Gary Ginstling was hired Friday as CEO of the Houston Symphony, six months following his surprise departure from the New York Philharmonic after just one year in charge.
Ginstling will start Feb. 3 and replace John Mangum, who had been Houston’s CEO since 2018 and left in September to succeed Anthony Freud as general director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
“The Houston Symphony has a really strong track record and my goal is to continue to appeal to the greatest conductors and greatest artists of the day that Houston is a place that you want to be,” Ginstling said.
Ginstling, 58, became New York’s CEO on July 1, 2023, and quit last July 11. His predecessor, Deborah Borda, had remained as executive adviser to Ginstling and the board of directors.
Ginstling has not detailed the circumstances of his departure.
“It wasn’t a good fit for him culturally. It wasn’t a good fit for him, from his style. He did a lot of good things there,” Houston Symphony board president Barbara J. Burger said. “He started, from day one with us, how important culture was and I understand that completely. No one wants to work in an environment where they feel like they either can’t be successful, or they’re not trusted or they’ve got somebody looking over their shoulder.”
New York replaced Ginstling with Philadelphia Orchestra CEO Matías Tarnopolsky, who started Jan. 1. He was boosted by his long friendship with Gustavo Dudamel, who becomes New York’s music director in the 2026-27 season.
Ginstling worked for the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony before becoming general manager of the Cleveland Orchestra (2008-13), CEO of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (2013-17) and executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra (2017-22).
Juraj Val?uha started as Houston’s music director for the 2022-23 season and is signed through 2025-26. The orchestra gives 130 concerts annually, has an operating budget of $40.7 million and includes 90 full-time musicians and 74 administrative staff.
Jones Hall, the orchestra’s home, has been undergoing a renovation over three summers that is scheduled to be finished this year ahead of its 60th anniversary in 2026.
HOUSTON (AP) – Constellation is buying natural gas and geothermal power provider Calpine for $16.4 billion, joining together two of the country’s biggest power companies.
The acquisition would create the nation’s leading retail electric supplier, serving 2.5 million customers, the companies said Friday. It’s geographic footprint will span the continental U.S. and include a significantly expanded presence in Texas, the fastest growing market for power demand, as well as other key strategic states, including California, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The buyout will also create the
Constellation will buy Calpine with 50 million of its shares and $4.5 billion in cash. It will also assume about $12.7 billion in Calpine debt. The total value of the deal will be about $26.6 billion.
The combined company will have nearly 60 gigawatts of capacity from zero- and low-emission sources, including nuclear, natural gas, geothermal, hydro, wind, solar, cogeneration and battery storage.
“By combining Constellation’s unmatched expertise in zero-emission nuclear energy with Calpine’s industry-leading, best-in-class, low-carbon natural gas and geothermal generation fleets, we will be able to offer the broadest array of energy products and services available in the industry,” Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez said in a prepared statement Friday.
The deal is anticipated to add more than $2 billion of free cash flow a year, which the companies said will create strategic capital and scale to reinvest in the business.
“Together, we will be better positioned to bring accelerated investment in everything from zero-emission nuclear to battery storage that will power our economy in a way that puts people and our environment first,” Calpine CEO Andrew Novotny said.
The transaction is expected to close within a year of its signing. It will need regulatory approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Canadian Competition Bureau, the New York Public Service Commission, the Public Utility Commission of Texas and other regulatory agencies.
Privately held Calpine is based in Houston. Shares of Constellation Energy Corp., based in Baltimore, surged more than 25% Friday.
ATLANTA (AP) — Flight cancellations piled up and officials warned of continuing dangerous roads Saturday in the wake of a winter storm that brought biting cold and wet snow to the U.S. South, leading to school closures and disrupting travel.
The storm was moving out to sea off the East Coast on Saturday, leaving behind a forecast for snow showers in the Appalachian Mountains and New England. But temperatures were expected to plunge after sundown in the South, raising the risk that melting snow will refreeze, turning roadways treacherously glazed with ice.
“I definitely don’t think everything’s going to completely melt,” said Scott Carroll, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Atlanta. “Especially the secondary roads will probably still have some slush on them.”
Major roads are mostly clear, but tie-ups at affected airports remain
Main thoroughfares were mostly clear, but few people were venturing out early Saturday. The Atlanta Hawks postponed their scheduled afternoon game against the Houston Rockets, citing the icy conditions.
Major airports including those in Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, continued to report disruptions. While flights were operating, airlines canceled and delayed more flights after Friday’s weather slowed travel to a crawl.
By Saturday afternoon about 1,000 flights in and out of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport were canceled or delayed, according to tracking software FlightAware.
Sarah Waithera Wanyoike, who lives in the Atlanta suburb of Lilburn, arrived at the world’s busiest airport before sunrise Friday to catch an Ethiopian Airlines flight to her job in Zimbabwe.
The plane boarded after a delay but never left, discharging passengers back to the gate after taxiing around for six hours. Wanyoike said her luggage remained on the plane and she dared not try to go home because she was told to be back at the gate before dawn.
“People slept with their babies on the floors last night,” Wanyoike said Saturday.
Delta Air Lines, the largest carrier at the airport, said late Friday that it was “working to recover” and disruptions would be worst among morning flights because of crews and airplanes that weren’t where they were supposed to be after 1,100 flights were canceled.
Richmond drops boil-water advisory after nearly a week
Virginia’s capital lifted the advisory Saturday morning, nearly a week after a snow storm cut power and caused a malfunction to the city’s water system.
Mayor Danny Avula said lab tests confirmed that the water is safe to drink, adding that boil-water advisories had been lifted for some surrounding counties as well.
The temporary halting of the system affected more than 200,000 people, some of whom lacked water in their homes because of diminished pressure.
Freezing rain pushed up electrical outages above 110,000 in Georgia on Friday night, but most had it restored by the following day. The National Weather Service reported small amounts of ice accumulation around Atlanta from the freezing rain.
Parts of mountainous western North Carolina saw as much as 4.5 inches (about 11 centimeters) of snow in a 24-hour period through 7 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. And parts of middle Tennessee saw nearly 6 inches (about 15 centimeters) by the same morning.
Earlier this week the storm brought heavy snow and slick roads to much of Texas and Oklahoma before moving east. Arkansas and North Carolina mobilized National Guard troops for tasks such as helping stranded motorists, and governors declared states of emergency.
Nashville starts digging out
Businesses and churches started digging out from under several inches of snow that fell on Nashville, Tennessee, in order to reopen for the weekend.
At Judah Temple of Praise, church members on Saturday shoveled, salted and blew snow off the sidewalks and the parking lot in advance of the next day’s services.
“We’re not going to use the excuse of a parking lot covered in snow to not show up and praise our God tomorrow,” elder Myyah Lockhart said.
Andy Atkins, co-owner of the Bad Luck Burger Club food truck in east Nashville, brushed off picnic tables with a broom and shoveled the sidewalk in front of his business. After closing down Friday, he hoped that customers would show up again.
“Having a day off is good for the soul, but is bad for the pocket, you know,” Atkins said.
Alabama schools could remain closed if ice doesn’t melt off secondary roads
School was canceled on Friday for millions of children from Texas to Georgia and as far east as South Carolina, giving them a rare snow day. On Saturday, officials in northern Alabama said schools could remain closed Monday if ice doesn’t melt off secondary roads.
The storm piled up more than a year’s worth of snowfall on some cities.
As much as a foot (about 31 centimeters) fell in parts of Arkansas, and there were reports of nearly 10 inches (about 25 centimeters) in Little Rock, which averages 3.8 inches (9.7 centimeters) a year.
More than 7 inches (about 18 centimeters) fell at Memphis International Airport in Tennessee. The city usually sees 2.7 inches (6.9 centimeters) a year.
The storm also dumped as much as 7 inches (about 18 centimeters) in some spots in central Oklahoma and northern Texas.
The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole, but it sometimes ventures south into the U.S., Europe and Asia. Some experts say such events are happening more frequently, paradoxically, because of a warming world.
The cold snap coincided with rare January wildfires tearing through the Los Angeles area.
PALESTINE — An East Texas representative has filed an ethics complaint against Abraham George, Chairman of the Texas Republican Party, accusing him of using coercive political tactics including threats and intimidation to silence dissent within his own party.
State Rep. Cody Harris (R-Palestine), one of the few Republicans to publicly oppose the party’s endorsed Republican caucus nominee for House Speaker, Rep. David Cook., is in the crosshairs of party leadership. Harris, alongside fellow East Texas Representatives Cole Hefner and Jay Dean, have instead thrown their support behind Rep. David Burrows (R-Lubbock), whom they argue represents a stronger conservative alternative to Cook.
KETK News spoke with Harris who asserted that East Texans have little tolerance for bullying. “Growing up here in East Texas, there’s only one way to deal with a bully and that’s to punch him in the nose, so that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m not going to sit back and let him stifle the voices of the people of East Texas.” said Harris. Continue reading Lawmaker files ethics complaint after receiving political threats
AUSTIN (AP) – Many were shocked Tuesday when University of Texas at Austin President Jay Hartzell announced he’d be leaving the 53,000-student public school to lead Southern Methodist University, a growing but smaller university in Dallas.
But not Holden Thorp.
Thorp resigned in 2012 as chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2013, he accepted the role of provost at Washington University, which is also a smaller, private school. His departure came after he presided over an athletics scandal but he said not having to deal with lawmakers was another significant factor for his decision to leave UNC. He clashed with the North Carolina Legislature on issues such as creating gender-neutral student housing and immigration.
“The reward if I had stayed would have been that I would have had to do battle with this GOP legislature who was suspicious of me to begin with because I came from strong connections in Democratic politics, and so bailing made all the sense in the world,” said Thorp, who now serves as the editor-in-chief of the journal Science.
For Thorp and some public higher education observers, Hartzell’s departure is indicative of how difficult it has become to be a university president amid growing political pressures.
In Texas, navigating the state’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion offices has been particularly challenging, with Texas GOP leaders criticizing universities of not doing enough to enforce it and students and faculty criticizing university administrators of going too far with its implementation.
In recent years, Texas public universities have been under constant pressure to correct what conservative leaders view as a liberal bias. In 2023, Texas GOP leadership threatened to end tenure after UT-Austin faculty reaffirmed their right to teach critical race theory, which was banned in K-12 classrooms. Republican lawmakers have signaled a desire to draft legislation targeting faculty senates, curriculum and speech on college campuses during this year’s legislative session.
At least one bill has already been filed that would require universities to define certain speech as antisemitic in response to the pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses last spring.
Political interference led in part to the resignation of former Texas A&M President Kathy Banks. She left the position after turmoil over the botched hiring of Kathleen McElroy, a Black journalism professor who the Texas A&M System Board of Regents perceived as left-leaning.
Turnover among university presidents has been higher in recent years. Fifty-five percent of university presidents plan to step down in the next five years, according to a American Council of Education, which surveyed 1,000 presidents in 2022.
The COVID-19 pandemic, a projected decline in college-bound students in the Northeast and upper Midwest and budget deficits are the top contributors for this, said Jorge Burmicky, assistant professor of education leadership and policy at Howard University.
In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, Hartzell said the state’s political climate did not push him to leave UT-Austin. He did say, however, he would appreciate not having to go to the Texas Capitol as often in his new role at SMU. He also said he can be more “nimble” at the Dallas private university, and that he has no plans to eliminate its DEI office.
Hartzell starts his new job on June 1 — and some UT-Austin faculty are concerned his departure will make it more difficult for him to effectively represent the flagship campus’ interest in the legislative session that starts next week. They worry lawmakers will broaden the DEI ban to include academic programs and try to curtail faculty’s voice on campuses by limiting the influence of faculty senates, which have long played a role in developing curriculum and protecting schools’ academic mission. Republican legislators have criticized them as “woke” activists who indoctrinate students with far-left ideas.
Hartzell’s departure also opens the question of what kind of leader will now step up to the job.
“I would be very nervous if I were a faculty member at UT or someone invested in the future of UT because you’ve essentially had two presidents — three, if you go back to [former UT President] Bill Powers — that the Legislature has made their job difficult, and I’d worry who would want that job,” said Michael Harris, an SMU education policy professor.
Pauline Strong, president of the UT-Austin Chapter of American Association of University Presidents, believes faculty should be involved in the hiring process of the university’s next president. She said she wants that person to be supportive of both academic and speech freedoms, “but I don’t think that is assured.”
Some conservative leaders hope Hartzell’s departure will allow someone who better reflects their values to move into the position.
“This presents an opportunity to get real bold conservative leadership and get back to the basics, which is educating the workforce of tomorrow and strengthening the Texas economy,” said state Rep. Brian Harrison.
The Midlothian Republican has frequently criticized UT-Austin and other public universities in Texas for what he sees as a failure to comply with the DEI ban. He said he doesn’t care if the next president comes from the academic world, “provided they are willing to do a massive course correction to end liberal indoctrination.”
In other Republican-led states like Florida, people with more experience in politics than academia have increasingly been hired as university presidents.
Experts say former politicians have fundraising acumen, but point to former U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska as an example of how they do not always follow university rules for hiring and spending. Sasse served as president of the University of Florida from 2023 to 2024 and, in that time, spending in his office tripled, according to the Alligator, the University of Florida student newspaper.
“He hired multiple of what are known in Washington, D.C., as ‘beltway bandits.’ It’s not really clear what any of them did,” said Judith Wilde, a George Mason University professor who studies university presidential searches, contracts and exit agreements.
Thorp said Hartzell is probably feeling the relief he felt more than a decade ago when switching from a public to private university, but laments that leaders like he and Hartzell have to factor political pressures when making that choice.
“Research universities like UT-Austin that are so outstanding are incredibly important assets to the country. The fact that it’s more attractive to run a smaller university that is nowhere close in research is a sad thing,” Thorp said.
Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the original article, click here.
LONGVIEW– The Longview Police Department is asking for the public’s help as they search for a missing 21-year-old woman. Officials said Nyah Newton was last seen on Tanglewood Road. She is described as being around 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs around 90 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes.
According to our news partner KETK, officials said Newton was last seen wearing a brown shirt and checkered black and white pajama pants. Anyone with information about Newton’s whereabouts is asked to call the Longview Police Department at 903-237-1199.
JACKSONVILLE — Jacksonville Police Chief Joe Williams was “relieved” from his duties on Thursday afternoon. The City of Jacksonville said the action was made by City Manager James Hubbard after Williams held the position for nearly five years.
“A pattern of poor judgement, disengagement and disrespect culminated in my decision,” Hubbard said. “I wish Mr. Williams well and look forward to naming a new chief that will provide the service and professionalism deserved by the department, organization, and community.”
According to our news partner, KETK, Assistant Chief of Police Steven Markasky has been named as Acting Chief of Police, that will ensure a smooth transition.Plans regarding the process to install a new police chief will be released soon, the city said.
(LOS ANGELES) -- As devastating wildfires continue to spread across southern California, thousands of structures have been destroyed or damaged and at least five people have been killed.
Residents and firefighters have suffered physical injuries, but doctors say the wildfires can also take a heavy mental health toll on civilians and first responders.
"I think when disaster like this is unfolding, it makes sense to prioritize people's lives and mortality but, over time, we have to think about mental health consequences too," Dr. Sarah Lowe, associate professor of social and behavioral sciences at Yale School of Public Health, told ABC News.
"We also know that mental and physical health are connected," she continued. "While mental health symptoms might not necessarily be linked to the exposure itself, they could be linked to or exacerbated by physical health ailments."
Mental health experts say that most people are resilient and do not develop a mental health condition as a result of trauma from a natural disaster.
However, those with more exposure to the event -- such as losing a home, losing a loved one or experiencing injury -- are at higher risk, the experts said.
"It is common to experience emotional distress during these traumatic events, where people often lose a sense of control," Dr. Jace Reed, director of emergency psychiatry for the department of psychiatry & behavioral neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, told ABC News. "The current wildfires have led to evacuations, the destruction of homes and property, the loss of beloved pets, physical injuries and even death, all of which can be profoundly distressing.
"Individuals may feel a range of emotions, including denial, anger, sadness, shock and hopelessness," he added. "This emotional response can evolve into later stages, such as acceptance, further sadness, depression and bitterness."
Research has shown wildfires can lead to increased rates of anxiety and depression and symptoms may become worse among people who already have these conditions.
Additionally, people can develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can include intrusive thoughts and nightmares.
Leaving PTSD untreated can result in the use of or dependence on drugs and alcohol, increased risk of chronic health conditions and increased risk of self-harm.
Dr. Ian Stanley, an assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, told ABC News that untreated PTSD can put a strain on relationships including familial relationships, romantic relationships and friendships.
"It can really begin to eat away at, not just the person's well-being, but also the social environment in which they live," he said.
Wildfire smoke can also put you at risk
The experts said it's not just people directly affected by the fire who are at risk of mental health impacts. People exposed to wildfire smoke are at risk as well.
Wildfire smoke can travel long distances, meaning cities hundreds of miles away may be experiencing unhealthy air quality.
A 2024 study from Emory University found that wildfire smoke was linked with emergency department visits for anxiety disorders with higher risks among girls, women and older adults.
"Even people who aren't directly affected by fires, the smoke from them, coming into their neighborhoods and communities, even if it's imperceptible, can have impacts on mental health," Lowe said. "We're seeing more and more, and that's with a range of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety."
Firefighters, first responders also at risk
Firefighters battling the flames and first responders helping treat those who are injured or are in need are also at risk of experiencing mental health impacts.
Firefighters and other rescue personnel are at greater risk of developing PTSD compared to the general population. An August 2016 study found approximately 20% of firefighters and paramedics meet the criteria for PTSD at some point in their career compared to a 6.8% lifetime risk for the general population, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.
"They're on the front lines, and first responders, firefighters, police, EMS have potentially pre-existing vulnerabilities to developing mental health problems at a higher rate than the civilian population," Stanley said.
The duties of first responders -- facing challenging situations, reaching out to survivors, providing support -- can be strenuous and put them at an increased risk of trauma, according to a 2018 report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
"They're trained to do this; this is their job, and yet it can still take a toll on them, especially the crews that are away from home, spending weeks away from home and maybe lacking the traditional support system that are used to," Stanley said.
How to help those with mental health impacts
Lowe said it will be important for California to make sure it is providing enough licensed professionals to the areas where people may be in need.
This can be challenging in the face of a large-scale mental health crisis in the U.S. in which there is a shortage of mental health professionals.
"Having good coverage for mental health services, increasing access to services" is important, she said. "A lot of times, we can't practice outside of our jurisdiction, but there's declarations during disasters, folks can practice outside ... so just ways to increase access."
The experts also recommend limiting time reading news coverage and social media posts of the wildfires, much of which can be distressing.
"This can lead to increased anxiety, sleep difficulties and stress, causing many people to feel the urge to consume more information," Reed said. This increased consumption is likely more anxiety-provoking than comforting. … I recommend that people consume this content in moderation and focus on activities that help reduce their stress levels."
Family members and friends can help by providing a sense of support for their loved one and confidently checking in, the experts said.
"You can think of kind of the 3 Hs here: Do you want to be helped? Do you want to be hugged? Or do you want to be heard?" Stanley said. "Some people just want a shoulder to cry on. Some people want you to go into problem-solving mode and some people just want a listening ear."
Looking to stay weather-aware wherever you go? Check out David Rancken’s App Of The Day. It’s called Wayther. You can find Wayther in the Apple Store and Google Play below.
(NEW YORK) -- Meta -- the company that operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp --announced on Tuesday it was ending third-party fact-checking.
Some social media policy experts and public health experts are worried that the end of fact-checking could lead to the spread of medical and science misinformation and disinformation. This is especially worrisome as the U.S. is in the throes of respiratory virus season and is fighting the spread of bird flu.
"There's going to be a rise in all kinds of disinformation, misinformation, from health to hate speech and everything in between," Megan Squire, deputy director for data analytics and open-source intelligence at the Southern Poverty Law Center, told ABC News. "[Health] is supposed to be a nonpartisan issue, and … we do see people trying to leverage health [misinformation], in particular, toward a political end, and that's a real shame."
"I'm hopeful, but I'm also concerned that this new structure that all the Meta properties are embarking on, it's just not going to end well," she added.
The social network giant said it was following the footsteps of X, replacing the program with user-added community notes.
In a press release of the announcement, Joel Kaplan, chief global affairs officer for Meta, said that the choices about what was being fact-checked showed "biases and perspectives."
How fact-checking, community notes work
Meta started fact-checking in December 2016. Meta's fact-checking works by Meta staff identifying hoaxes or by using technology that detects posts likely to contain misinformation. The fact-checkers then conduct their own reporting to review and rate the accuracy of posts.
If a piece of content is identified as false, it receives a warning label and the content's distribution is reduced so fewer people see it.
Fact-checkers put in place following Donald Trump's 2016 election win were found to be "too politically biased" and have destroyed "more trust than they've created," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a video posted by the company.
By comparison, community notes work by a user adding context to a post that may be misleading. It is then upvoted or downvoted by other users.
Zeve Sanderson, executive director of NYU Center for Social Media Politics, said after the 2016 election, there was immense pressure for social medial platforms, including Meta, to commit resources to combatting misinformation.
Following the election, most posts being fact-checked were to combat political misinformation, according to Sanderson. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this was expanded to combat medical misinformation, he said.
Sanderson said there were a lot of claims going unchecked online because Meta has not had enough fact-checkers to check every post. Additionally, he said some people didn't trust fact-checkers.
"There were groups of people online who didn't trust fact checkers, who saw them as biased, often in a liberal direction," he told ABC News. "This crowd-sourced content moderation program … it's going to do different things well and different things poorly. We just don't know how this is actually going to work in practice."
Meta referred ABC News back to its Tuesday announcement in response to a request for comment on plans for its community notes or potential spread of misinformation.
Spread of misinformation during COVID-19
During the COVID-19 pandemic, millions were exposed to a deluge of information including news, research, public health guidance and fact sheets, which the World Health Organization referred to as an "infodemic."
People were also exposed to misinformation and disinformation about what treatments work against COVID-19, how much of a risk the virus poses to children and whether COVID-19 vaccines are effective.
A 2023 KFF survey found that most Americans were not sure if health information they had encountered was true or false.
A report from the U.S. Surgeon General in 2021 found that misinformation led to people rejecting masking and social distancing, using unproven treatment and rejecting COVID-19 vaccines.
Experts told ABC News that members of the general public often do not have enough health literacy to determine if they should trust or not trust information they encounter online or on social media.
Squire said sometimes government agencies do not put out information in an "interesting" format, which may lead people to click on "entertaining" content from misinformation and disinformation peddlers.
"Some of these YouTube videos about health misinformation are a lot more entertaining. Their message just travels faster," she said. "When you're presenting scientific information -- I know this firsthand as a former college professor -- that's a struggle. You have to be pretty talented at it and, a lot of times, where the expertise lies is not necessarily where the most expedient, fun videos are and stuff."
How to combat health misinformation
Meta's change comes as the U.S. faces an increase in bird flu cases and continues treating patients falling ill with respiratory illnesses.
As of Jan. 8, there have been 66 human cases of bird flu reported in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It's also flu season. As of the week ending Dec. 28, 2024, there have been at least 5.3 million illnesses, 63,000 hospitalizations and 2,700 deaths from flu so far this season, according to CDC estimates.
Meanwhile, health care professionals have been encouraging Americans to get their flu shot and other vaccines -- including COVID and RSV -- to protect themselves against serious disease.
Experts are worried that with the change from fact-checking to community notes that misinformation could spread about the effectiveness of vaccines or how serious an illness is.
"I am concerned about the sheer amount of inaccurate information that's out there," Dr. Brian Southwell, a distinguished Fellow at nonprofit research institute RTI International and an adjunct faculty member at Duke University, told ABC News. "That's something that you know ought to bother all of us as we're trying to make good decisions. But there's a lot that could be done, even beyond, you know, the realm of social media to try to improve the information environments that are available for people."
Southwell said one thing that public health experts and federal health agencies can do is to get an idea of the questions that users are going to have about medical topics -- such as bird flu and seasonal flu -- and be ready with information to answer those questions online.
To combat being exposed to information, the experts recommended paying attention to where the information is coming from, whether it's a respected source or someone you are unfamiliar with.
"There are various skills that are important, things like lateral reading, where rather than just evaluating the claim, you do research about the source of that claim and what you can find out about them to understand what some of their incentives or track record might be," Sanderson said.
"This is obviously something that, sadly, social media platforms are not designed in order to incentivize this sort of behavior, so the responsibility is thrust on users to sort of look out for themselves," he added.
SMITH COUNTY — A Smith County father and grandmother are behind bars after the alleged abuse of a three-month old baby. The Smith County Sheriff’s Office said that at around 6 p.m. Wednesday night, a deputy responded to a hospital in Tyler regarding a possible child abuse. Once the deputy was on scene, he was informed by hospital personnel that a three-month old baby had received significant injuries that looked like child abuse.
According to our news partner KETK, at the time, the infant was undergoing CT scans and X-rays. The attending nurse informed the deputy that the baby was lethargic, weak and had bruises on their face and neck. An investigator then spoke with the baby’s mother, who reportedly told officials that her baby had just returned home after spending several days with his father, Zachray McGinn, at a home on County Road 2192 near Whitehouse. Continue reading Abuse allegations land dad, grandma behind bars
SMITH COUNTY — A Troup man is in custody after running from the scene of a shooting that left one wounded. According to our news partner KETK, Troup Police said that they responded to a call about a victim suffering from a gunshot wound Tuesday. While EMS personnel were treating the victim, officers proceeded to the scene of the shooting, where they were informed that the suspect might still be inside the home.
With assistance from the Arp Police Department, White House Police Department and the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, officers quickly set up a perimeter around the home. After multiple attempts to contact the suspect by phone and using loud speakers were unsuccessful, officers decided to enter the home, but they discovered that the suspect had fled. Continue reading Troup man arrested following shooting
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Six people who were injured and the father of a man who was killed in the New Year’s truck attack filed a lawsuit Thursday against the City of New Orleans and two contractors, claiming they failed to protect revelers from an Army veteran who sped around a police blockade and raced down Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring at least 30.
The attack by Shamsud-Din Jabbar was tragic but preventable, leaving the six victims with broken bones, physical suffering and mental anguish and killing Brandon Taylor, according to the lawsuit filed in Orleans Parish Civil District Court by Matthew Hemmer with the Morris Bart Law Firm. Jabbar was killed in a shootout with police.
The plaintiffs, who are seeking unspecified damages, include Alexis Windham, who suffered impact and gunshot injuries to her foot, and Corian Evans, Jalen Lilly, Justin Brown, Shara Frison and Gregory Townsend, who suffered broken bones and other injuries. They were joined by Brandon Taylor’s father, Joseph. Windham, Evans, Lilly and Brown are from Alabama while Frison and Townsend are from Missouri.
Taylor, 43, worked as a restaurant cook in the New Orleans area and loved music, especially rap. He leaves behind his fiancee, who was with him when he was killed, and his father.
Email and phone messages left with the City of New Orleans, Mayor LaToya Cantrell, and contractors Mott MacDonald and Hard Rock Construction seeking comment on the lawsuit were not immediately returned.
Incidents of vehicles driving into crowds started increasing after 2016, when 86 people were killed on Bastille Day in Nice, France, the lawsuit said. New Orleans sought advice on the risk of this type of attack in the French Quarter and invested $40 million in public safety improvement projects, including acquiring portable bollards — protective columns designed to block vehicle traffic —to keep cars off Bourbon Street.
However, the bollards were often disabled when the tracks they move on got clogged with beads, drink containers, rainwater and other fluids, the lawsuit said. A 2019 report by New York firm Interfor International said the French Quarter was at risk for a vehicular attack, adding “the current bollard system on Bourbon Street does not appear to work” and should be fixed immediately.
An April 2024 report by Mott MacDonald, a design firm hired for roadway projects, included the possibility of a Ford F-150 truck turning on to Bourbon Street, which is what happened on New Year’s Day, but the company’s bollard replacement project did not include fixed bollards in the French Quarter, the lawsuit said.
Construction on the safety updates began in November, but work on Canal Street didn’t begin until Dec. 19 and construction was ongoing on Jan. 1, when the attack occurred, the suit said. Authorities have said Jabbar drove an F-150 pickup truck onto a sidewalk around a police car blockading the Canal Street entrance to Bourbon Street.
“Appropriate barriers, temporary or otherwise, were not erected in the construction site,” the lawsuit said. “As a result, the intersection had the appearance of a soft target. Upon initial penetration, Mr. Jabbar was able to travel approximately three blocks down Bourbon Street.”
The contractors and the city failed to implement an effective system for deterring such a threat, the suit said.
Two other law firms announced Wednesday that they represent nearly two dozen victims of the attack and are conducting their own investigation, stating “officials were tragically aware and did not protect the public.”
DALLAS (AP) — A powerful winter storm that dumped heavy snow and glazed roads with ice across much of Texas and Oklahoma lumbered eastward into southern U.S. states overnight, prompting governors to declare states of emergency and shuttering schools across the region.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders mobilized the National Guard to help stranded motorists. School was canceled Friday for millions of children across a wide tract of southern states from Texas to Georgia and as far east as South Carolina.
Some of the heaviest snowfall was expected Friday across the northern half of Arkansas and much of Tennessee, with totals in some parts of those states ranging from 6 to 9 inches (about 15 to 22 centimeters), according to the National Weather Service.
Further south and east into Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain made travel treacherous.
The storm dumped as much as 7 inches (about 18 centimeters) in some spots in central Oklahoma and northern Texas before pushing into Arkansas. More than 4,500 flights were delayed and another 2,000 canceled on Thursday, with more delays and cancelations expected on Friday.
“I have not seen any accidents, but I have seen a couple of people get stuck out on the road and sliding around,” said Charles Daniel, a truck driver hauling a 48-foot (14.6-meter) trailer loaded with paint, auto parts and other supplies through slick, slushy roads in central Oklahoma on Thursday. “People do not need to be driving.”
The polar vortex of ultra-cold air usually spins around the North Pole, but it sometimes ventures south into the U.S., Europe and Asia. Some experts say such events are happening more frequently, paradoxically, because of a warming world.
The cold snap coincided with rare January wildfires tearing through the Los Angeles area.
Snow, sleet hammers Texas, Oklahoma
Paul Kirkwood, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said the storm that swept through the Dallas area will create a “swath of snow” impacting parts of Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urged residents to avoid driving if possible. Roads could be dangerous as 75,000 fans were expected Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington for the college football championship semifinal between Texas and Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.
Southern discomfort
The system was expected to push northeastward by Friday with heavy snow and freezing rain all the way to the Virginia and North Carolina coasts. As much as 8 inches (about 20 centimeters) of snow could fall in parts of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia through Saturday, the weather service said.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency on Thursday as the northern half of the state girded for snow and ice beginning Friday morning. Weather service forecasters warned snow and ice are likely to accumulate across metro Atlanta, making roadways treacherous and possibly causing power outages.
Public school systems across metro Atlanta and north Georgia called off in-person classes for Friday, with more than 1 million students getting a snow day or being told to stay at home to learn online.
In Tennessee, Memphis-Shelby County Schools, the largest district in the state with more than 100,000 students, closed all schools Friday. With Memphis forecast to receive up to 8 inches (20.3 centimeters) of snow, officials said two warming centers are open 24 hours to provide shelter for people who need to escape the cold.
A structure is burned by the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Coastal California is one of the nicest places on Earth. It has a 1,000-mile coastline, magnificent natural geography and a Mediterranean climate, all set against the vista of the beautiful Pacific Ocean.
But no place is perfect, and nothing is free and the price attendant to enjoying the picturesque natural landscape, and the year-round moderate climate of Coastal California, is to live with the risk of natural disasters, one of which is wildfires – such as those now devastating Los Angeles.
If you choose to live in an area prone to natural disaster, you have an affirmative duty to fully acknowledge that risk, which includes holding your government to account for being properly prepared.
The residents, homeowners and business owners of Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Altadena and other Greater Los Angeles communities are finding out the hard way that their government is woefully unprepared.
As the tragedy of the Los Angeles wildfires unfolds, it is becoming clear in an acutely painful way that government in California – at both the state and local levels – is breathtakingly incompetent.
Protecting the lives and property of citizens is the first job of government. It is why governments were ever formed in the first place. If the job of protecting lives and property isn’t done, nothing else that government does matters.
Yet even though an astonishing percentage of California citizens have seemed blissfully unaware of it – up until now at least – government in California hasn’t operated in their interest in quite some time.
Government in California has greatly curtailed – sometimes to the point of outright abandonment – the performance of its core functions in favor of far-left initiatives that include DEI-dominated hiring practices, extreme environmental policy, race-fixated law enforcement and a near theological (fetishistic?) belief in man-made climate change. Taken together, radical leftism has crowded out governmental attendance to the day-to-day interests of the California citizens that government is nominally there to serve.
You and I take for granted that water will come out of the fire hydrant at the end of our block. We simply assume that our local government would take steps to mitigate an obvious extreme fire risk.
The citizens of LA have learned the hard way that they can’t make such assumptions.
From allowing environmental extremism to stand in the way of clearing dry, fire-prone underbrush (as happens in other places with similar geography), to allowing concern for an obscure fish species to stand in the way of providing adequate water supplies, to prioritizing race-based hiring in the fire department, to cutting fire department budgets, leaving them undermanned and underequipped so as to fund the costs of homelessness (driven in large measure by illegal immigration), California – a one-party Democratic state – has abjectly failed in its basic duty to protect its citizens.
Tens of thousands of Angelenos have lost literally everything. It seems cruel to ask this question now.
But it will have to be asked sometime.
As they begin the long, hard slog of rebuilding their lives, will these beleaguered, over-taxed citizens at last reexamine how they vote?
SMITH COUNTY — A Smith County father and grandmother are behind bars after the alleged abuse of a three-month old baby. The Smith County Sheriff’s Office said that at around 6 p.m. Wednesday night, a deputy responded to a hospital in Tyler regarding a possible child abuse. Once the deputy was on scene, he was informed by hospital personnel that a three-month old baby had received significant injuries that looked like child abuse.
