Kane, who won the 2016 Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, was traded to the New York Rangers in February 2023. The Blackhawks then won the draft lottery and took Bedard with the No. 1 overall pick that same year. As reports swirled about the possibility of Kane returning to Chicago, Bedard openly embraced the idea.
“I can’t imagine his first game back at the (United Center), the reaction he’d get and how much juice that would bring to not only our team but our fans, as well,” Bedard said Monday. “That would be incredible to play with him and learn from him. Hopefully he decides to come back.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday will have governors and electricity companies join a voluntary pledge to shield U.S. consumers from higher utility bills from data centers — a sign of how the artificial intelligence build- out has become a lightning rod of controversy before the midterm elections.
The president first announced the pledge with leading AI and tech companies in March, but that initial commitment has done little to comfort voters who are already grappling with affordability issues as they worry about competing for electricity, water and land with tech companies controlled by billionaires. It’s unclear, with electricity demand already growing, whether consumers would see genuine savings.
Trump described the pledge several months ago as “PR help” at a time when the broader social contract is being rewritten by AI, a technology that is evolving so quickly in its capabilities that governments are struggling over how to provide insight. He plans to discuss the expansion of the pledge at the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday.
“The president is ensuring the American people are never left footing the bill so private companies can benefit,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters before the president’s remarks.
The White House said that nearly 200 additional stakeholders, including utilities, data center developers and governors, have committed to the pledge. The pledge would cover 80% of all power delivered to U.S. households and businesses.
A slowdown in data center construction could derail what has been one of the dominant drivers of U.S. economic growth, in addition to possibly ceding the U.S. edge in cultivating the technology to China and create national security risks.
But AI’s increasing ability to perform basic tasks — such as driving, analyzing spreadsheets and writing software — also potentially threatens millions of jobs. That has created mounting public resistance as tech companies concentrate historic levels of wealth in the hands of a select group of tycoons.
The increased electricity demand could cause monthly utility bills to rise by 15% to 40% by 2030, according to a recent analysis by ICF, a consulting and technology services company.
Opposition to data centers has spiraled into a bipartisan issue. Voters are worried about the environmental impact, use of AI in schools and the prospect of data centers making their communities more expensive and less livable. Data center companies say their facilities help to generate tax revenues for school districts and reduce property tax burdens for homeowners.
The opposition has spread into the Republican stronghold of rural Texas and led to frustration with Gov. Greg Abbott, who is now among the 23 Republican governors who signed Trump’s nonbinding pledge.
Gina Hinojosa, the Democratic nominee for Texas governor, has been using the issue to challenge Abbott before the November election.
“They are owned by the richest men in the world,” she said of data centers. “We’re all footing the bill. There are no rules. It is the Wild West of data centers.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, signed an order to ban construction of large server warehouses in her state for a year. In May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed a law that he said would prevent utilities from passing along energy costs from data centers to residential and small-business customers.
In an interview with The Associated Press last month, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, whose computer chips are enabling the AI revolution, said America’s weakness is a lack of power generation for further developing the technology.
Google, Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, xAI, OpenAI and Amazon are among the companies that have already committed to the Trump administration’s “Ratepayer Protection Pledge” that consumers will not shoulder the cost of the data center build-out.
McALLEN (AP) — A nun who was taken into immigration custody after being arrested while walking to Mass in her habit last month in Texas pleaded Thursday for people to have the chance to be heard before being taken into custody, saying she was speaking out to help others.
“There are many others in this same situation, people who have been given some form of protection under our laws, who have followed every rule asked of them, and who still live with uncertainty,” Sister Leticia Ugboaja, who is from Nigeria, said at a news conference.
Ugboaja was released several hours after being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on June 28 while walking to Our Lady of Sorrows Church in McAllen, a few miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.
Parish officials posting on social media brought attention to Ugboaja’s arrest, and Congress members ultimately intervened on the nun’s behalf.
Her attorney, Carlos Garcia, said Thursday that in 2019 an immigration judge denied her application for asylum but also granted her protection from removal because she was likely to face torture in Nigeria. Garcia said Ugboaja has complied with everything required of her and had permission to work in the U.S.
When ICE detained Ugboaja in June, she wasn’t given much explanation as to why she was taken into custody but that the U.S. planned to remove her to a third country, Garcia said.
Lawyers and human rights groups have criticized the Trump administration’s third-country removal policy, which has faced legal challenges.
The Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond to a request to comment on Ugboaja’s case on Thursday and did not respond to requests for comment after her detention in June.
Ugboaja has a check-in with ICE set for next week, her lawyer noted.
Ugboaja is part of the Daughters of Mary Mother of Mercy and volunteered as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Brownsville has said. Ugboaja is also a registered nurse at South Texas Health System and worked previously for 10 years as a certified nursing assistant in Edinburg, the spokesperson said.
President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown — including at sensitive sites such as houses of worship — has prompted faith leaders to adjust their response to church members who have become too afraid to attend. Some have encouraged online attendance, while others have offered help doing errands such as grocery shopping for people too fearful to leave their homes.
GALVESTON (AP) – Tropical Storm Bertha made a second landfall Thursday near the Texas-Louisiana state line after grazing southern Louisiana in a slow crawl that triggered heavy surf and some flooding along the Gulf Coast. Forecasters said more flooding was possible as heavy rains moved onshore into southeast Texas.
Bertha moved inland about 75 miles (115 kilometers) northeast of Galveston, Texas, on Thursday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said. Still packing sustained winds of 45 mph (72 kph) when it reached land, the storm was expected to weaken rapidly.
Thick clouds associated with Bertha prompted SpaceX to call off Thursday evening’s planned Starship launch from the southern tip of Texas. The space-skimming test flight was rescheduled for Friday, when the forecast called for clear skies.
No deaths or significant damage have been reported since Bertha formed Monday in the Gulf of Mexico south of the Florida Panhandle. The storm caused some coastal flooding as its center first struck land Wednesday in Louisiana southwest of New Orleans, but its heaviest rains stayed over the Gulf waters.
That rainfall south of the storm’s center began moving inland along Texas’ southeastern coast Thursday afternoon. A tropical storm warning remained in effect from Morgan City, Louisiana, to Sargent, Texas.
Tropical Storm Bertha is expected to make landfall again today. AP correspondent Donna Warder reports.
The hurricane center said Bertha could still cause up to 2 feet (0.6 meters) of storm surge along the coast and trigger isolated flash flooding from heavy rains in coastal and south Texas.
Galveston businesses stay open as officials predict a ‘windy day’
In Galveston, an island city of 53,000 people southeast of Houston, local officials urged residents to brace for a “windy day” and secure any outdoor objects that might become airborne projectiles.
“While no significant impacts are forecast, some gusty storms may blow through the island throughout the day,” Galveston’s Office of Emergency Management said in a Facebook post Thursday.
The Galveston Historic Seaport canceled its sightseeing boat tours Thursday afternoon as a precaution, but was otherwise operating normally, said employee Jesi Hahn.
“We’ll definitely be open,” Hahn said. “We usually close for big hurricanes.”
At the nearby Harbor House Hotel and Marina, employee Justin Timber said he wasn’t aware of any canceled reservations.
“It seems like a normal day,” he said. “Restaurants are clicking. Everything’s great.”
In Florida, storm damages a boardwalk and topples a Waffle House sign
Electrical outages across the Gulf Coast were minimal, according to the website poweroutage.us. Still, Bertha’s passage wasn’t harmless.
In Pensacola, Florida, officials closed an area around a storm-damaged beach boardwalk, Mayor D.C. Reeves said Thursday on Facebook. He posted a photo showing part of the boardwalk’s support structure ripped away and a fence damaged nearby.
Strong gales earlier in the week knocked over a Waffle House sign onto a car in Panama City Beach, Florida. Heavy surf and the threat of rip tides had prompted warnings at Gulf Coast beaches for swimmers to stay out of the water.
Bertha is the second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Arthur in June brought heavy rainfall to the southeastern U.S.
In the eastern Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Fausto churned far from land Thursday. The hurricane was more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph).
The hurricane center said swells generated by Fausto could cause life-threatening surf and rip tides in parts of southern California.
TYLER – High diesel fuel prices are having a major impact on East Texas farmers and ranchers who say they are using less fertilizer to cut down on costs.
It’s been five months since the start of the conflict with Iran, which triggered an almost immediate increase in fuel prices. According to our news partner KETK, those in the East Texas agriculture industry said conditions have not improved. Darren Rozell owner of Rozell Sprayer Manufacturing in Tyler said some of his customers are having to cut down on the supplies they need.
“We’re seeing people just not putting as much out instead of putting 400 pounds per acre, they can’t afford it and it doesn’t pencil out, they are running 200 pounds per acre,” Rozell said.
TYLER – Following a recall of nearly 1.6 million eggs across southern states for a possible salmonella contamination, Brookshire Grocery Company (BGC) announced on Thursday that they have pulled potentially affected products from shelves and is offering refunds.
According to our news partner KETK, a voluntary recall notice shared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 1,589,577 cartons of white eggs and brown cage-free eggs produced between June 6 and July 3 with sell-by or best-by dates between July 20 and Aug. 17 were affected.
The eggs were shipped to multiple locations: Foodservice and retail customers in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, Kroger stores in Texas and Louisiana and Brookshire Grocery stores in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Mississippi Continue reading Possible contamination prompts recall
Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston in 'The Morning Show.' (Apple TV)
The Morning Show is ending.
Apple TV has revealed that the fifth season of the drama series starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon will be its last. The final season is set to premiere in 2027.
The series was one of Apple TV's flagship shows when the streaming service, then called Apple TV+, launched in 2019. Apple TV renewed it for season 5 in September 2025.
“We feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to tell stories that reflect what’s happening in the world around us with a twist of dark humor,” Aniston said. “It’s been such a privilege to work with this insanely talented cast and our extraordinary writers, producers and crew. We’ve become such a family, and we’re all so excited to share this final season. And going in knowing it would be our last, we were so fortunate to craft the conclusion with intentionality and honor these characters the way they deserve.”
Witherspoon said the past nine years she's spent acting in and producing The Morning Show "have been the honor of a lifetime."
“This was always more than a show about a newsroom — it was a show about why the newsroom matters. About freedom of the press and the journalists who protect the fourth estate, often at great cost. Telling that story has been the creative privilege of my career," Witherspoon said. "Thank you to Apple for their unwavering support, to our visionary writers, our incredible crew, and our extraordinarily talented cast. ... It has been a stellar creative experience — one I will always treasure.”
The show's ensemble cast includes Billy Crudup, Mark Duplass, Nestor Carbonell, Karen Pittman, Nicole Beharie and Jon Hamm. New additions for season 5 are Jeff Daniels, Reneé Rapp, Jesse Williams, Sean Hayes and Lizzy Caplan.
Ketchup Entertainment has released the newest trailer for the upcoming live-action and animated hybrid movie.
Iconic Looney Tunes characters star alongside Will Forte and John Cena in the film, which "centers on Wile E. Coyote as he takes legal action against the Acme Corporation for the countless faulty products that have hindered his relentless pursuit of the Road Runner," according to its synopsis.
The trailer finds Wile E. Coyote having the idea to hire a lawyer to sue the Acme Corporation for all the harm it has caused him.
"Have you ever set a big stack of TNT on the road hoping to blow up your nemesis but the detonator itself explodes? Have you ever pulled the ripcord of your parachute, and only a bunch of silverware comes out? It's not your fault. ACME is evil," Forte's Kevin Avery says in an attorney ad Wile E. Coyote watches.
Later on, he describes Wile E. Coyote as "one of the most hardworking people I've ever met."
"He would never think of quitting," Forte says. "Everyone should be inspired by that."
Coyote vs. Acme was shelved by Warner Bros. Pictures in 2023. In 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery wrote off $115 million of its content as part of an earnings filing it called a “strategic realignment plan associated with the Warner Bros. Pictures Animation group.” It's presumed Coyote vs. Acme was one of the projects affected by the decision. Ketchup Entertainment acquired the film in March 2025.
Lana Condor, Tone Bell, P.J. Byrne and Martha Kelly also star. It is directed by Dave Green with a screenplay written by May December scribe Samy Burch. James Gunn and Chris DeFaria produced the film.
NEW YORK (AP) — Brent oil shot to its highest price since May on Thursday as increased fighting in the Middle East threatens to slow the global flow of crude. At the same time, sharp drops for two of Wall Street’s most influential companies, Alphabet and Tesla, yanked the U.S. stock market lower.
The S&P 500 sank 1.4% and is heading toward its first back-to-back weekly loss since March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 546 points, or 1%, as of 11:45 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 2.6% lower.
Stocks fell under the pressure of rising oil prices, which raise costs for businesses and erode their customers’ ability to spend. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, jumped 7.2% to $100.87.
It earlier touched the highest price since May for the most actively traded Brent contract in the market. The cause: attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea. That threatens another avenue that oil companies use to move their crude from the Middle East to customers worldwide, along with the Strait of Hormuz.
Underscoring the importance of the sea route for the economy, President Donald Trump threatened “major military punishment” against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are backed by Iran, if they keep attacking ships.
It was just a few weeks ago that Brent had dropped below $72 per barrel, roughly back to where it was before the United States and Israel attacked Iran to begin their war, on hopes that the Strait of Hormuz would fully reopen to oil tankers.
The jumps in oil prices are threatening to worsen inflation, just when it had begun to decelerate by more than economists expected. That in turn could push the Federal Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates, which would slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and other investments.
The European Central Bank held its main interest rates steady at its meeting Thursday. But traders are banking on a nearly 36% chance the Fed will hike the federal funds rate at its meeting next week. That’s up from the nearly 12% probability seen a week ago, according to data from CME Group.
An increase by the Fed would be the first since 2023.
Higher oil prices pushed the yield of the 10-year Treasury up to 4.70% from 4.67% late Wednesday and from just 3.97% before the war with Iran began. That’s a significant increase, and it’s already brought long-term U.S. mortgage rates to their highest levels in nearly a year.
Gasoline prices tend to rise with oil prices, and a gallon of regular costs an average of $4.09 across the United States, according to AAA. That’s still below highs of roughly $4.56 in May, but it was at just $3.93 a month ago.
On Wall Street, stocks of companies with big fuel bills fell to sharp losses on worries about higher expenses.
American Airlines fell 7.8% even though it reported a much bigger profit for the spring than analysts expected, something that usually sends a stock’s price higher. It raised airfares, which helped it offset its higher fuel prices, during the latest quarter.
Southwest Airlines lost 4%, even though it also reported better profit and revenue than analysts expected. It wrung more profit out of each $1 of its revenue during the spring, even with higher fuel prices.
One of the heaviest weights on the U.S. stock market was Tesla, which tumbled 13.7% after Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle company reported a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Because it’s one of the largest stocks in the S&P 500 by market value, its stock has more influence on the index than nearly every other.
One of the few that’s larger is Alphabet, and its stock fell 7% even though the parent company of Google delivered stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected.
Investors seemed to focus instead on how much Alphabet said it’s set to spend on artificial-intelligence investments. Alphabet raised its forecast for capital spending over the full year after its investments last quarter doubled to nearly $45 billion from a year earlier.
CEO Sundar Pichai said AI helped its cloud revenue growth accelerate to 82% last quarter, but unease nevertheless remains about whether all the money going into AI will pay off in terms of productivity and profits.
Such worries have been shaking the AI industry broadly in recent weeks, leading to big swings for the overall stock market.
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell sharply in Europe as oil prices jumped. France’s CAC 40 dropped 1.8% for one of the larger losses.
Indexes in Asia were stronger earlier in the day, and South Korea’s Kospi jumped 4.4%.
Here’s a great navigation tool to get you to your destination. Go get David Rancken’s App Of The Day. It’s called TomTom Maps. Download TomTom Maps in the Apple Store and Google Play below.
Chadwick Boseman attends the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards on March 3, 2018, in Santa Monica, California. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images)
Chadwick Boseman's brothers Derrick Boseman and Kevin Boseman have asked a Los Angeles court to remove their late brother's widow, Taylor Simone Ledward, as administrator of his estate, according to a petition filed last week filed on behalf of their parents.
In the petition, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, Derrick Boseman and Kevin Boseman allege that following the Oscar nominee's death in 2020, Ledward, who inherited 50% of her late husband's estate and was appointed as administrator, "never fully distributed" the remaining 50% of his estate, despite a 2022 probate order requiring her to do so.
According to the petition, because Chadwick Boseman did not leave behind a will when he died, 50% of his estate passed to Ledward, while his parents Leroy Boseman and Carolyn Boseman inherited 25% each.
A Los Angeles court ordered Ledward to distribute the remaining half of the actor's estate to his parents on Oct. 4, 2022.
"Nearly four years later," the brothers allege, "Respondent has still not distributed the estate, nor has she filed a petition for discharge with receipts as required ... instead, Respondent continues to exert unilateral control over Decedent's estate, denying Decedent's family long overdue closure or participation in decision-making regarding matters affecting Leroy and Carolyn's interests in Decedent's estate."
The brothers allege that this has caused "ongoing harm" to their parents.
"By failing to distribute Decedent's estate, Respondent deprives Leroy and Carolyn of financial assets at a vulnerable age when such support is most critical," they allege. "Moreover, the needless continuation of these proceedings denies Decedent's family closure and causes emotional distress."
The petition asks the court to compel Ledward to show why she shouldn't be held in contempt of court for failing to comply with the 2022 order and to compel her to fully distribute as required her late husband's assets, which include "royalties and residuals, image and intellectual property rights, real property, a previously undisclosed bank account at CNB, and other personal property."
The brothers also requested that Ledward be removed as estate administrator and replaced by a private professional fiduciary and forensic accountant, in order to investigate any alleged estate mismanagement and "any unaccounted-for assets."
The petition additionally asks the court to require Ledward to provide a complete accounting of estate assets, including SAG-AFTRA residuals and royalties, arguing that the family would be unable to determine whether everything has been properly distributed without those records.
ABC News has reached out to representatives for Ledward and Derrick Boseman and Kevin Boseman for comment.
Chadwick Boseman, known for his role as King T'Challa in Black Panther and films like 42, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and more, died Aug. 28, 2020, at the age of 43, following a private battle with colon cancer.
TYLER – Emergency personnel said one person was killed in a single vehicle crash on FM 14 in Tyler Thursday morning.
According to our news partner KETK and Smith County ESD #2, a vehicle crashed into a pipe fence while traveling down FM 14 south of County Road 326. Emergency services said one person was pronounced dead on arrival while the two other passengers suffered minor injuries.
Tyler DPS continues their investigation into the crash.
KERVILLE (AP) – After deadly floods killed more than 100 people in Texas’ Hill Country last July, officials vowed major changes in hopes of preventing the failures that contributed to the high death toll. They promised better flood warning systems, tighter safety rules for children’s camps and improvements to the state’s water infrastructure.
That work was far from done when a new round of storms began pummeling the state this week, triggering catastrophic flash floods in some of the same areas devastated in 2025. At least two people died. Hundreds needed rescue.
But residents in some hard-hit areas said a year of preparation did make a difference. Newly installed flood sirens sounded in the darkness, warning people to get out. Phones buzzed with alerts that weren’t sent out in last year’s disaster.
Still, stories of people surprised to find their homes inundated by rising rivers illustrate the challenges of trying to bolster early warning systems in a vast, rural area known as Flash Flood Alley.
Some agencies were more proactive about sending wireless alerts
Over the last decade, a variety of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to implement flood warning systems along the Guadalupe River, the AP reported after last summer’s floods killed 136 people, including 28 at a sleepaway camp for girls.
They warned residents along Quinlan Creek to evacuate to higher ground, and of “extremely dangerous” flash flooding. Those alerts came alongside flood watches, warnings and emergencies sent to broadcast outlets, weather radios and mobile phones by the National Weather Service. People who signed up for the CodeRED notification emergency system in Kerr County also received text message warnings.
“Last year, we got no alarms. We had no idea what was going on,” said Suzanne Sutphin Gschwind, of Kerrville.
“This year, very different,” she said, with multiple texts and calls coming in from local authorities, a weather channel and her doorbell camera. One night the warnings arrived “about every two hours.”
“I think we would all like to err on the side of too much,” she said.
The warnings didn’t reach everyone
Between the early morning hours of Tuesday and about 9 a.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service sent 38 alerts to people in certain southwest Texas communities, including 14 tornado warnings and 24 warnings that flooding was occurring or imminent and could be “life threatening.”
Those Weather Service notifications, though, often don’t contain the highly localized information put in alerts sometimes sent by municipal and county emergency agencies — and people in some places may not have gotten any of those local alerts, which can be more decisive for people considering whether to seek high ground.
An Associated Press review of wireless emergency alert data did not find any listed as sent by agencies in Uvalde County, which was hit hard by flooding, though agencies in that county might have used other means to alert the public.
Jaclyn Gonzales was awakened at 2 a.m. Wednesday by a friend who called to warn that a tornado might be headed toward her Uvalde-area home. When she jumped out of bed, the floor was wet.
“It was the shock of the water to my feet that made me really wake up,” she said.
Kat Sprawls only learned floodwaters were nearing her Batesville home when a friend called her at 3:30 a.m. Friday. It took five or six calls before she woke up, because she had her phone on do-not-disturb mode.
“There’s no warning system at all. It’s just like the flood in Kerrville last year — we had no warnings,” Sprawls said. “Over half of Batesville is under water now.”
Zavala County Sheriff’s Department secretary Jessica Belmarez said the department is updating its Facebook page with evacuation information and that law enforcement officers were going door-to-door in affected areas, including Batesville.
The network of flood sirens is expanding
Newly installed sirens in Ingram and in Kerr and Kendall counties were used this week to warn residents, said state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, who authored legislation in 2025 to help fund the sirens. Twenty-eight additional counties are also eligible for flood warning funding. Most are in the process of putting together implementation plans for review by the Texas Water Development Board.
“Between the outdoor sirens, and the cellphone alerts, the response was very positive in getting people out of the way and to higher ground,” Bettencourt said. “It’s an enormous improvement over a year ago.”
Three of six new sirens installed in Kerr County were used to warn people to seek high ground, said Tara Bushnoe, manager of the Upper Guadalupe River Authority. The other three were in areas with only minor flooding, Bushnoe said.
The small town of Comfort had one warning siren for years. The volunteer fire department recently installed two more.
“Some people just don’t want to leave — that’s our problem here,” said Danny Morales, the assistant fire chief. “But we did set them off twice, probably an hour from one to another, just because we had people just lingering, and not wanting to move.”
Private companies are working to fill the gaps
Ian Cunningham founded River Sentry after the 2025 floods, building flood siren towers for privately owned sites like RV parks, camps and hotels. The sirens are triggered by rising water levels.
So far, the company has installed 104 sirens along the Guadalupe River, Cunningham said, including several near the site of an RV park where more than three dozen people died in 2025.
“We installed them about three months ago and did not expect them to be used so soon,” Cunningham said.
Hohonu, which has developed water-level sensor technology and a real-time data network, received a state contract that will make it easier for agencies to purchase its flood warning technology.
Watch Duty, a fire-tracking app used by millions, expanded earlier this year to help monitor floods.
Officials say the changes saved lives
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the lessons of 2025 led to a better emergency response this time.
“Everybody in Texas has been far more prepared to deal with what has happened this year,” Abbott said during a news conference in Uvalde. “Lives have been saved.”
The official trailer for Clayface has arrived. Warner Bros. Studios and DC Studios have released the trailer for the upcoming film, which arrives in theaters on Oct. 23. The horror thriller comes from director James Watkins. It stars Tom Rhys Harries as the titular villain. Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella and Eddie Marsan also star in the film, which was written by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini with a story by Flanagan, based on characters from DC ...
Sacha Baron Cohen's new Ali G movie now has a title. The movie will be called Ali G: Who Iz I? Amazon MGM Studios is set to release it in theaters on Oct. 23. It marks Cohen's directorial debut ...
Even more actors have joined the cast of 13 Going on 30. Taylor Zakhar Perez, Owen Thiele, Nasim Pedrad, Supriya Ganesh and Myra Molloy have joined the cast of Netflix's upcoming reboot of the romantic comedy film. They join stars Emily Bader and Logan Lerman, as well as the ensemble cast that includes Adeline Rudolph, Jessica Alba, Taylor Ortega, Tim Meadows and Dan Bucatinsky ...
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) -- The House on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks as well as mandate that voters provide photo identification "as a condition of casting a ballot" by a 232-198 vote.
Thirteen Democrats voted with all Republicans in favor of the bill.
The Stop Insider Trading Act, championed by House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, would prohibit members of Congress, their spouses and their dependent children from buying new stocks. The bill would, however, allow lawmakers to keep the stocks they already own.
"This is the first congressional stock trading ban to receive a vote on the floor of the House," Steil said on the floor. "If you want to day trade, there is a place for that on Wall Street."
Administration Committee ranking Democrat Joe Morelle of New York called the bill a "sham" because it "allows members of Congress to continue owning and trading stocks."
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico, the chair of the Democratic Women's Caucus, told ABC News that the bill wouldn't prevent a member from selling stock they already hold.
"It doesn't ban stock trading because you could still acquire stocks, sell stocks, use information that you have that you garner here in Congress to make a profit. And stock trading involves purchase and sales, and it does not prohibit sales," she said.
Some Democrats opposed the bill in part because they contend it doesn't go far enough to rein in stock trading for the executive branch, including the president and vice president.
"The biggest glaring absence is that the president and vice president can continue to stock trade," Leger Fernandez said.
President Donald Trump's recent financial disclosure report shows his investment advisers made more than 21,000 trades on his behalf last year, many involving companies with business before, or regulated by, his administration.
Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas also expressed regret that GOP leadership made the vote a "partisan exercise" by attaching voter ID to the ban and agreed with Democrats who argue the scope of legislation should address all three branches of government.
"It should apply to everybody. That was my preference, and always had been," Roy said. "We stuck on focusing on Congress because you know, get your own house in order, and then you know you can kind of start pointing fingers elsewhere, but I would like it to apply to everybody in the executive branch, judiciary branch, and here."
Other Democrats opposed the bill because it combined the stock ban bill with the voter ID provision as Trump continues to push Republicans in both chambers to pass the SAVE America Act, which Democrats oppose because they say it would disenfranchise some voters.
According to the bill text, that provision requires voters to show a valid physical photo identification when casting a ballot for federal office. Mail-in and absentee voters can attach a photocopy of their ID to their ballot. If an eligible voter forgets to bring their ID to vote, they can cast a provisional ballot.
"They've added provisions that have absolutely nothing to do with stock trading and everything to do with their obsession, their obsession with the 2020 election," Morelle said of the voter ID provision.
Leger Fernandez said the bill amounted to a "Trojan Horse" for the Save America Act.
Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez of New York called it a "bait-and-switch" bill.
"They attached these voter suppression provisions specifically because they knew it would kill a stock trading ban. I proudly voted no because we are not going to sabotage mail-in voting in this country, and we're not going to fall for, kind of, their bait-and-switch tactic here."
Because of the voter ID language in the bill, the bill faces a rocky path in the Senate. Trump has pushed Republicans in the upper chamber to eliminate or modify the filibuster to pass his election legislation, though Majority Leader John Thune has repeatedly said Republicans don't have the votes to do that.
Jes Staley, former chief executive officer of Barclays Plc, leaves for lunch as he attends closing submissions at the High Court Rolls Building on April 2, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) -- The House Oversight Committee is set on Thursday to interview Jeffrey Epstein's former private JPMorgan Chase investment banker, Jes Staley, whose career as a finance executive came crashing down after the convicted sex offender's death in 2019.
Staley, 69, spent more than thirty years at JPMorgan Chase, including in senior roles in the private banking and investment divisions, where he managed relationships with ultra-wealthy clients, including Epstein.
After Staley left JPMorgan Chase, he became the CEO of the British multinational bank Barclays in 2015.
Staley agreed to a voluntary transcribed interview with the committee after its chairman, Kentucky Republican James Comer, requested his appearance as part of the panel's wide-ranging inquiry into the federal government's handling of the criminal investigations of Epstein.
Staley's interview, like others that have occurred in recent months, will not be recorded.
Following Epstein's arrest and death in 2019, Staley came under scrutiny in a lawsuit brought by Epstein's victims, who contended in court filings that JPMorgan Chase and Staley had allegedly ignored red flags that helped enable Epstein to traffic women and girls. JPMorgan Chase settled the case in 2023 for $290 million, without any admission of wrongdoing.
Barclay executives told U.K. financial regulators after Epstein's death that Staley and Epstein did not have a close relationship and that Staley had cut off contact long before he joined the bank as its CEO. But the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) subsequently determined -- based partly on hundreds of emails and records that emerged from the victims' lawsuit -- that Staley had provided misleading information about the extent of the relationship and its timing.
Staley stepped down from Barclays in 2021 and was subsequently banned by the FCA from working in Britain's financial sector.
Staley lost his appeal of the regulatory body's findings. During the appeal proceedings last year, Staley acknowledged that he had what he described as a consensual sexual encounter with one of Epstein's adult assistants at an apartment building in New York City, owned by Epstein's brother, where Epstein housed some of his employees.
"We had one encounter," Staley testified, according to an account in The Guardian. "Much to my embarrassment today."
Staley has also acknowledged visiting Epstein's private estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands, though not while Epstein was there. He also claimed to have no specific recollection of a series of emails in which Staley and Epstein refer to women using names of Disney characters.
"That was fun. Say hi to Snow White," Staley emailed to Epstein in 2010, according to documents made public in the victims' litigation.
"Which character would you like next," Epstein asked.
"Beauty and the Beast," Staley answered.
"Well, one side is available," Epstein responded, according to the documents.
A lawyer believed to be representing Staley for his interview on Capitol Hill did not respond to a request for comment in advance of Staley's appearance.
Staley, who has not been charged, has denied all wrongdoing and has said he had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes.
An attorney representing Staley in the victims' civil lawsuit said claims that Staley aided and abetted Epstein were "baseless."
"The allegations against him are slanderous, and the potential damages are astronomical," attorney Brendan Sullivan wrote in a 2023 court filing.
Records released by the Justice Department earlier this year in response to the Epstein Files Transparency Act include unproven allegations of wrongdoing by Staley. The allegations, raised by an alleged Epstein victim, were detailed in an 86-page internal prosecution memo from December 2019.
It's unclear if federal prosecutors pursued those allegations. The Department of Justice has said repeatedly since the disclosure of the Epstein files that there are no credible allegations or evidence that would lead to new federal criminal investigations.
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith returns from a recess to resume his testimony during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on January 22, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) -- House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan issued a criminal referral against former Special Counsel Jack Smith on Wednesday for allegedly making "willfully and intentionally false statements" when testifying before Congress last December.
"The Committee on the Judiciary writes to refer strong evidence that appears to show Jack Smith, former Special Counsel, knowingly made false statements during his December 17, 2025 deposition," Jordan wrote in a letter sent to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
In the letter, Jordan questioned what Smith said under oath about obtaining phone records of 44 lawmakers who communicated with President Donald Trump and other members of the White House related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
"This information calls into question the completeness and accuracy of statements that Mr. Smith made under oath to the Committee regarding his team's access to the content of Members' text messages," Jordan wrote.
Jordan stated that responses by Smith during congressional testimony "gave the impression that neither Mr. Smith nor his team had access to the content of members' privileged text messages."
"We now know this to be false," Jordan wrote.
"His conduct can only be understood as an effort to thwart the Committee's inquiry by intentionally making false statements and representations before Congress. We therefore believe that sufficient evidence exists for DOJ to examine whether Mr. Smith's actions warrant a charge," the letter added.
Counsel for Smith responded to Jordan's referral disputing that his statements in any way could be construed as perjury -- arguing the effort "reflects a chilling eagerness to weaponize the justice system by attacking a career, nonpartisan public servant who faithfully and fearlessly performed his duties by following the facts and the law."
Top Judiciary Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin slammed the GOP-led criminal referral -- calling it "baseless" and "vindictive."
"Jack Smith was clear and consistent in his testimony, and he told the truth. When asked if his subpoena for Members' toll records sought the content of either Member's phone calls or messages, he truthfully replied that they did not," Raskin said in a statement.
Raskin said the referral "if ever brought before a judge, will get laughed out of court" and is "meant to harass Jack Smith."
Criminal referrals are just recommendations and do not always lead to a prosecution.
This move by Jordan comes after Blanche said last week at his confirmation hearing that DOJ might investigate Smith over alleged perjury.
"Have you thought about investigating this guy for perjury?" GOP Sen. Josh Hawley, of Missouri, asked of Blanche after recounting testimony where Smith previously denied that toll records obtained from members of Congress did not include the contents of messages.
"We take testimony in front of this body very seriously, yes," Blanche responded.
During Smith's investigation into Jan. 6, his office sought limited phone toll data from eight senators and a member of the House in the days surrounding the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.
While such records would not involve the content of any phone calls or messages, multiple Republicans have incorrectly claimed that Smith had "tapped" their phones or "spied" on them.
Records released ahead of last week's hearing indicated that contents of messages obtained by Smith's teams related to messages handed over by the National Archives and Records Administration -- not the toll records he referred to in his original answer.
"I think he absolutely should be investigated," Hawley said. "I hope that you will investigate Jack Smith for perjury and I hope that possibly you'll prosecute him."
"Yes, senator," Blanche said.
Trump has long called for Smith to be investigated.
In an interview with MS NOW earlier this month, Smith said the U.S. is facing an "attack on the rule of law that is different in kind and scope to anything I've seen in my lifetime."
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Jason Robertson is happy to be with the Dallas Stars for another season, and not too concerned about the process that led to a $12 million contract to avoid a salary arbitration hearing only weeks after the team had a deal to trade him.
“What happened from then to now is, kind of doesn’t matter anymore,” Robertson said Wednesday, his 27th birthday and a day after signing the one-year deal. “Just want to focus on having a great summer this year and coming into camp ready to go and trying to win a (Stanley) Cup.”
Robertson has averaged more than a point a game in his six full NHL seasons, all with the Stars — 490 points (213 goals and 277 assists) in 456 regular-season games.
He was their leading scorer with 96 points (45 goals and 51 assists) last season, and had five goals with three assists in six playoff games. His third 40-goal season wrapped up a $31 million, four-year deal before going into this offseason as a restricted free agent.
Without a contract extension, Robertson next summer could become an unrestricted free agent for the first time.
“At the end of the day, it’s a business for them, for me, everything. I don’t know their future plans, they don’t know our future plans either,” Robertson said on a Zoom call after skating in Michigan. “I’m sure we’re just both content to getting it done, having now the time to re-evaluate both of our futures.”
General manager Jim Nill said the Stars hope to reach a long-term extension, though the earliest they could sign such a deal would be Jan. 1. He said they would start working on it before then with a player he has called a franchise cornerstone.
“That’s our plan,” Nill said earlier in the day during an availability at team headquarters. “We’re happy he wants to be a Dallas Star. We want him to be a Dallas Star, and have those discussions. … We want to make this work.”
Nill said different scenarios were discussed during these negotiations, including long- and short-term deals. He said Robertson’s representatives made it clear throughout the process that the forward wanted to be with the Stars.
“This was probably the best fit for this time,“ Nill said of the one-year contract.
Nill and Robertson both acknowledged their desire to get a deal done and avoid having to go through an arbitration hearing that was scheduled for Saturday.
Robertson, the 39th overall pick in the second round of the 2017 NHL draft, has played in all 328 regular-season games the past four seasons. He has scored 365 points (155 goals and 210 assists) in that span.
His $12 million salary for 2026-27 will match forward Mikko Rantanen for the highest on the Stars. Rantanen just completed the first season of the $96 million, eight-year extension he signed to facilitate the deadline trade that brought him to Dallas from Carolina in March 2025.
The Stars had a sign-and-trade deal in place during last month’s draft to send Robertson to Seattle for the seventh overall pick. While Robertson couldn’t veto that trade, he didn’t agree to a long-term deal with the Kraken — a reported $120 million over eight years ($15 million a season).
With veteran Tyler Seguin going into the final season of his contract that pays $9.85 million annually, and the NHL salary cap also increasing by almost that much next offseason, the Stars would be in a much better position to extend Robertson than they were now.
“I’m happy to happy to be playing with them starting in September,” Robertson said, “and see where it goes.”
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks have re-signed restricted free agent Moussa Cisse in the wake of multiple reports that the second-year center had signed an offer sheet with the New York Knicks.
The team didn’t disclose the terms in the deal announced Wednesday. According to multiple reports, the Mavericks matched the Knicks’ offer on a $4.7 million, two-year contract.
Cisse went undrafted out of Memphis last year and spent the season with the Mavericks on a two-way contract. The 6-foot-11 Cisse gives Dallas depth at center behind Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford.
Cisse tied Roy Tarpley’s Dallas rookie record of 20 rebounds in the 2025-26 season finale against Chicago. He averaged 4.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 13.9 minutes in 38 games with one start. Cisse was third among rookies in blocks per game.
HOUSTON (AP) — Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning to lift the Houston Astros to a 5-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night, completing a three-game series sweep.
After Jeremy Peña’s leadoff single in the eighth, Alvarez hit his major league-leading 34th homer to give Houston a 4-2 lead. Paredes followed with a shot to the same spot — left center field — to extend the lead.
The Astros took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Nick Allen’s RBI single. Peña hit a solo home run in the third inning, his third in as many games.
Steven Okert (3-1) pitched a flawless eighth inning, throwing only eight pitches, six for strikes. Starter Peter Lambert pitched six innings, gave up six hits, struck out three and walked two. Bryan Abreu earned his sixth save, striking out one in the ninth.
The Marlins have lost nine straight, with their last win coming before the All-Star break. They scored both their runs in the fourth inning. Javier Sanoja hit an RBI double and Joe Mack hit a single to tie it at 2.
Sandy Alcantara (10-6) pitched seven innings and was pulled after Paredes’ home run. He gave up nine hits, struck out three and walked one.
Up next
Marlins: Host San Diego for a three-game series starting Friday. RHP German Marquez (4-2, 5.24 ERA) will start for the Padres. Miami had not yet named a starter.
Astros: Visit the Chicago White Sox for a three-game series starting Friday. Spencer Arrighetti (7-5, 4.34) will start for Houston against Davis Martin (9-5, 3.31) for Chicago.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Chase Meidroth went 4 for 4 while he and Andrew Benintendi had a pair of run-scoring singles apiece, Anthony Kay pushed through five innings for his first win in more than a month, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Texas Rangers 4-2 on Wednesday night.
Braden Montgomery scored all three times he reached base. Meidroth’s fourth career four-hit game helped the White Sox move out of a tie with Cleveland atop the American League Central as the Guardians lost to Minnesota 10-6.
Texas rookie Cam Cauley hit his first major league homer as the Rangers dropped back to .500 but stayed in first place in the AL West by a half-game over Seattle with the defending division champion Mariners’ second consecutive loss to Cincinnati.
Kay (7-4) allowed five hits and two runs to end a six-start winless streak. The left-hander hit his majors-leading 19th batter to put Cauley on and load the bases with no outs in the fourth. Elias Díaz’s double-play grounder brought home Brandon Nimmo, and Kay preserved a 3-2 lead by striking out Alejandro Osuna.
Four Chicago relievers finished with four hitless innings. Bryan Hudson had two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 ninth for his fourth save.
Tyler Alexander allowed a run for the first time in the left-hander’s fourth start as an opener for Texas. Cal Quantrill (3-3) walked two in the fourth before giving up consecutive RBI singles to Meidroth and Benintendi.
Texas third baseman Josh Jung didn’t start a day after leaving a 10-0 Texas win with tightness in his left calf. Manager Skip Schumaker said Jung has a mild strain but the team is hopeful he will be available for the opener of a four-game home series against the Mariners on Friday night.
Up next
Both teams are off Thursday before playing at home Friday. The White Sox are set to start RHP Davis Martin (9-5, 3.31 ERA) against Houston. Texas is set to go with LHP MacKenzie Gore (6-8, 4.80) against Seattle.
NEW YORK (AP) — Brent oil shot to its highest price since May after increased fighting in the Middle East on Thursday threatened to slow the global flow of crude. At the same time, sharp drops for two of Wall Street’s most influential companies, Alphabet and Tesla, yanked the U.S. stock market to its worst loss in a month.
TYLER – High diesel fuel prices are having a major impact on East Texas farmers and ranchers who say they are using less fertilizer to cut down on costs.
TYLER – Following a recall of nearly 1.6 million eggs across southern states for a possible salmonella contamination, Brookshire Grocery Company (BGC) announced on Thursday that they have pulled potentially affected products from shelves and is offering refunds.
NEW YORK (AP) — Brent oil shot to its highest price since May on Thursday as increased fighting in the Middle East threatens to slow the global flow of crude. At the same time, sharp drops for two of Wall Street’s most influential companies, Alphabet and Tesla, yanked the U.S. stock market lower.
TYLER – Emergency personnel said one person was killed in a single vehicle crash on FM 14 in Tyler Thursday morning.
