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HOUSTON (AP) – Environmental groups sued the Trump administration on Monday over its approval last month of oil company BP’s ultra deep-water drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico.

The groups sued on the 16th anniversary of the nation’s worst offshore oil spill 50 miles off the Louisiana coast, when BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig sent 134 million gallons (500 million liters) of crude oil spewing into the ocean, killing 11 people and causing billions of dollars in damage to wildlife and miles of coastline.

The administration approved BP’s $5 billion Kaskida project in March, the company’s first new oil field developed in the Gulf since 2010. BP said it could have capacity of 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Groups Healthy Gulf, Habitat Recovery Project, Center for Biological Diversity and others requested a review of the project approval in its Monday filing against the U.S. Interior Department, Secretary Doug Burgum, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and director Matthew Giacona.

The groups say information required for the approval is missing and does not demonstrate that BP has the qualifications to conduct safe drilling that deep. They also say that Kaskida endangers Gulf residents’ health, harms ecosystems and impacts fishing and tourism industries.

“The Trump administration has teed up the entire Gulf region for a Deepwater Horizon sequel” by approving the project, said Brettny Hardy, senior attorney at Earthjustice, which is representing the plaintiffs.

Several lawmakers last year attempted to call on the administration to reject the project’s approval.

Interior spokesperson Charlotte Taylor told The Associated Press that the department does not comment on ongoing litigation. But: “America sets the global standard for energy production. We do it cleaner, safer, and more reliably than anywhere in the world.”

Taylor added the Kaskida project “represents a major step forward, unlocking more than 275 million barrels of previously unrecoverable oil in the Gulf of America. This development will drive job creation, strengthen U.S. national security, and help cut energy costs for American families.”

Increased fossil fuel production has been a priority for President Donald Trump in his second term, and the administration has proposed a number of pro-oil and gas rollbacks of regulations viewed as unfriendly to the industry as part of an “American energy dominance” agenda.

The Gulf of Mexico, which accounts for almost 15% of crude pumped annually in the U.S. and produces about 2 million barrels of oil a day, in particular has been of high importance to Trump.

The administration announced earlier this month it was combining the current Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, under the new Marine Minerals Administration to expedite permitting for offshore oil and gas drilling. The two agencies were separated in the aftermath of the 2010 oil spill.

The administration last month also exempted drilling in the Gulf from the Endangered Species Act — law that makes it illegal to harm or kill species on a protected list — on the basis of national security.

These changes have been made amid soaring energy prices and global oil shocks brought on by the U.S.-Iran war.

BP America spokesperson Paul Takahashi told The Associated Press that Deepwater Horizon forever changed the company.

He added BP believes the lawsuit is unfounded and “is fully confident in our Kaskida development plan and our ability to deliver this offshore project safely, responsibly and in compliance with U.S. regulations and industry standards.”

Just last month, a massive oil spill in the Gulf spread more than 373 miles (600 kilometers) and into seven nature reserves, contaminating at least six species and sending 800 tons of hydrocarbon-laden waste into the ocean.

Many of Trump’s moves have reversed efforts by former Democratic President Joe Biden to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in most U.S. coastal waters.

DAINGERFIELD, Texas (KETK) – The Daingerfield-Lone Star ISD Board of Trustees has called for voters to pass a $45 million bond proposal that would fund a new elementary school campus and more.
LIST: 11 East Texas school districts put bond measures on May ballot

According to the district, the bond proposal came about after a comprehensive districtwide facilities assessment identified several needs across the district, including the aging West Elementary and South Elementary schools, which were both built in the 1950’s.

Beyond their aging campuses, the district has undersized classrooms, asbestos in certain older materials and a lack of secure entry areas.

If voters approve the $45 million bond, the following items would be funded:

A new PK–5 elementary school to replace the existing two campuses.
Security vestibules at the junior high and high school.
Demolition of the current elementary buildings (retaining South Elementary’s library wing for repurposing).
Additional high school parking for improved access and safety.

The district estimates that the Interest & Sinking (I&S) rate will rise by $0.38 per $100 of property value if the bond is passed. As per state law, homeowners 65 and older with a homestead exemption will not see any increase if the bond passes.

To learn more about the proposal, visit Daingerfield-Lone Star ISD online.

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — A stunned Louisiana city struggled to come to grips Monday with the massacre of eight children carried out by a father who was separating from his wife and used an assault-style weapon despite a 2019 felony firearms conviction.

The violence reverberated across Shreveport a day after one of the nation’s deadliest mass shootings in recent years. Schools brought in counselors for the victims’ young classmates and neighbors grieved at a growing memorial. Community leaders called for a city-wide reckoning about how to stop domestic violence.

“We can not afford to wait until the next crisis,” said Caddo Parish Sheriff Henry Whitehorn. “This is the responsibility of all of us. We owe it to the eight children who were lost.”

The shooter, identified as Shamar Elkins, killed seven of his children and another child, police said. His wife also was shot and wounded.

His wife’s sister, who called police minutes after the shooting started, escaped with a child by jumping from the roof, police and family members said Monday.

“She said she was running for her life,” said Lionel Pugh, an uncle of the two women shot. “The only ones he didn’t kill was the ones who got away.”

Elkins died after fleeing and a police pursuit that ended with officers firing on him. It was not clear whether he was killed by officers or from a self-inflicted gunshot, Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said.

Officials said the children who died — three boys and five girls — ranged in age from 3 to 11 years old.

Elkins and his wife, identified by family members as Shaneiqua Elkins, were separating and had been due in court Monday, said Crystal Brown, a cousin of a woman shot in the attack. She said the couple had been arguing about the separation before the shooting.

Family members described Shaneiqua Elkins as a doting mother, who celebrated her children’s success in school and carefully dressed them before family events.

“She raised those kids right,” Pugh said. “They were the center of her universe.”
Gunman had no recent arrests for domestic violence, police say

While the shooter did not appear to have an extensive criminal history, court records showed Elkins was placed on probation in 2019 after pleading guilty to illegal use of weapons. In that case, Elkins fired five rounds at a vehicle and told police that someone inside it had pulled a gun on him, according to a police report.

Based on Louisiana law, a person convicted of certain violent felonies — including illegal use of weapons — are banned from having a gun for at least 10 years after completing their sentence and probation.

Investigators were not aware of other domestic violence issues involving Elkins, said police spokesperson Chris Bordelon.

Elkins had served in the Louisiana National Guard from 2013 to 2020 as a signal support system specialist and a fire support specialist, said guard spokesperson Lt. Col. Noel Collins. Elkins held the rank of private and had no deployments, Collins said.
The violence started before sunrise Sunday

Authorities said the shooting erupted before dawn at two homes.

Elkins shot a woman in a neighborhood south of downtown and a few blocks away at a home where the children were found, police said. Elkins’ nephew was among the slain children, according to the Caddo Parish coroner’s office.

Mourners lit candles for the victims Sunday night in a nearby parking lot.

“It just makes you take your children and hug them and hold them and tell them how much you love them because you just don’t know,” said Kimberlin Jackson, who attended the vigil and is an advocate at the Head Start program where one of the victims was a student. She said the last time she saw him was Friday.
A relative says they were a joyful family

Francine Monro Brown, a cousin of Shaneiqua Elkins, said she would often see the children playing in the yard on Sunday mornings when she drove past the house on her way to church.

“Happy children, joyful children. Shaneiqua is a great mother, She provided a great home for the kids,” Brown said as she stood near a growing memorial of stuffed teddy bears, flowers and pink and blue balloons.

Betty Pugh, another cousin of Shaneiqua Elkins, said she was always with her children. “That was the way we were taught: to love our kids, to take care of our kids. And that’s what she did,” Pugh said.

The mayor of Shreveport, a city of about 180,000 residents in northwestern Louisiana, called it one of the city’s worst days.

The shooting was the deadliest in the U.S. since January 2024, when eight people were killed in a Chicago suburb, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.