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Kennedy Ryan on why ‘Score’ was ‘one of the hardest books [she’s] ever written’

'Score' by Kennedy Ryan (Hachette/Forever)

Hollywood is calling to Kennedy Ryan, in more ways than one.

In addition to a TV show in the works at Peacock and a first-look deal with Universal, the romance author has released the latest book in her Hollywood Renaissance series, Score.

The story, a follow-up to 2021’s Reel, centers on the second chance romance between screenwriter Verity Hill, who’s living with bipolar disorder, and musician Bellamy “Monk” Wright — former college lovers who reunite on the set of a period film called Dessi Blue.

“I think I related to Verity as a writer. And I really related to her desire specifically around the Black community, around Black art and Black history,” Ryan says. “Really that's the soul of what this whole series is.”

Ryan also took great care to make sure Verity’s bipolar disorder was represented accurately. She says it was “one of the hardest books I've ever written” for that reason.

“In media, we have seen bipolar disorder sensationalized, misrepresented, harmful representation,” Ryan says. “And I really didn't want to perpetuate that, which meant really digging in with people who have the diagnosis, their family, their partners, their psychiatrist, their therapist. And that's really the foundation for the representation in this book. And I'm very, very proud of it.”

While her books cover some heavier topics, Ryan promises her readers that by nature of the romance genre, they’ll never get “hurt without healing.”

“There is someone who will walk with you through hurt to healing,” she says. “It is also to encourage people who have actually lived those experiences that joy is a possibility for us in life.”

Teens held for car theft, other crimes

PALESTINE – Three teenagers were placed under arrest on Sunday after driving a vehicle stolen from Jacksonville. According to our news partner KETK and the Palestine Police Department, officers on Sunday observed a vehicle matching the description of a vehicle recently reported stolen being driven near North Sycamore and West Pine Streets.

While the officers attempted to make a traffic stop, the driver sped off, prompting a police chase. The vehicle pursuit ended after the vehicle struck a curb, leaving it disabled.

The suspect, who was identified as a minor, and two other teenage boys proceeded to exit the car and attempted to leave the scene on foot. Two of the boys were located and arrested shortly after the incident on Sunday, while the third was taken into custody on Monday morning. Continue reading Teens held for car theft, other crimes

Bullard Elementary principal named

Bullard – Bullard has announced that Kristen Haynes will be the new principal of Bullard Elementary School. Mrs. Haynes currently serves as assistant principal and testing coordinator. She will step into the role following the retirement of the current principal, Amy Bickerstaff, this summer.

Mrs. Haynes has served in education since 2009 and has held teaching and administrative roles in Bullard ISD since 2015. Before becoming assistant principal of Bullard Elementary School in 2022, she served as a 6th-grade English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) teacher and team leader at Bullard Intermediate School and dean of students (grades 3-5) for summer school. Mrs. Haynes has also held teaching and administrative roles at Tyler ISD and Cumberland Academy.

Mrs. Haynes earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and a Master of Educational Leadership from Stephen F. Austin State University.

Defense Department delays 54 wind projects in Texas, citing national security concerns

AUSTIN (THE TEXAS TRIBUNE) — Dozens of wind projects in Texas are in limbo after the U.S. Department of Defense paused issuing routine federal permits citing national security concerns, a move that experts say expands the Trump administration’s crusade against wind energy.

According to data collected by the American Clean Power Association, 54 Texas wind projects are waiting for the department to review development plans to ensure that turbines don’t interfere with military operations. It’s part of a broader nationwide logjam that has ensnared 165 onshore wind projects, a figure first reported by the Financial Times.

Federal law requires any structure 200 feet or taller — such as antennas, smokestacks or wind turbines — to be reviewed first by the Federal Aviation Administration, then the military, which must determine whether a structure may interfere with military airspace.

Federal law requires the Department of Defense to conduct those reviews within 60 days of receiving an application from the FAA. But “right now, the entire process has just ground to a halt,” said Dave Belote, a wind energy consultant who helped design the review system when it was established more than 15 years ago.

Normally, the defense department evaluates whether a turbine is within the line of sight of a radar or in a low-altitude military airspace. If so, the department and developer typically agree on mitigation options — a process that usually takes a matter of weeks.

“In the past, those have been fairly trivial — you meet the requirements and you get the permit,” said Jonathon Blackburn, an Austin-based energy consultant.

However, the department has not approved a wind project since August 2025, and in April the department canceled all pending meetings with wind developers waiting for clearance, according to the trade group.

These delays have caused disruptions to developers’ projects, hindering their ability to secure project financing, jeopardizing local permits contingent on federal approvals, and delaying construction timelines, turbine orders, and contractor scheduling.

“There’s a lot of delay coming out of the permitting process from the federal government, and delays add cost,” Blackburn said. “Maybe the federal government is not able to flat-out stop projects, but they are able to drag them out.”

In a statement, a DoD official said that the department is still actively evaluating the projects to ensure they do not impair national security or military operations, a process that requires high levels of interagency coordination.

The department’s evaluation of wind turbines “is inherently complex and time-consuming because it involves balancing two critical, and sometimes competing, interests: developing energy sources while ensuring military operations and readiness are not degraded or impaired to the extent an unacceptable risk to national security is created,” the official said.

The department didn’t respond to questions about why approval wait times have blown past federally required deadlines.

“It’s not clear why these policies are being implemented during an affordability crisis, but I think it shows the level of disdain the administration has for renewable energy in general and wind power specifically,” said University of Texas energy professor Michael Webber.

Texas is home to more wind turbines than any other state, and also has a number of military installations.

According to a 2019 report by the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, there are 17 military bases with flight facilities in the state and large expanses of airspace set aside for military operations. This includes several training routes for Air Force and Navy pilots flying out of Laughlin Air Force Base near Del Rio, the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, San Antonio’s Randolph Air Force Base and the Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene.

The pause is the latest move by an administration that is attempting to slow the growth of wind power across the U.S. Most of the administration’s efforts have focused on offshore projects.

Last year, the administration suspended leases for five major projects off the East Coast, citing national security concerns related to radar interference. Federal judges later ruled against the administration in all five cases, finding that the government exceeded its authority and failed to prove that the projects posed national security threats. All five projects have since resumed construction.

The Interior Department announced in March that it had reached an agreement with TotalEnergies to pay the company $1 billion to walk away from a planned offshore wind project and instead expand fossil fuel investments.

New Mexico wildfire sparked by fatal medical plane crash spreads quickly in rural area

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A fast-growing wildfire sparked by the fatal crash of a small medical plane outside Ruidoso, New Mexico, has triggered evacuations for a rural area north of the Capitan Mountains and closures in the Lincoln National Forest, officials said Monday.

The plane was en route from Roswell Air Center to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport when it crashed before dawn Thursday, killing the four people aboard. They were identified as pilots Keelan Clark and Ali Kawsara with the company Generation Jets and flight nurses Jamie Novick and Sarah Clark with Trans Aero MedEvac.

“Our hearts remain with the families and loved ones navigating an unimaginable loss,” Matt Goertz, vice president of Trans Aero MedEvac, said in a joint statement with Generation Jets.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

The wildfire grew rapidly over the weekend amid dry and windy conditions, nearly doubling in size between Sunday and Monday morning to more than 19 square miles (50 square kilometers). It was burning out of control in a sparsely populated area despite the efforts of more than 600 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and several interagency Hotshot crews.

Adam Turner, a public information officer for the fire, said steep, rugged terrain has made it impossible for crews to engage the fire directly.

“This is what firefighters call ‘mountain goat territory,’” said Turner, adding that crews were instead working to contain and steer the fire away from several evacuated cattle ranches to the northeast and the community of Arabella to the west.

A red flag warning remained in effect across southern New Mexico on Monday, with wind speeds forecast between 20-30 mph (32-50 kph).

Former Hartford police officer charged with manslaughter in fatal shooting of Stevie Jones

Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam. (Tyler Russell/Connecticut Public via Getty Images)

(HARTFORD, Conn.) -- Former Hartford police officer Joseph Magnano was charged with first-degree manslaughter in connection to the February 27, 2026 fatal shooting of Steven “Stevie” Jones.

The charge and evidence supporting it was laid out in the Connecticut state inspector general's report, which was released on Monday, and comes after Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam announced in March that he had terminated Magnano amid a probe into the incident after viewing the police body camera footage. The body camera footage has not been released publicly.

ABC News has reached out to the Hartford Police Department and Magnano's attorney for comment.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.

What to know about a midair collision between two Navy jets at an Idaho air show

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — After the two Navy jets collided in midair, the planes sandwiched together, all four crew members were able to eject and deploy their parachutes, floating down to safety as the aircraft careened into a field, exploding into a fireball.

The collision happened Sunday during the “Gunfighter Skies” air show at the Mountain Home Air Force Base about 57 miles (92 kilometers) southwest of Boise.

Here are some things to know about the crash.
Just one crew member was injured

Only one of the four crew members on the two planes was injured and was being treated at a hospital, Cmdr. Amelia Umayam, spokesperson for Naval Air Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet, said Monday. The injury was not life-threatening.

The fact that all four were able to safely eject and make it to the ground without landing in the wreckage is “truly remarkable,” said Billie Flynn, a former F-35 senior test pilot and demonstration expert.

“It is astonishing considering the way the airplanes impacted each other — incomprehensible even,” Flynn said.

The two U.S. Navy EA18-G Growlers were from the Electronic Attack Squadron 129 in Whidbey Island, Washington. Each held two crew members.

The EA-18G Growler, measuring 60.2 feet (18.5 meters) long, made its first flight in August 2006 and was the first newly designed electronic warfare aircraft produced in more than 35 years, according to the Navy. Its “baptism of fire” was in 2011 in Libya, according to the Navy, and since then it’s been used worldwide.
The planes appeared sandwiched together before the crash

Videos taken by spectators show one of the jets was slightly behind the other before impact, and the two aircraft then appeared to become sandwiched together, with the belly of one jet just behind and to the side of the top of the other jet.

The jets then twisted and rocked together, pointing straight up for a moment before turning downward and falling to the ground. The subsequent impact resulted in a fireball, black smoke rising into the sky.

The crew members ejected in quick succession with their parachutes opening as the jets began to pivot toward the ground.
The cause of the crash is not yet known

Videos of the collision suggest human error is to blame, Flynn said.

Before colliding, Flynn said the video shows they were trying to line up closely — wing tip to wing tip — but failed to safely rejoin in formation, a routine maneuver.

“This is clearly a pilot error,” Flynn said.

Officials have not yet released any information about what may have contributed to the crash. The incident is under investigation, Umayam said, and efforts to recover the damaged aircraft are underway.

“Our priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of our personnel, as well as security of the aircraft during the recovery,” Umayam wrote in an email to The Associated Press.
Air shows are inherently dangerous

Pilots who perform at air shows are among the best, but there is little room for error, said aviation safety expert John Cox, who is CEO of Safety Operating Systems.

“Air show flying is demanding. It has very little tolerance,” Cox said. “The people who do it are very good and it’s a small margin for error. I’m glad everybody was able to get out.”

The air show industry has been working to improve safety for years at the roughly 200 events held each year in the U.S. The last fatal crashes at an air show came in 2024 when two people were killed in separate accidents at different events.

This year’s Gunfighter Skies event was the first at the base since 2018, when a hang glider pilot died in a crash during an air show performance.

In 2003, a Thunderbirds aircraft crashed while attempting a maneuver. The pilot, who was not hurt, was able to steer the plane away from the crowd and eject less than a second before it hit the ground.

John Cudahy, president and CEO of the International Council of Air Shows, said that there used to be an average of 3.8 deaths a year at a U.S. air show from 1991 to 2006. That number has been steadily improving and since 2017 there have only been an average of 1.1 deaths per year even including a crash in Dallas in 2022 that killed six when two vintage planes collided. There were no air show deaths in 2025 or 2023, and a spectator hasn’t been killed at an air show in the U.S. since 1952.

New ‘Lanterns’ trailer reveals Laura Linney cast in DC Studios series

Aaron Pierre and Kyle Chandler in 'Lanterns.' (John P. Johnson/HBO)

A new teaser trailer for Lanterns has arrived.

HBO Max released the second trailer for its upcoming DC Studios superhero TV series on Monday.

Kyle Chandler, Aaron Pierre and Kelly Macdonald star in the upcoming show, which will make its debut on Aug. 16.

Lanterns follows a new recruit named John Stewart (Pierre) and Hal Jordan (Chandler). The two intergalactic cops are "drawn into a dark, earth-based mystery as they investigate a murder in the American heartland," according to the show's official logline.

"Tell me how you go it. The ring," Pierre's John Stewart asks Chandler's Hal Jordan in the trailer.

"You know how I got it. I sure as hell didn't interview for it," he responds.

The trailer also reveals that Ozark star Laura Linney is part of the series' cast. We see her character sit across from John Stewart. He tells her, "I was raised fearless, and I'll do this better than he's ever done it before."

"Then go and get it, John Stewart," she says back.

True Detective: Night Country's Chris Mundy is the showrunner for Lanterns. He writes the program alongside Watchmen's Damon Lindelof and DC comic creator Tom King.

ICE agent charged in nonfatal shooting of Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis

The badge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent is seen at the immigration court at the Ted Weiss Federal Building, May 12, 2026 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

(MINNEAPOLIS) -- Minnesota prosecutors on Monday announced charges against a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in the nonfatal shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis earlier this year.

The federal agent, Christian Castro, was charged with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis, according to the Hennepin County attorney.

"Mr. Castro fired his service weapon at the front door of the home, knowing there were people who had just run inside that presented absolutely no threat to him or anyone else," Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said during a news conference Monday.

According to Moriarty, the bullet struck Sosa-Celis in the leg, passed through a closet and lodged in the wall of a child's bedroom. She added that Castro was not under any physical threat when he opened fire and that claims from government officials that he had been struck with a shovel or broom were false.

"There is no such thing as absolute immunity for federal officers who commit crimes in this state or any other," Moriarty said. "A violent crime did occur that night, but it was Mr. Castro who committed it."

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

According to the criminal complaint, the confrontation began when Castro and other ICE agents chased a man who was delivering food for DoorDash back to his house.

The complaint states that security footage shows that Castro tackled the driver after he jumped out of his car and was running toward his home, which he shared with Sosa-Celis. Another resident then separated the two men and was able to get inside the house with the driver.

According to the complaint, video evidence shows Castro then fired a single gunshot through the closed front door and hit Sosa-Celis in the right leg.

Four adults and two children were inside the home at the time of the gunfire, the complaint states. Following the shooting, ICE agents deployed tear gas, breached the residence, and took the occupants into custody.

Bail for Castro was set at $200,000.

New church build in Flint

FLINT – The Faith Lutheran Church congregation gathered in Flint on Sunday to mark the very beginning of construction for their new church building. According to our news partner KETK, the congregation’s groundbreaking was held in Flint on Sunday between Wells Marble and Apache Glass off of Old Jacksonville Highway. The groundbreaking is a milestone for their church, which has been trying to grow its presence into Smith County for decades.

“It’s important because our church body, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, has been trying to establish roots in the Tyler area for 60 years now, and over the last ten years, God has blessed us to be able to do that,” Faith Lutheran Church pastor Joseph Koelpin said on Sunday.

The congregation is currently housed at their main church building on FM 346 in Tyler. Their new Flint church is expected to be completed in 2027.

Man reindicted for 2021 child porn

TYLER — A Tyler man has recently been reindicted by the state on 10 counts of possession of child pornography, for which he was first served with in 2021. According to our news partner KETK, In a Smith County arrest affidavit from 2021, a Texas Department of Public Safety special agent developed probable cause that an IP address in Smith County possessed and distributed child pornography.

The investigation found that several electronic devices that were connected to the IP address had a peer-to-peer file sharing software. The IP address was registered to a residence where Eddie Willis lived and a search warrant was obtained from the county judge. Continue reading Man reindicted for 2021 child porn

Court dismisses Elon Musk’s case against Sam Altman and OpenAI

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman arrives to court at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building on May 12, 2026 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) -- A jury on Monday found that Elon Musk waited too long to bring claims accusing OpenAI, under Sam Altman’s leadership, of abandoning its public-benefit mission as it moved toward a for-profit structure.

The nine-person advisory jury determined that the claims against OpenAI and Altman were barred due to the statute of limitations. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers accepted the determination and dismissed the claims.

The three-week trial at a federal courthouse in Oakland, California, featured testimony from Musk and Altman, as well as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

When Musk sued OpenAI and Altman two years ago, he claimed that the company abandoned its mission of benefiting humanity.

Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, said he reached an agreement with the company's leaders on the nonprofit course of the firm when it launched in 2015.

Musk accused the company of later breaching agreement when it made ChatGPT-4 available for use by Microsoft -- meaning the tech giant got access to the then-most powerful version of its popular chatbot under an exclusive licensing agreement. Microsoft and OpenAI have renegotiated the exclusive licensing agreement, allowing OpenAI to strike deals with other tech firms.

OpenAI rebuked the charges, calling them "baseless." Microsoft also denied any wrongdoing. Musk, the world's richest person, counts $803 billion in wealth, according to Forbes. He was seeking $150 billion in damages from the tech companies, as well as the removal of Altman from OpenAI's board of directors.

Musk also sought a legal order that requires OpenAI to abide by its alleged founding mission of aiding humanity and retaining its nonprofit form

OpenAI, which is not publicly traded, valued itself at $852 billion after a round of funding in March. Microsoft's value -- as measured by market capitalization -- stands at about $3.1 trillion.

Musk pleaded two claims against OpenAI: unjust enrichment and breach of charitable trust.

Lawyers for Altman argued that Musk was motivated by a pursuit of control over OpenAI, rather than an effort to safeguard its non-profit status. In fact, Musk sought to fold OpenAI into Tesla -- a move that would have absorbed the venture into a for-profit entity, lawyers for Altman said in a legal filing.

In 2018, Musk told a former OpenAI employee that financial support from Tesla would help OpenAI compete with tech giant Google, the filing said.

"Tesla [was] the only path that could even hope to hold a candle to Google," Musk said, according to the legal filing.

For his part, Musk said in the lawsuit that the agreement on OpenAI's non-profit status was memorialized in a legal filing when OpenAI was incorporated.

In the lawsuit, Musk alleged that Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman reaffirmed the founding agreement in written messages over the ensuing years.

"[I] remain enthusiastic about the non-profit structure!" Altman wrote to Musk in 2017, according to the lawsuit.

Musk, who helped bankroll OpenAI, launched a rival for-profit AI company in 2023 called xAI, which built a chatbot that competes with ChatGPT.

Acknowledging his previous criticism of the pace and ambitions of AI development, Musk said in a conference call on X in July 2023 that he entered the industry reluctantly.

Road work continues in Tyler

TYLER – Currently South Bois D’Arc Avenue is closed from the Tyler Public Library parking lot entrance to West Woldert Street for street improvements. The intersection of West Woldert Street and South Bois D’Arc Avenue will remain open through the end of the school day on Friday, May 22.

The intersection at South College Avenue and West Elm Street has reopened following previous improvements. The Tyler Public Library parking lot will remain accessible from the South College Avenue entrance, and full vehicle and pedestrian access has been restored to the Fair Plaza Parking Garage.

South Bonner Avenue has also reopened following its one-week closure that began May 11.

David Rancken’s App of the Day 05/18/26 – Darkroom!

This could very well be the best photo editor available. Get David Rancken’s App Of The Day. It’s called Darkroom. You can find Darkroom in the Apple Store.

Fire Department mourns driver

TYLER — The Tyler Fire Department is in mourning this week after one of their own died from cancer. According to the Tyler Professional Fire Fighters Association, Local 883 driver engineer Scott Starkey has died after fighting cancer. Starkey was honored by the City of Tyler last year for having served as a firefighter for over 25 years.

“Scott was one of a kind. Crafty, hardheaded, and the kind of firefighter who always found a way to get the job done. He was the brother who could make you laugh, frustrate you, and teach you something all in the same conversation. His grit, determination, and stubborn refusal to back down were part of what made him who he was, both on and off the fireground. More than anything, Scott loved this job and the people beside him. His impact on this department and the firefighters who served with him will not be forgotten.” – Tyler Professional Fire Fighters Association

The firefighter’s association asked for the community to keep Starkey’s friends and family in their thoughts while they grieve.