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FORT WORTH – The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that statewide and national child advocates are sounding the alarm on impacts to emergent bilingual students, one group among many who have been left with less academic support and resources after mass layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education. Almost half of staff at the federal department were recently cut as part of a broader effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to reduce staff across multiple federal agencies. The U.S. Department of Education cuts have resulted in the disbandment of the department’s Office of Language Acquisition, which provides support to English-learning, emergent bilingual students. This student population is among the fastest-growing in Texas with 20% of students statewide — about 1.2 million — identified as emergent bilingual, according to the Texas Education Agency. The apparent elimination of federal oversight for these students, advocates say, could prompt them to fall behind academically, disengage from school and face lower graduation rates.

“One of the things that a lot of people don’t understand is that while immigration may have partly something to do with this, we are a Latino state in many ways. We are a legal immigration hub in many ways. We have a lot of children here that are American citizens, that are still bi-language learners,” said Bob Sanborn, president and CEO of Children at Risk, during a virtual press conference on Wednesday, March 19. “This decision effectively eliminates federal leadership, educator support and resources designed to help emergent bilingual kids succeed in school,” he added. According to Children at Risk, a Texas research and advocacy nonprofit focused on improving children’s quality of life, Texas’ emergent bilingual student population grew by 49% from 2013 to 2023. The Texas state director of Emgage, a group of organizations dedicated to politically empowering Muslim American communities, shared a story of an emergent bilingual student who received support through middle and high school and graduated speaking fluent English. He is now working full-time and attending college to obtain his bachelor’s degree. Jida Nabulsi, the state director, said many emergent bilingual students don’t realize they have the same opportunities as this student to open doors for themselves.

AUSTIN – The Texas Senate on Wednesday passed a state ban on all forms of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, advancing a priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to crack down on the state’s booming consumable hemp market six years after lawmakers inadvertently permitted its rise.

Senate Bill 3 — which Patrick called among his “top five” bills over his 17 years in the Legislature — would outlaw products with any amount of THC, ranging from gummies and beverages to vapes and flower buds, which are currently sold at more than 8,300 locations around the state. Current Texas law allows hemp-derived products that contain less than 0.3% of THC.

“Kids are getting poisoned today,” Patrick said in the Senate chamber as the vote neared.

He used similar language Wednesday morning. “This is a poison in our public, and we as a Legislature — our No. 1 responsibility is life and death issues,” Patrick said at a morning news conference, alongside members of law enforcement and advocates for families who saw loved ones develop behavioral health problems after consuming supposedly-legal THC products. “We’re going to ban your stores before we leave here, for good.”

The vote was 24 to 7.

“I believe this bill goes too far, in that it would put out of business the consumable hemp industry in Texas,” state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin said during debate of the bill, arguing that concerns related to sale of low-THC products should be addressed through stronger regulations.

The Texas House has yet to consider its hemp proposal, House Bill 28, which would impose stricter oversight and licensing requirements for the hemp industry rather than ban THC altogether. If the House passes its proposal, the two chambers would have to reconcile their differences before the legislation could become law.

State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, the lead author of SB 3, said that the Senate and the House were “philosophically aligned” and that there was time to work out any policy differences.

“We’re all on the same page,” Patrick said, adding that he had spoken about the issue with House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, and Gov. Greg Abbott. “We’re going to protect the people of Texas from THC.”

Patrick also had a message aimed directly at retailers: “You might want to voluntarily close your doors, because the investigations are going to continue, and I’m sure the lawsuits are about to come,” he said on Wednesday. “You know what you’re doing.”

The hemp industry lobbied fiercely against a total prohibition on THC, urging lawmakers to instead impose “thoughtful regulations,” such as restricting THC sales to Texans 21 and older, requiring tamper-proof packaging and barring sales within a certain distance of schools.

Mark Bordas, executive director of the Texas Hemp Business Council, said that lawmakers were conflating consumable hemp, which, by legal definition, has a low concentration of THC, with higher potency marijuana.

Certain bad actors are “operating in the black market, in the shadows,” he said, arguing that the state needed greater oversight of the industry as a whole to block those manufacturers and retailers — rather than a total prohibition.

“We have a common enemy. We know who’s doing wrong,” Bordas said. “We’d both like to eliminate them, but the problem is, the lieutenant governor and Senator Perry are going to eliminate the entire business — including over 7,000 licensed dispensaries.”

The industry also highlighted roughly 50,000 jobs and billions in tax revenue that would be lost if lawmakers quashed the hemp market entirely. And critics argued that instead of addressing public health concerns, a ban would push consumers into an unregulated black market, easing access to more potent products.

“Bans don’t work,” Bordas said, a point that was echoed on the Senate floor by state Sen. José Menéndez, D-San Antonio. “All it’s going to do is encourage the bad actors to fill the vacuum.”

Still, he said that the industry believed “cooler heads will prevail” in the House.

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

What followed was an explosion of consumable hemp products, which are barred from containing more than a 0.3% concentration of THC.

Products with a higher concentration are classified as marijuana, which remains outlawed in Texas aside from limited medical uses. Still, hemp-derived products look, taste and sometimes have intoxicating effects similar to their more potent counterparts.

Perry, who led the 2019 bill to legalize hemp, said that lawmakers had not meant to usher in such a large market. On Wednesday, he accused the hemp industry of exploiting a loophole in the 2019 law and making their products easily accessible to young people.

“This is changing people’s lives in short order, because it’s been marketed as something that is safe and legal, and it’s anything but,” Perry said. “This is not the pot of yesterday. This is stuff that will change lives forever.”

Supporters of the ban said high-potency products are already being sold at retailers, despite purporting to be under the legal limit. Steve Dye, chief of the Allen police department in north Texas, said that undercover investigations in his city had found and tested products with up to a 78% THC concentration.

“Most people think that if you walk into a store and you’re able to buy something from a retail establishment, it must be legal and it must be safe,” he said on Wednesday. “With these THC consumables, neither is true. Intentional mislabeling on many products have led to accidental overdoses and increased addiction.”

State and federal law currently place inconsistent testing requirements and no age limits on Texas’ hemp industry.

SB 3 would continue to allow the non-intoxicating, non-psychoactive cannabidiol known as CBD, while placing firmer restrictions on those products — including barring sales and marketing to those under 21 and requiring “tamper-evident, child-resistant, and resealable” product packaging.

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

Some veterans groups told the Senate committee that advanced SB 3 this month that they prefer using the more affordable and accessible THC products sold at everyday retailers like smoke shops and gas station convenience stores. Others said that it would be expensive to properly regulate the industry, and warned that unlike under Texas’ Compassionate Use Program, Texans reaching for retail products did not have the benefit of medical supervision and oversight.

At the same time, the hemp industry has “overwhelming advantages” over the state program, according to Jervonne Singletary, senior director of government relations at Goodblend, one of three medical marijuana providers in the state. Patients have to jump through so many hoops to place and receive orders that some may opt to simply pick up THC products at a nearby retail outlet, she said.

On Wednesday, Patrick vowed to “expand” the Compassionate Use Program and continue investing in mental health care across the state.

SB 1505, also led by Perry, would allow medical marijuana providers to operate satellite storage facilities designed to make it easier for patients to fill their prescriptions, and it would double the cap on licensed medical marijuana dispensers from three to six.

“This is not a political or partisan issue,” Patrick said. “This is about saving lives.”

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

AUSTIN – A woman and her lawyer met with Texas Lottery Commission administrators and lawyers for an exchange: her winning lottery ticket for the $83.5 million it was supposed to be worth.

But her lawyer, Randy Howry, said lottery commission officials told her she wouldn’t be receiving the eight-figure payout until a series of investigations into her win and others were complete. Those investigations — one by Attorney General Ken Paxton and the other by the Texas Rangers, a division of the Department of Public Safety — were launched because the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, bought the ticket through an online app run by a courier.

“She played by all the rules in play at the time,” Howry said of her client, who chose to buy tickets from a courier because of safety concerns. “She should be paid her winnings, but she’s being caught up because the politicians are now involved.”

Lawmakers have scrutinized the state’s lottery commission repeatedly throughout the current Legislative Session over the growing use of couriers — third-party services that enable online purchasing of lottery tickets — and expressed concerns the practice could enable unfair or illegal activity. The move to ban couriers in Texas has the woman who bought her 10 tickets through Jackpocket, the nation’s largest courier, “caught in the crossfire,” Howry said.

After the $83.5 million Lotto Texas jackpot was won in February, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick publicly cast doubt on the legitimacy of the win and announced he would be opening an investigation into the lottery’s dealings with couriers. The investigations by Paxton and the Texas Rangers followed shortly afterward.

The commission confirmed in a statement to the Tribune that the payout is going through both internal and external review processes.

“The claim is being reviewed under the Commission’s claim validation requirements and is the subject of external investigation,” a spokesperson with the lottery commission said.

Also under investigation is a 2023 lottery win in which several entities bought 99% of the game’s possible combinations with the help of retailers and a lottery courier business. That win, its legality which Patrick and other lawmakers question, also has cast doubt on the commission as a whole.

Most major lottery jackpot winners choose to remain anonymous and state law provides protections for them, but Howry said his client feels she is being “lumped in” with potentially illegal players needlessly. While there has yet to be any litigation filed regarding the jackpot, Howry said his client is considering it if the payout is withheld longer.

“The longer it takes for the lottery commission to be responsive to us, the more likely it is that that litigation will be filed,” Howry said.

Couriers have been active and unregulated in Texas for years until late February, when the lottery commission announced it would move to ban the use of couriers entirely. While lawmakers have cast doubts on the legitimacy of the business, proponents of the services say they provide convenience and may actually be a safer way of playing the lottery than buying tickets in public.

Howry’s client is part of a growing number of Texans who had been using Jackpocket and other couriers to buy tickets. Jackpocket alone has sold over $550 million in tickets since it entered the state in 2018, according to the company. Jackpocket has since suspended its activities in Texas following the lottery commission’s announcement, but other couriers are still selling tickets through their apps.

Howry said the refusal to pay out the jackpot to his client is not being applied equally, as others are still claiming prizes won through courier services. He pointed out that the 2023 win was paid out at the time without issue.

“If there was a concern that the couriers were not a safe way to play this game, why didn’t you stop it back then?” Howry said. Why did you make this decision two years later, when this person, who did play by the rules, won the lottery?”

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

AUSTIN – The Texas Senate on Wednesday advanced the chamber’s signature bill aimed at reining in the state’s high housing costs: allowing smaller homes on smaller lots.

Senate Bill 15 — a top priority for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Senate — would reduce the amount of land cities require single-family homes in new subdivisions to sit on. The idea is to reduce the final cost of new homes by allowing homebuilders to construct smaller homes on smaller lots. The bill cleared the Senate by a 28-3 vote.

“The crisis can be summarized in one stat: the average age of a homebuyer in Texas is 54,” said state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who authored the bill. “That’s a classification … that’s not going to be able to be sustained to help first-time homebuyers.”

The bill is part of a slate of proposals aimed at addressing the state’s high home prices and rents by allowing more homes to be built. Texas needs about 320,000 more homes than it has, according to one estimate. That shortage helped drive up home prices and rents, housing advocates and experts argue, because the state hasn’t built enough homes to meet demand amid the state’s economic boom.

State lawmakers are eyeing ways to relax local rules that say what kinds of homes can be built and where — which critics say get in the way of allowing more homes to be built. Legislators are considering proposals intended to make it easier to build accessory dwelling units — otherwise known as ADUs, casitas or mother-in-law suites — in the backyards of single-family homes. Other proposals would allow developers to put homes in places that now only allow offices, shopping malls, warehouses and houses of worship.

SB 15 would prevent cities from requiring homes in new subdivisions to sit on more than 1,400 square feet. The most common lot-size requirements in major cities sit between 5,000 and 7,500 square feet, a Texas Tribune analysis found. The idea behind reducing those requirements would be to give homebuilders the flexibility to build smaller homes and thus reduce the overall cost of the home. The bill would only apply in new subdivisions, not in existing neighborhoods, that sit on at least five acres of land.

For some city officials as well as neighborhood activists who oppose new housing, the idea of state lawmakers weighing in on what kinds of homes cities allow and where is an undue incursion on local authority. Other states like California, Oregon, Montana and Florida have passed laws aimed at curtailing local rules in order to add more homes and reduce housing costs. Few parts of Texas have gone untouched by higher housing costs in recent years, proponents note — providing ample pretext for state lawmakers to intervene.

In Texas, the GOP-led Legislature has pushed for more than a decade to sap authority to make laws from local officials in the state’s urban areas, often Democrats. Democratic House lawmakers led the charge in 2023 to kill legislation that would’ve addressed some local zoning rules when it comes to housing.

Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, expressed concern that Bettencourt’s bill would take zoning powers away from cities that have an interest in regulating land uses like military facilities and industrial parks. But Bettencourt said the legislation relates solely to density, leaving local leaders free to reserve land for residential and commercial use.

Georgetown Republican Sen. Charles Schwertner said he worried that the density rules would unfairly limit city officials’ ability to shape growth.

“I still feel this might be a step too far, although I am willing to vote for it today,” he said.

Some Democrats in the Legislature have shown openness to relaxing city zoning rules at the state level. Two Democratic senators, Roland Gutierrez and Royce West, signed on to Senate Bill 15 as co-authors. (The bill also has nine Republican co-authors.)

The bill now moves to the Texas House of Representatives, where similar legislation died last session. Lawmakers in that chamber, too, have shown an appetite for changes to allow more homes to be built. Making it easier for builders to obtain permits and more difficult for neighboring property owners to oppose new housing are among House Speaker Dustin Burrows’ top priorities.

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

AUSTIN — Sen. Ted Cruz is entering deeper into the fight over school vouchers in the state Legislature, unveiling a six-figure ad buy Thursday praising state House members who support the effort.

Though school vouchers are an issue debated on the state level, Cruz has long been a vocal supporter from his federal perch. He gave targeted endorsements for candidates who support voucher legislation last primary cycle, when school vouchers were the principal cleavage among Republicans. He has urged his fellow Republicans in the Legislature to support vouchers for multiple sessions.

Cruz also led legislation in Congress to expand college savings plans to include public, private, religious, and home-school educational expenses, saying “school choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st century.” The bill mirrors legislation in the state House and Senate, which would create education savings accounts that can be used for private and parochial education.

“Every parent knows choices matter,” Cruz says in the ads. “For too long, Texas parents haven’t had the freedom to choose the right school for their kids. This has to change. School system bureaucrats have fought us every step of the way. But the courage and determination of a few Texas legislators means there’s new hope for our kids.”

Vouchers are Gov. Greg Abbott’s top legislative priority this session, and he has drawn the support of several other national actors. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have called on Republicans in the Legislature to pass school voucher bills. Trump last month said on social media that he would be “watching them closely.”

During last year’s Republican primary, Abbott’s formidable campaign operation targeted 21 Republicans who joined Democrats in opposing school voucher legislation in 2023. Fifteen Republicans were ousted during last year’s primaries.

Abbott has since expressed confidence that voucher legislation will pass with the current Republican majority.

The Republicans who opposed voucher legislation were largely from rural areas and asserted the legislation would weaken funding for public education. Abbott denies that the program would come at the expense of already existing public school funding.

“Texas provided OVER $6 BILLION last session in new public education funding,” Abbott posted on social media. “Anyone who claims that Texas has not increased funding for our public schools since 2019 is a liar.”

Cruz’s ads name 14 House Republicans: Speaker Dustin Burrows, Brent Money of Greenville, Joanne Shofner of Nacogdoches, Trey Wharton of Huntsville, Janis Holt of Silsbee, Matt Morgan of Richmond, A.J. Louderback of Victoria, Alan Schoolcraft of McQueeney, Wes Virdell of Brady, Helen Kerwin of Glen Rose, Shelley Luther of Tom Bean, Don McLaughlin of Uvalde, Marc LaHood of San Antonio and Andy Hopper of Decatur.

Burrows will also honor Cruz on the House floor on Thursday for his advocacy of school vouchers.

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

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s government has given final approval for a Texas-based marine robotics company to renew the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean more than a decade ago.

Cabinet ministers agreed to terms and conditions for a “no-find, no-fee” contract with Texas-based Ocean Infinity to resume the seabed search operation at a new 15,000-square-kilometer (5,800-square-mile) site in the ocean, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said in a statement Wednesday. Ocean Infinity will be paid $70 million only if wreckage is discovered.

The Boeing 777 plane vanished from radar shortly after taking off on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 people, mostly Chinese nationals, on a flight from Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, to Beijing. Satellite data showed the plane turned from its flight path and headed south to the far-southern Indian Ocean, where it is believed to have crashed.

An expensive multinational search failed to turn up any clues to its location, although debris washed ashore on the east African coast and Indian Ocean islands. A private search in 2018 by Ocean Infinity also found nothing.

The final approval for a new search came three months after Malaysia gave the nod in principle to plans for a fresh search.

Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Punkett earlier this year reportedly said the company had improved its technology since 2018. He has said the firm is working with many experts to analyze data and had narrowed the search area to the most likely site.

Loke said his ministry will ink a contract with Ocean Infinity soon but didn’t provide details on the terms. The firm has reportedly sent a search vessel to the site and indicated that January-April is the best period for the search.

“The government is committed to continuing the search operation and providing closure for the families of the passengers of flight MH370,” he said in a statement.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Another storm system affected millions of people in the middle of the U.S. on Wednesday, leaving parts of the Midwest and Great Plains under blizzard conditions and a broad swath of neighboring states at risk of high winds and wildfires.

Roughly 72 million people were under a wind advisory or warning, with winds gusting over 45 mph (72 kph), according to Bryan Jackson, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

At this time of year, cold air lingering in the north collides with warm air from the south to produce strong, low pressure systems, Jackson said. But he added that the latest weather was the third storm system to rapidly develop in recent weeks and bring high winds to a large swath of the U.S., a “very active pattern” since February.

At least 42 people died over the weekend when dynamic storms unleashed tornadoes, blinding dust and wildfires, uprooting trees and flattening hundreds of homes and businesses across eight states in the South and Midwest.
Snow for some

A band from southwestern Kansas to central Wisconsin was expected to bring as little as 2 inches (5 centimeters) of snow or as much as a foot (30 centimeters). Combined with high winds, forecasters warned of whiteout conditions.

The Kansas Department of Transportation temporarily closed more than 250 miles (400 kilometers) of Interstate 70 from the Colorado border east to Salina, Kansas. By Wednesday night, nearly all of it had been reopened due to improved road conditions.

The first stretch to close in western Kansas was also impacted by last week’s high winds when eight people died after a dust storm resulted in a pileup of 71 cars and trucks.

Blizzard conditions early Wednesday led to near-zero visibility in south-central Nebraska, the state patrol said via Facebook, urging people to stay off the roads. There were road closures of more than 160 miles (255 kilometers) of I-80 from Lincoln to Lexington and nearly 70 miles (115 kilometers) of I-29 along the Nebraska-Iowa border. Stalled cars, jackknifed semitrailers, crashes and downed power lines contributed to the chaos.

Around the Iowa-Illinois border, more than an inch of snow was falling per hour, while gusts were as high as 30 mph (48 kph), according to the National Weather Service.

Heavy snow and high winds knocked down tree branches and snapped utility poles. Power was knocked out to more than 140,000 customers in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Indiana, according to PowerOutage.us.

The storm left many with weather whiplash following a springlike Tuesday with temperatures topping 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 Celsius) in some parts.
High winds and risk of fires

Where it was not snowing, there were still very strong winds. Gusts combined with dry conditions from Texas and Oklahoma through Arkansas and central Missouri raised the wildfire potential.

“Before plants are growing,” Jackson said, “there’s a lot of dry fuel out there.”

The fire threat ramped up Tuesday and persisted Wednesday with renewed risk in parts of Oklahoma still reeling from an outbreak of blazes that started Friday. More than 400 homes were severely damaged or destroyed, and at least four people died due to the fires or high winds, officials said.

The Texas A&M Forest Service reported that it responded to 14 new wildfires Tuesday that burned about 29 square miles (75 square kilometers) across Texas.

The agency responded to a fire of about 3 square miles (8 square kilometers) the following day in San Jacinto County, with just a small fraction of it contained.

One fire near Borger, in the state’s panhandle, cut power, led to evacuations and threatened more than 1,000 late Tuesday, the city said via Facebook.

“Through quick response and collaborative effort from many departments around our region, the fire remained outside of the City limits, and we did not lose any of those 1201 homes,” the city said.

As of Wednesday night, that fire, originally spanning 350 acres (140 hectares), covered an estimated 500 acres (200 hectares) and was 75% contained, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.

Crews also responded to dozens of fires in Arkansas, where winds posed additional risk. Four homes in Little Rock were heavily damaged in the southwest part of the city, Fire Chief Delphone Hubbard said during a news briefing, but no fatalities or injuries were reported.

Mayor Frank Scott urged people to heed a burn ban for Pulaski County, saying, “Please do not do anything reckless or careless, because it could create a loss of life.”

Part of I-530 southeast of Little Rock was shut down because of smoke from a grass fire, but traffic resumed by the evening.

The midsection of the state saw wind gusts as high as 59 mph (95 kph), according to the National Weather Service.

In New Mexico, where massive walls of dust forced highway closures and resulted in power outages Tuesday, forecasters warned of a return of critical fire weather conditions on Thursday.
Tornadoes possible

Severe thunderstorms were possible in central Illinois with risks of hail, strong wind and tornadoes. Much of Illinois and Indiana were forecast to be under slight risk, with lower risk farther south through the Tennessee Valley.

Severe storms brought strong winds to Indiana, and hail and tornadoes threatened part of the state, the National Weather Service said.
Looking ahead — and eastward

Jackson said the storm would send a cold front across the Eastern Seaboard on Thursday with potential heavy snowfall at higher elevations in New England.

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Fingerhut reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writers John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.