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Austin Butler is on the run in the ‘Caught Stealing’ official trailer

Austin Butler is supposed to be cat-sitting in the official trailer for Caught Stealing.

Instead, he's running for his life through the streets of New York. Sony Pictures released the new trailer for the upcoming Darren Aronofsky film on Wednesday.

Butler plays Hank Thompson in the movie, a former high school baseball star who can no longer play. Zoë Kravitz co-stars as his girlfriend. When the pair agree to watch Hank's punk-rock neighbor's cat for a few days, Hank finds himself caught in the middle of a crew of gangsters.

"You run away from what you're afraid of. Then it owns you," Kravitz says to Butler in the trailer.

Charlie Huston wrote the screenplay for the film that's based on his book of the same name.

Matt Smith, Regina King, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Griffin Dunne, Bad Bunny and Carol Kane also star in the action-comedy crime film.

Caught Stealing arrives in theaters on Aug. 29.

Pentagon accepts luxury jet from Qatar to use as Air Force One

Jen Golbeck/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) -- The United States officially accepted a luxury jet to use as Air Force One from Qatar, the Department of Defense confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday.

"The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations," Sean Parnell, chief Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement.

"The Department of Defense will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the president of the United States," he added.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Jimmy Kimmel announces he’s a grandfather

Jimmy Kimmel is now a grandfather.

The comedian and host shared the news on the May 20 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, revealing he missed the previous night's show to be there for the birth of his first grandchild.

"You know, we were supposed to have a show last night, but we didn't, because my daughter had a baby last night," Jimmy said, referring to his daughter Katie Kimmel.

He added, "Katie and her husband, Will, had a baby girl right at the time we shoot our show last night, so I decided to be there instead of here."

Katie, 33, is the late-night TV host's eldest daughter, whom he shares with his first wife, Gina Maddy.

In addition to Katie, Jimmy is the father of son Kevin Kimmel, 31 — also from his first marriage — and two younger children, Billy Kimmel and Jane Kimmel, whom he shares with his current wife, Molly McNearney.

Jimmy said his eldest daughter was surrounded by an "army of family" at the hospital when she gave birth.

Katie paid tribute to her family with her daughter's name, Patti Joan.

Joan is name of Jimmy's mom, the baby's great-grandmother.

In his opening monologue, Jimmy described being a grandfather as a "big responsibility," going on to share some of the funny things he saw his own grandfathers do, including one giving himself haircuts using a cigarette lighter.

Judge rules DHS violated court order in deporting 8 migrants to South Sudan

(WASHINGTON) -- A federal judge in Boston ruled Wednesday that the Trump administration's deportations of eight men convicted of violent crimes to South Sudan was "unquestionably violative of this Court's order" by not giving them adequate due process, including a "meaningful opportunity to object."

The rebuke came after his order earlier this week that the Department of Homeland Security maintain custody of the migrants.

But Judge Brian Murphy, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, declined to issue an order to return the plane with the deportees to the United States, as the plaintiffs had requested.

The judge appeared willing to take the DHS at its word that it would be possible for the government to conduct interviews with the detainees to determine if they have a reasonable or credible fear of being deported to South Sudan, where they are now.

An attorney for the deported men, protested that, under the circumstances, it would be a "legal and logistical nightmare" for the detained men to get access to counsel and to obtain the information they need to present a challenge.

"I have some serious confidentiality, privacy concerns about where this reasonable fear interview is going to take place. Who is going to conduct this reasonable fear interview, but most importantly, how are they going to have access to counsel, which they are entitled to have in order to discuss the reasonable fear process? How are they going to investigate and learn about the conditions in South Sudan? How are they going to present evidence that they have a reasonable fear," Trina Realmuto, the executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, said in court on Wednesday.

Realmuto also raised concerns about finding interpreters and conducting interviews with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services personnel remotely across multiple time zones.

Murphy had issued an order on Tuesday directing the government to maintain custody of anyone covered by his preliminary injunction who is in the process of being removed to South Sudan or any other country "to ensure the practical feasibility of return if the Court finds that such removals were unlawful."

"It was impossible for these people to have a meaningful opportunity to object to their transfer to South Sudan in that time frame," he said Wednesday, arguing that due process was not possible since the migrants received their notices of removal on the evening of May 19 and then were taken out of the detention facility the next morning.

"Based on what I've learned, I don't see how anybody could say that these individuals had a meaningful opportunity to object," Murphy said. "If I was in any of those groups and I was going to be deported to South Sudan, I would need an opportunity to investigate that and to be able to articulate a well-founded fear about why being returned to South Sudan would be would result in torture or death. The department did not do it. In this case, they did not offer any opportunity to object."

DHS confirmed the eight migrants were placed on a deportation flight from Texas headed to war-torn South Sudan on Monday, officials said ahead of the hearing, though they cautioned this would not be the migrants' final destination.

Counsel for the plaintiffs spoke to reporters outside of the courthouse saying South Sudan is a country to which the State Department advises Americans not to travel.

"They are categorically not safe. They are places where our class members are not safe, and they are not being afforded an opportunity to consult with counsel and to make an informed choice about the fear that they have of being deported to those countries," Realmuto told reporters.

Attorneys also said they have concerns for over the conditions the migrants, who continue to be held on a tarmac, are experiencing.

"Nobody is able to consult with them from where they are at the moment, and that includes counsel for the one person who actually had counsel at the time of his removal," Anwen Hughes, director of legal strategy at Human Rights First, told reporters Wednesday after the hearing.

Murphy indicated he will issue an order at some point Wednesday evening spelling out the specific requirements for how the reasonable fear interviews will take place where the detainees are currently located.

He indicated that the U.S. government was to maintain custody of the deportees and not transfer them to the custody of another entity or government, and he said he wanted the interviews to take place in an "appropriate place with an appropriate degree of privacy," even if that means "renting a room at a Holiday Inn."

Murphy said that if, at any point, the government determines it would rather bring the plane back to the U.S., it remains free to do that.

Before the close of the hearing, the government asked that whatever remedy is ordered by Murphy, he stay the order pending an appeal, and Murphy said he would consider that request as he crafts the order.

Ahead of the hearing, DHS held a news conference in Boston on the deportations in which Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told reporters that "no country on earth wanted to accept them because their crimes are so uniquely monstrous and barbaric."

"A local judge in Massachusetts is trying to force the United States to bring back these uniquely barbaric monsters who present a clear and present threat to the safety of the American people and American victims," McLaughlin said. "While we are fully compliant with the law and court orders, it is absolutely absurd for a district judge to try and to dictate the foreign policy and national security of the United States of America."

When asked where the eight men are, McLaughlin said she couldn't "disclose where their current whereabouts are right now" but that they were still in DHS custody. Officials declined to identify their final destination, citing security concerns.

"I would caution you to make the assumption that their final destination is South Sudan. As far as that agreement goes, I would definitely refer you to the State Department's more specifics," she added.

Officials said the men's countries of origin refused to accept them, so DHS in partnership with the State Department found a country that would accept them through a "safe third-country agreement."

"I can say that their home countries refuse to take these individuals back," acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons said.

"ICE detention isn't punitive. We detain and remove after six months or 180 days. If we don't have a country that'll take their citizens back, we do have an option to find a safe third country," Lyons said.

However, McLaughlin argued to reporters that the eight migrants were given due process.

"We are following due process under the U.S. Constitution. These individuals have been given and their lawyers have been given plenty of prior notice. As far as those actual agreements, we can get back to you with more information from the State Department," she said.

Murphy said the violation will now need to be remedied.

In response, Realmuto argued during the court hearing that the plane should be returned to the U.S. and the men should be afforded the due process that she said "can only take place on U.S. soil."

Drew Ensign, an attorney for the Department of Justice, asked the court to fashion as narrow a remedy as possible and suggested that an option is for the due process required by the injunction to take place without bringing the plane back to the U.S. However, Ensign could not immediately answer Murphy's question about whether that is possible.

ICE released names and other details regarding those deported on Wednesday. Several were convicted of first-degree and second-degree murder.

Kyaw Mya, a citizen of Burma, was convicted of lascivious acts with a child-victim less than 12 years of age. Nyo Myint, a citizen of Burma, was convicted of first-degree sexual assault involving a victim mentally and physically incapable of resisting.

Another was convicted of robbery, possession of a firearm and driving under the influence.

ABC News' Ely Brown contributed to this report.

Austin’s reign as a tech hub might be coming to an end

AUSTIN – The Wall Street Journal reports that nearly five years after Austin, Texas, became a darling of the tech industry, luring companies out of California with the promise of lower taxes and a better quality of life, the city is now bleeding tech talent that is flowing back to the coasts. A new report from venture-capital firm SignalFire shows that in 2024 Big Tech employment declined 1.6% in Austin, and startup employment fell 4.9%. Tech employment in Dallas and Houston also declined, along with cities like Denver and Toronto. Tech employment grew, on the other hand, in New York and San Francisco. It is a shift from five years ago, when Texas seemed like a growing Sunbelt beacon for tech, luring companies like Tesla, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Oracle from California, and inspiring a number of remote tech workers and startups to follow them. But many of those companies have since laid off workers and Oracle actually relocated from Texas to Nashville, Tenn. “I think that promise was never realized,” said Asher Bantock, SignalFire’s head of research. “This idea that it would become a new startup hub didn’t materialize.”

Return-to-office requirements combined with the burgeoning artificial-intelligence industry centralizing in Silicon Valley drew workers back West, while Austin’s fluctuating living costs and outdated infrastructure left new transplants frustrated, Bantock said. Gabriel Farid Guerra said he was extremely underwhelmed after moving to Austin from New York in 2022. Working a completely remote job at the time, he said he signed a one-year lease in the city, chasing the idea that it was “the new, booming U.S. tech hub.” Compared with New York and San Francisco, he said, tech events were harder to find, the quality of events was lower and opportunities for new roles were sparser. Public transit also left something to be desired, he said. He broke his Austin lease after six months, and after bouncing to Boston and Washington, D.C., Guerra moved to San Francisco. He recalled that when he was living in D.C., he was asked in which regions his then-employer, startup Antithesis, should promote its software product. “They gave me a list of cities and asked me about Austin, and I said, ‘No, not Austin. It’s kind of dead.,” he said.

Rapidly expanding school voucher programs pinch state budgets

TEXAS – Stateline reports that in submitting her updated budget proposal in March, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs lamented the rising costs of the state’s school vouchers program that directs public dollars to pay private school tuition. Characterizing vouchers as an “entitlement program,” Hobbs said the state could spend more than $1 billion subsidizing private education in the upcoming fiscal year. The Democratic governor said those expenses could crowd out other budget priorities, including disability programs and pay raises for firefighters and state troopers. It’s a dilemma that some budget experts fear will become more common nationwide as the costs of school choice measures mount across the states, reaching billions of dollars each year.

“School vouchers are increasingly eating up state budgets in a way that I don’t think is sustainable long term,” said Whitney Tucker, director of state fiscal policy research at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank that advocates for left-leaning tax policies. Vouchers and scholarship programs, which use taxpayer money to cover private school tuition, are part of the wider school choice movement that also includes charter schools and other alternatives to public schools. Opponents have long warned about vouchers draining resources from public education as students move from public schools to private ones. But research into several programs has shown many voucher recipients already were enrolled in private schools. That means universal vouchers could drive up costs by creating two parallel education systems — both funded by taxpayers. In Arizona, state officials reported most private school students receiving vouchers in the first two years of the expanded program were not previously enrolled in public schools. In fiscal year 2024, more than half the state’s 75,000 voucher recipients were previously enrolled in private schools or were being homeschooled.

Proposal in the Texas house may put limits on major energy consumers

ODESSA — A Texas House panel approved a bill that changes how industrial energy consumers coordinate their operations with the state’s electric grid manager and providers last week.

It now heads to the full chamber with modifications. The House committee made changes after trade groups and power generators said the original bill approved by the state Senate was too aggressive on the state’s open-energy market.

Most changes to the bill were minor, leaving the overall intent of the proposal intact.

Written by state Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, Senate Bill 6 aims to help the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the main grid operator, better understand the state’s energy needs. King has said he believes the state’s electricity providers are passing on costs to consumers for beefing up the grid that isn’t needed.

If the bill becomes law, companies that bypass the grid and get power from power generators directly need to report certain information about such business arrangements and follow new regulatory rules set by ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission, including lending their power in an emergency. ERCOT will also have the ability to shut off a facility’s power during emergencies with notice, a provision that some groups say endangers their operations. Groups also said that relying on back-up generators could lead to federal air emissions violations.

A week before lawmakers approved the bill, business groups said the bill could hinder the Texas economy.

“The ability to sign a long-term purchase power agreement with these data centers, this is the light at the end of the tunnel we’ve been looking for,” Walt Baum, president of Powering Texans, a group representing natural gas generators, said at the hearing. “And we worry that some of these new … processes or approvals could be the train that slams the door shut.”

In a statement to The Texas Tribune after the bill was passed, Baum said the group was still reviewing the bill.

“We hope to continue to work with legislators to ensure Texas can continue to encourage data center investment in Texas,” he said.

Here are some of the key changes to the bill.

The bill says ERCOT will prioritize requests for electricity from companies that agree to allow grid operators to lessen the amount they consume when the grid needs the power.

If an industrial company wants to do business in Texas and tap into the grid, it needs to wait for ERCOT to approve its request and provide it with information about the power it plans to use. ERCOT uses that information to predict how much electricity it will need to deploy. And how much infrastructure will be necessary. Current forecasts expect the load to almost double.

The utility commission could penalize any companies that fail to reduce their demand under these terms.

These proposals stem from a bill introduced by state Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, who proposed faster electricity for companies agreeing to have their power cut. It was not in King’s original bill.

The previous version of the bill asked companies seeking to plug into the Texas power grid to let operators know if they had been waiting for similar connections elsewhere in the state or country. The latest version no longer requires any out-of-state applications for electricity.

The application can also “withhold or anonymize” sensitive proprietary details.

A particularly controversial provision authorizing ERCOT to shut off a company’s power during an emergency remained in the bill with few changes. Grid managers must now specify the periods they plan to activate such measures and issue a 24-hour notice.

Companies can draw up deals with power generators to get electricity directly from them without needing to access the grid. According to the bill, ERCOT can propose conditions on those arrangements, which some groups have called discriminatory. In the previous version of the bill, those conditions would have been up to the utility commission.

The bill would also require that electricity to be available for the grid during emergencies.

An earlier version of the bill would have allowed ERCOT to shut off energy to any industrial company with little notice. Now, however, it must first use every available measure at its disposal to meet demand when it spikes, according to the latest version of the bill. Companies would need to inform grid managers if their backup generators can meet half of their electricity needs, and use them when ERCOT shuts their main power down.

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

David Rancken’s App of the Day 05/21/25 – Remember – A Brain Add-On!

Do you need help remembering where you put your most cherished items? Get David Rancken’s App Of The Day. It’s called Remember – A Brain Add-On. You can find Remember – A Brain Add-On in the Apple Store.

FDA plans to limit COVID shots to those over 65 or with high-risk conditions

Kike Rincon/Europa Press via Getty Images

(WASHINGTON) -- In a major policy change, the Food and Drug Administration has announced a plan to limit access to future COVID-19 shots only to people over 65 years old or those with an underlying health condition.

This change would apply to any future updated versions of the vaccine, a spokesperson at the department of Health and Human Services told ABC News. For the past several years, COVID shots have been updated ahead of the winter respiratory virus season to better match the evolving virus.

But FDA Commissioner Dr. Martin Makary and FDA vaccine head Dr. Vinay Prasad argued this week that annual booster shots are not worth the risk for otherwise healthy people.

The FDA plans to impose these restrictions on future shots for younger, healthy people, unless vaccine makers are willing to pay for newer and and lengthy placebo-controlled trials.

“We are evaluating the details shared today and discussions with the FDA are ongoing,” Pfizer told ABC News in a statement.

“We appreciate the FDA’s clear guidance and remain committed to working with the Agency to provide the data they need to ensure access for Americans,” Moderna told ABC News.

Since the COVID-19 virus can mutate quickly, a lengthy clinical trial may result in a vaccine that no longer protects against currently circulating variants, experts cautioned.

“By the time you finish the trial, the strain that's out there in the community is probably long gone. So, they're basically saying, unless you're in those higher-risk groups, you can forget about getting the COVID vaccine,” former acting CDC director Richard Besser, now president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, told ABC News.

A spokesperson for HHS, which oversees FDA, told ABC News, “The COVID-19 public health emergency has officially ended, and we are entering a new phase in our response to the virus. A rubber-stamping approach to approving COVID boosters in perpetuity without updated clinical trial data under the Biden administration is now over.”

Last month, more than 300 people died each week from COVID, according to the latest CDC data. Death rates were even higher earlier this year as the virus was spreading, with nearly 1,000 Americans dying weekly in January.

The new policy comes as the FDA’s vaccine committee of independent advisers are set to meet on Thursday to discuss the latest data on vaccine safety and efficacy, including COVID shots. Typically, FDA leadership waits until after hearing the advice of its advisers before implementing a new approval or policy change.

Previously, updated COVID vaccines had been recommended annually by the CDC for everyone over the age of 6 months. The CDC has historically set vaccine recommendations, while the FDA determines which vaccines to authorize or approve after being deemed safe and effective.

“The FDA has kind of usurped the CDC’s recommending capacity. Usually, the FDA is a regulatory body. They say the vaccine can be sold, and the CDC says, ‘Jere's the groups who should get it,’” Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told ABC News.

Added Besser: “It's also not something the FDA would normally do. It's something CDC would do. And so that's a really important issue here.”

The new COVID vaccine framework would allow an estimated 33% of the U.S. population to be eligible for the shots, or at least 100 million people, FDA officials noted. It matches recommendations from other countries such as the U.K., Canada and Australia.

Experts say there is a real scientific debate about whether annual boosters are necessary for otherwise young and healthy children and younger adults, especially now that most Americans now have some immunity gained from past vaccination and infections.

In mid-April, the CDC’s vaccine committee of independent advisers had discussed whether to keep the recommendation that everyone over 6 months receive an annual COVID vaccine.

Some experts have argued an FDA restriction could create insurmountable barriers for those who no longer qualify but want to get vaccinated anyway to protect vulnerable family members. Officials at the FDA have called for more evidence on whether vaccines prevent transmission before providing that option.

“To date, there is no high-quality evidence that you getting a booster protects your grandma, beyond your grandma getting the booster herself,” Prasad said at an FDA press conference Tuesday. “Does it lead to less transmission? Does it lead to fewer instances of severe disease? Again, we are interested in evidence to inform this claim.”

Insurance coverage of future COVID vaccines will likely be determined based on recommendations from the CDC and the agency’s independent panel of advisers later this summer. A final recommendation on who should be eligible for updated shots will likely come from the CDC director later this year.

Insurance companies will “continue to monitor the forthcoming recommendations and guidance from ACIP and CDC. As of today, there is no change in how plans cover the existing vaccines for the previously recommended populations,” according to AHIP, a national organization representing insurance companies.

“The ultimate goal of the vaccine is to keep people out of the hospital. But people could reasonably say, moderate infections aren't fun either, so I'm going to choose and get this vaccine,” Offit noted. “I think that's fine. I think it's a reasonable choice. I just hope that we're not restrictive.”

Seminaries find ways to serve young professionals in other fields

PRINCETON, N.J. (RNS) — On a Tuesday evening in early April, an audience sat enraptured in Princeton Theological Seminary’s dining hall as, one by one, adults in their 20s walked up to a platform, took the microphone and shared a story.

“I realized that if God made our bodies this intricate, shouldn’t the care we give others be just as intricate?” Jewel Koshy asked.

“I allowed Jesus to look at me, and I looked at him, and my life was completely transformed,” Betty Freymann said.

“How can we stay inquisitive in a world where excellence is expected and assimilation is often rewarded?” Ray’Chel Wilson asked. “For me, I take my questions to God.”

Despite the setting, the young adults speaking weren’t seminarians: They were entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, health care workers and other professionals at a summit as part of the Polaris Young Adult Leadership Network, a new initiative from Princeton Theological Seminary that aims to equip young Christian leaders to find their calling beyond parish ministry.

“If you lead in the public sector, if you are an artist or a business leader or an educator, and you’re deeply motivated by your Christian faith, we think theological education has something to offer there as well,” said Shari Oosting, project director of the Polaris Network.

In recent years, many U.S. seminaries have faced existential threats fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic and a changing religious landscape. As organized religion continues to fade in popularity among many Gen Z, some seminaries are downsizing, combining and embracing online and hybrid models. They are also evolving, offering different certificate programs or degrees tailored for non-clergy students. Some seminaries target retired or second-career students, while others refuse to give up on young adults, instead designing programs to help them live out their spirituality beyond seminary walls.

Freymann, 28, a Dallas-based tech consulting manager and a participant at the Polaris summit, said meeting other Christians doing “the Lord’s work” in the secular world has made her feel less alone.

“I love that we’re pushing to form Christian leaders. Not Catholic, not Presbyterian, not Episcopal leaders, but Christian leaders,” said Freymann, who is Catholic and hosts a Spanish-language podcast for Latino Catholics.

That Monday (March 31), Freymann gathered in the seminary’s library with roughly 30 other young adults. The room was abuzz as participants responded to discussion prompts, wove strands of yarn for an interactive art project and heard a lecture about the church in the modern world. Throughout the summit, each shared eight-minute personal stories about Christian leadership in groups or at the final storytelling festival.

“Something that really stood out to me is the fact that everyone is a young adult,” said participant Kennedy Maye, a 22-year-old psychology major at the University of Kentucky. Raised as a nondenominational Christian, she often discusses God with other young adults in her life but said she often finds herself “defending God.” Here, it was different.

Launched in 2023 with a $4 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, the Polaris Young Adult Leadership Network convenes these cohorts while also offering sub-grants to fund their local ministry efforts and provide workshops on topics like mental health, vocational discernment and sustainability. The aim is to combat isolation among young Christian leaders and counteract the narrative that all young people are losing their faith.

“In a lot of ways, these young people are teaching us how to be a seminary for the next generation,” said the Rev. Kenda Creasy Dean, the Mary D. Synnott professor of Youth, Church and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary and one of the architects of Polaris.

Built to train pastors, many seminaries like Princeton are increasingly welcoming students looking to discern their calling rather than intending to work at a congregation. Dean said she has observed that pastoral credentials don’t have the draw they used to for students, which is mirrored in trends at the seminary.

While enrollment in its Master of Divinity program — a prerequisite for many seeking ordination — has declined in recent years (down to 155 students in the 2024-2025 school year, from 245 students in 2020-2021), Princeton’s master’s programs for leaders interested in theology/sustainability and in justice/public life have grown steadily since being launched in 2023. The seminary has also seen growth in part-time, hybrid and online offerings. And this year, it saw the largest incoming class of degree-pursuing students in the last five years.

According to data from the Association of Theological Schools, an umbrella group of over 270 schools, Princeton isn’t alone. Though enrollment in Master of Divinity programs continues to decline among ATS member schools, down roughly 14% since 2020, that dip has been offset by boosts in two-year, often customizable Master of Arts programs and non-degree enrollment, leading to an overall 1.8% increase in enrollment at ATS schools since 2020.

Still, seminaries are facing significant challenges. As a result, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, an influential Evangelical Free Church school near Chicago, announced last month it will be acquired by a Canadian university and move to British Columbia.

Despite financial setbacks, the school has had a transformative impact on the nearby city of Waukegan, Illinois, thanks to a young adult-centered program called Mosaic Ministries.

Mosaic Ministries began praying with and building relationships with Waukegan churches in 2010. With the help of the Lilly Endowment, it became a formal collaboration of 12 churches in 2017, with the purpose of developing ministries with young adults. By listening to what young

people asked for — space to ask hard questions and do life together, not just host another barbecue, for example — churches adapted.

“As the years went by, our churches grew healthier, they grew more intergenerational, they grew more missional, and this collaboration of churches shifted from individual churches to a network,” said the Rev. Daniel Hartman, co-director of Mosaic Ministries at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

In 2022, that network came together to form Refined, a program for young adults from each of the 12 churches. Across 18 months, the young adults received mentoring, attended retreats and became involved in Waukegan-based community projects.

Though Adi Camacho grew up attending a Baptist church in Waukegan, she joined Refined after several years away from the church.

“It was my first time getting to meet brothers and sisters who were not from my congregation that could hear my heart and be there for me and love and support me in such a godly way,” Camacho said. “We were able to break barriers between our churches.”

Camacho hosts a podcast about Mosaic Ministries’ impact and pitches the program at citywide events like cleanup days, toy drives or prayer services. The city routinely looks to Mosaic to meet local needs, and Mosaic’s hub, a revamped former library, is a gathering place designed to welcome young people who might be hesitant to meet at church, said Hartman.

It’s not yet clear how Mosaic Ministries will be impacted by the seminary’s move. However, Mosaic and similar innovative seminary initiatives take a unique approach to empowering young people in their own contexts, without trying to convince them to enroll as students. For example, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Texas has created programming for both Christian and “Christ curious” young adults.

“There are all kinds of places where young adults gather at the edges of Christian conversation,” said Melissa Wiginton, vice president for strategic engagement and partnerships at the Austin seminary. “We know that there is a longing out there for people to be connected to something that’s sturdy enough to hold them, but not so rigid that it encages them.”

Since 2017, the seminary, also with the help of the Lilly Endowment, has created such spaces via its 787 Initiative, which offers faith and community engagement for young people in Austin. Mercedes Collins, who runs a recreational club, We Outside ATX, for Austin’s Black community, provides input for 787’s advisory council. She said young people in her network are craving spaces where their voices are heard.

“Community is a spiritual thing, right?” said Collins, who identifies as more spiritual than religious. “We’re not meant to be here alone.” 787 was a precursor to the seminary’s Austin Story Project, which launched in January and will offer an in-person storytelling cohort and spiritual pilgrimages for young adults. The first pilgrimage will focus on nonviolence, where participants will visit sites connected with nuclear weapon production in the Pacific Northwest. A survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima will accompany them.

“Everybody’s in a massive period of experimentation,” said Dean, of Princeton Theological Seminary. “Desperation is a spiritual gift, and so it gives you a chance to experiment with things that, you know 10 years ago were off the table. That’s happening everywhere, and we are no different in that.”

A Texas coach’s Tik Tok inspired drill injures several students

TYLER COUNTY – Our news partner KETK reports that several middle school students in Texas sustained first and second-degree burns after their coach told them to ‘bear crawl’ across a blistering hot track, leaving parents outraged and demanding answers.

According to multiple parents from Woodville ISD who spoke with KETK News, the incident occurred on Monday during a 7th-period class led by Coach Kobe Adams. Students were reportedly given a choice between running the track or participating in a TikTok trend.

Parents say the class chose the trend without knowing they would perform a one-hundred-yard bear crawl on a hot track surface. If they fell or their knees touched the ground, they would have to start over.

As temperatures soared, students began complaining of intense pain in their hands. According to parents, some students reportedly resorted to spitting on their palms in an attempt to cool the burns. Parents say their children voiced their discomfort during the drill, but the activity continued.

Coach Adams allegedly informed some parents before school dismissal that a few students had sustained minor injuries during the exercise. However, when parents arrived to pick up their children, many were shocked to find severe blisters, missing skin and visible signs of burn injuries.

Several students were later taken to the hospital, where parents say they were diagnosed with first- and second-degree burns. Some families said they were contacted by school officials regarding the incident, but many are still seeking answers and accountability for what they describe as a preventable and negligent act.

On Tuesday, the district released a statement addressing the incident:

Woodville ISD is aware of the incident that occurred during a pre-athletics class at Woodville Middle School on Monday, May 19. We are equally as concerned with the reports as the community and are taking the matter seriously, as our students’ well-being and safety is a top priority.

The Superintendent and Campus Principal have launched a full internal review and are cooperating with local law enforcement. Currently, we are aware that students participated in an exercise program promoted on social media that involves bear crawling on the track. Due to the temperature of the track, the exercise resulted in some students reporting injuries. While federal privacy laws (FERPA) limit what we can share, we want to be clear: the employee actions described by the media do not reflect the values or expectations of Woodville ISD. The District is addressing all personnel matters in line with district policy, and can confirm the staff member involved has been removed from campus and will not be returning to the District.

District and campus leadership are in direct contact with affected families and remain committed to transparency, accountability, and ensuring a safe, respectful environment for all students.

Parents have addressed public comments on why students didn’t stop the drill when they were in pain:

“This is an athletic coach and children are taught to listen to him and he’s taught to train them and push them to become athletes. So people are saying the kids should’ve had common sense. No, they’re doing what their coach is directing them to do because their coach is supposed to push them to do better. They didn’t know their hands were being burned,” a parent told KETK News.

KETK has reached out to the Woodville Police Department and the school district, but has not heard back.

Vacant offices, strip malls may get new life as housing in Texas’ largest cities

DALLAS — Empty offices, vacant strip malls and warehouses could help solve Texas’ housing affordability crisis after state lawmakers advanced legislation Tuesday.

The Texas House gave preliminary approval to Senate Bill 840, which aims to allow apartments and mixed-use developments to be built in certain cities along retail and commercial corridors and in places that now only allow office buildings. The bill by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, a Mineola Republican, would let owners of those properties build homes on that land without having to get it rezoned — a process housing advocates and developers note is costly, lengthy and ultimately drives up the final cost of a home.

House members approved the bill, which has already cleared the Senate, by a 108-23 vote. The bill must come back for a final House vote.

The bill would only apply to Texas’ largest cities. It’s limited to cities that have a population greater than 150,000 people that sit in a county with at least 300,000 residents.

The bill is part of a suite of GOP proposals aimed at curbing the state’s high housing costs — chiefly by allowing more homes to be built. Texas needs 320,000 more homes than it has, according to one estimate. That shortage, housing experts argue, helped drive up home prices and rents as Texas boomed over the last few years.

Republicans in the Texas Legislature, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, have sought ways to curtail housing costs by allowing more homes to be built. Lawmakers have advanced bills to allow smaller homes on smaller lots and additional dwelling units in the backyards of single-family homes. They’ve also pushed legislation to more quickly put city building permits in developers’ hands and make it harder for property owners to stop new homes from being built near them.

With key deadlines looming and less than two weeks to go in the legislative session, none of those bills have reached Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk.

Tuesday’s vote was a key test in how House members would tackle perhaps some of the more controversial aspects of the GOP’s slate of housing bills — chiefly those that would relax city rules, known as zoning regulations, that say what kinds of homes can be built and where. Similar proposals died in the House two years ago.

But Senate Bill 840 cleared its first vote in the House without debate. Bills to allow smaller homes on smaller lots, a top Patrick priority, as well as accessory dwelling units haven’t been scheduled for a vote in the House.

There’s broad support among Texas voters for allowing more homes in business and shopping districts and vacant office and commercial buildings to become homes, a recent poll conducted by YouGov and Texans for Housing found. That support also holds for moves to make it possible to build accessory dwelling units and smaller homes on smaller lots, the poll showed.

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

Justice Department to drop police reform agreements with Louisville, Minneapolis

(WASHINGTON) -- The U.S. Department of Justice said on Wednesday that it is moving to drop police reform agreements, known as consent decrees, that the Biden-era department reached with the cities of Louisville, Kentucky and Minneapolis. The court-enforceable agreements were born out of probes launched after the 2020 police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.

The agreements with Minneapolis and Louisville, which were intended to address allegations of systemic unconstitutional policing and civil rights violations, were both held up in federal court and have faced several delays, with the DOJ requesting various extensions to file documents requested by the federal judges in each case.

Attorney Ben Crump, who represents the families of Taylor and Floyd, said in a statement on Wednesday that the decision is a "slap in the face."

"These consent decrees and investigations were not symbolic gestures, they were lifelines for communities crying out for change, rooted in years of organizing, suffering, and advocacy," Crump said, adding that these moves will "deepen the divide between law enforcement and the people."

Addressing reporters in a press conference on Wednesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey criticized the Trump administration's move and noted that the city is "serious" about its commitment to police reform.

Frey also questioned the timing of the announcement.

"The Trump administration is a mess," Frey said, referencing the various delays requested by the White House in federal court. "It is predictable that they would move for a dismissal the very same week that George Floyd was murdered five years ago. What this shows is that all Donald Trump really cares about is political theater."

Frey said that the federal judge in this case will now decide whether to dismiss the agreement, but said the "bottom line" is that "we're doing it anyway."

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon responded to Minneapolis's opposition to the DOJ moving to drop the consent decree while speaking with reporters on Wednesday. She said she finds it “very interesting” that Minneapolis is publicly opposing the DOJ’s move to drop the consent decree.

"I don't know why a city would want federal government leaning over it," Dhillon said.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg also spoke out in a Wednesday press conference.

"The DOJ is moving to dismiss its case with prejudice, meaning that the case will be permanently closed. We believe the court will grant this motion," he said. "While this is not the outcome we hoped for when we stood right here in December and announced the decree, it is an outcome that we have planned for. We as a city are committed to reform."

Greenberg said that he “made a promise to our community, and we are keeping that promise” and added that he would move forward with community engagement sessions that would provide feedback in assigning an independent monitor to ensure that reforms are implemented.

Dhillon on Wednesday addressed the Justice Department's move to drop the agreements, claiming Biden administration officials relied on "faulty legal theories" and "cherry-picked" statistics in order to accuse departments of widespread misconduct.

She claimed consent decrees can increase bureaucracy for police, which she said makes recruiting and retaining officers more difficult.

"It's our view at the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division under the Trump administration that federal micromanagement of local police should be a rare exception and not the norm, and certainly not something that we're seeking to increase in our time here," Dhillon told reporters in an off-camera briefing.

Dhillon denied that the timing of today's announcement was in any way related to the five-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd on Sunday, May 25, noting it was solely tied to court-mandated deadlines that required the department to state its position on the separate pending consent decrees with Minneapolis and Louisville.

She also argued that bringing individual prosecutions against cops who engaged in wrongdoing was more effective in addressing misconduct -- rather than years-long reform agreements that required extensive manpower to supervise and implement.

The DOJ's Civil Rights Division is also planning to close its investigations into police departments in Phoenix; Trenton, New Jersey; Memphis, Tennessee; Mount Vernon, New York; Oklahoma City; and the Louisiana State Police, according to the announcement.

Additionally, the department said it will be "retracting" findings released during the Biden administration against departments alleged to have engaged in widespread misconduct against citizens.

"Overboard police consent decrees divest local control of policing from communities where it belongs, turning that power over to unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats, often with an anti-police agenda," Dhillon said in a statement announcing the moves. "Today, we are ending the Biden Civil Rights Division's failed experiment of handcuffing local leaders and police departments with factually unjustified consent decrees."

The NAACP criticized the DOJ's decision to back away from police reform agreements and investigations into alleged police misconduct.

"It’s been five years, and police reform legislation still hasn’t passed in Congress, and police departments still haven’t been held accountable," NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement on Wednesday.

Trump to meet with GOP holdouts as negotiations over agenda bill falter: Sources

(WASHINGTON) -- A last-minute White House meeting that sources tell ABC News is between President Donald Trump, Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republican holdouts on Wednesday afternoon comes as the "One Big, Beautiful Bill Act" appears to be in big, bad trouble.

The critical meeting set for 3 p.m., which will include the House Freedom Caucus, comes as GOP leaders are scrambling to get the bill back on track after negotiations went south with hard-liners overnight. The GOP is far from unified around the bill with several sticking points among Republican hard-liners primarily regarding Medicaid work requirements and a cap on state and local tax deductions.

House leadership sources tell ABC News that Johnson is keen to put the megabill on the floor Wednesday night to try to force holdouts to pick a side. But, hard-liners are balking, pledging to vote no and kill the momentum of the bill, which has changes to Medicaid, state and local tax deductions, SNAP food assistance, immigration policy and more.

All eyes will be on Trump to see if he can move the needle and convince the holdouts to change their positions. Wednesday's meeting comes after he spoke to Republicans on Capitol Hill Tuesday in an effort to persuade them to back his signature bill -- at one point threatening to primary those who vote against it.

Trump responded to a reporter's shouted question about the bill Wednesday afternoon, saying that the bill is going "very well" and they are "very close."

Republican Rep. Ralph Norman, a holdout, said that "we're doing what the president wants us to do," but insisted that the bill isn't "done yet" as negotiations drag on.

"We're trying to sit at the table," Rep. Chip Roy, another holdout, told reporters Wednesday morning at the Capitol after another meeting with the speaker. "We're going to work with our colleagues, work with the White House, to continue to deliver what the president campaigned on and what we all campaigned on."

Members of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus members were cagey with reporters about their exact requests. Some want steeper cuts to Medicaid while others push to eliminate subsidies left over from the Inflation Reduction Act.

"The fact of the matter is this has massive savings in the first five years, and it has massive deficits of the first five years because we're not addressing the structural reforms that we're talking about right here," Roy said. "No more. Now's the time for transformative reform. We're going to work with the White House to deliver."

House Republican leadership points out the legislation has exceeded its targets for spending cuts -- goals these hard-liners voted for just over a month ago in the budget blueprint -- slashing over $1.5 trillion from the federal budget.

Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris said there is "no way" the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" passes in the House Wednesday -- despite Johnson's goal of putting the bill on the floor as early as Wednesday after it clears the Rules Committee. Johnson is still working to secure the votes of the more than a dozen Republicans who are seeking additional changes to the legislation. Without changes, there is enough opposition to defeat it as Johnson can only afford to lose three votes.

"We're further away from a deal," Harris said on Newsmax Wednesday morning. "This bill actually got worse overnight. There is no way it passes today."

House Rules Committee hearing going strong

House Republicans' efforts to push through Trump's bill are ongoing as a House Rules Committee hearing is still going strong after it started at 1 a.m. ET Wednesday. Committee chairs and ranking members continue to debate the details of the more than 1,000 page "One Big Beautiful Bill Act."

Key components of the legislation are set to come up in the Rules Committee Wednesday morning, which will focus on tax provisions, overhaul of SNAP and Medicaid cuts. However, GOP leaders have still not released expected changes -- negotiated by hard-liners and moderates -- to the tax and budget bill. Rules Committee Chair Rep. Virginia Foxx said Republican changes to the package will be unveiled at some point during the hearing.

Rep. Jim McGovern, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, lambasted Republicans' reconciliation bill.

"I've got a simple question. What the hell are Republicans so afraid of? What the hell are you so scared of that you guys are holding this hearing at 1 o'clock in the morning. It's a simple question that speaks to the heart of what's going on here, and one that I'm going to keep on asking, if Republicans are so proud of what is in this bill, then why are you trying to ram it through in the dead of night?" McGovern said.

On Wednesday morning, House Democratic leaders led by Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pushed back on the bill by introducing an amendment -- one of the more than 500 amendments submitted by both Democrats and Republicans to the reconciliation package -- to strike all provisions that they say would "cause millions of Americans to lose healthcare and food assistance."

"Unfortunately, we are here today discussing a bill that would make that American dream harder to reach for millions by increasing costs for families, hardworking American families, and gutting the things that they need to survive and thrive," Jeffries said, adding that the bill, if enacted, would force nearly 14 million people off health insurance.

Jeffries called the megabill "one, big ugly bill" that will "hurt the American people."

Overnight, several Republican members left as Democrats burned the midnight oil -- introducing various amendments to the package.

Ranking Member Bennie Thompson of Homeland Security expressed frustration with the process overnight.

"I described Homeland Security portion of this bill as putting lipstick on a pig. I come from an agricultural district as well as a part of the country. So let me use another farming analogy to wrap up: We may be here in the dead of night, but you do not need the light of day to smell manure. The American people are not going to be fooled by any middle-of-the-night, manure-slinging here," the Mississippi Democrat said, adding that it "stinks to high heaven."

Overnight, several committee chairs and ranking members testified before the powerful panel including Armed Services, Budget, Oversight, Natural Resources, Financial Services, Judiciary, Homeland Security, Transportation, Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, Agriculture and Education.

‘Cheers’ co-stars pay tribute to George Wendt following his death at 76

George Wendt's Cheers co-stars are sharing heartfelt tributes following his death at age 76.

Wendt's family confirmed the news Tuesday morning, announcing that the actor died peacefully in his sleep at home, according to a statement shared by his representative with ABC News.

"George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him," the statement read. "He will be missed forever."

Wendt was best known for his iconic role as Norm Peterson on the classic sitcom Cheers, which earned him six Emmy nominations.

Calling Wendt "my friend," Cheers co-star John Ratzenberger said in a statement to ABC News, "For eleven years on 'Cheers,' we shared a stage, a lot of laughs, and a front-row seat to one of television's most beloved friendships. George brought Norm to life with a subtle brilliance — the kind that made it look easy. That was his gift."

Ratzenberger described Wendt as "a true craftsman — humble, hilarious, and full of heart," adding, "What you saw on screen was exactly who he was off screen with impeccable comedic timing and a deep loyalty to those he loved."

"I'll miss our conversations and the quiet moments of friendship that meant the most," the statement added. "My thoughts are with his wife Bernadette, their children, and everyone who loved him.'

Ted Danson, who played Sam Malone on Cheers, also shared a moving tribute in his statement to ABC News.

"I am devastated to hear that Georgie is no longer with us," the statement read. "I am sending all my love to Bernadette and the children. It is going to take me a long time to get used to this. I love you, Georgie."

Another Cheers co-star, Rhea Perlman, told ABC News in a statement that Wendt "was the sweetest, kindest man I ever met."

"It was impossible not to like him," she continued. "As Carla, I was often standing next to him, as Norm always took the same seat at the end of the bar, which made it easy to grab him and beat the crap out of him at least once a week. I loved doing it and he loved pretending it didn't hurt. What a guy! I'll miss him more than words can say."