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HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Houston billionaire and businessman Tilman Fertitta to become the next U.S. ambassador to Italy. “Tilman is an accomplished businessman, who has founded and built one of our country’s premier entertainment and real estate companies, employing approximately 50,000 Americans,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Tilman has a long history of giving back to the community through numerous philanthropic initiatives, which include children’s charities, law enforcement, and the medical community.” CBS on Dec. 10 first reported news of Fertitta’s possible appointment, noting the 67-year-old was expected to be Trump’s pick for the post.

Fertitta is an active member of the Houston community. He is the CEO of Landry’s, owner of the Houston Rockets, chairman of the University of Houston board of regents and executive committee member of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, among other positions and ownership stakes. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has also been a strong backer of Fertitta, appointing him to the University of Houston System Board of Regents in 2021. Fertitta has also donated millions to Texas Republicans, including to Governor Greg Abbott, as the Texas Tribune previously reported. Ambassadors are positions appointed by the president and approved by the Senate. They serve as the highest-ranking U.S. representative in the country to which they have been assigned. In November, Fertitta attended a SpaceX Starship rocket test flight in South Texas with Trump and Elon Musk. Most of Fertitta’s political donations have been to Republicans, including Trump, but he has also made donations to Democrats, according to Open Secrets. Fertitta isn’t the only person with sports ties to be nominated by Trump as an ambassador. Former Heisman Trophy winner and U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker is the nominee to be ambassador to the Bahamas.

AUSTIN – Texas Monthly reports that when Texas lawmakers return to the Capitol each January in odd-numbered years, the opening of the legislative session is generally a cross between the first day of school and a family reunion with upward of 200 relatives. Handshakes, hugs and backslaps are the first order of business. And members from both chambers often bring their spouses and children to the floor to bask in the camaraderie. The galleries are generally packed with friends and supporters who don’t have the privilege of being on the floor. But with the race for House speaker unsettled and increasingly rancorous just a few weeks before the start of the 2025 session, the atmosphere could just as easily take on the vibe of a dysfunctional family at the reading of the patriarch’s will in which members of several factions are convinced that members of the other have connived to gain a disproportionate share of the inheritance.

Instead of backslapping, there could be accusations of backstabbing. And maybe even worse. All of this is a scenario, not a prediction. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that either of the two front-running candidates — Republican state Reps. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock and David Cook of Mansfield — could cobble together a governing majority before the 89th Legislatures is gaveled to order at noon Jan. 14. It’s also possible that another House member will step in as a compromise choice and walk off with the prize. And if someone can reach the magic number of 76 votes in the 150-member House, it would not be terribly surprising if an overwhelming majority in both parties fall in line and cast their votes for the inevitable winner in the interest of decorum and putting bruised feelings in the past.

FORT WORTH – The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in American history, and recently obtained documents reveal that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been making plans to expand immigration detention in Texas and other states since before he won the election. The documents were obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union through a Freedom of Information Act request and lawsuit filed earlier this year. They show that ICE issued a Request for Information for “Multi-State Detention Facility Support” to private prison and logistics services vendors earlier this year. The deadline to send responses was June 23. “What these FOIA requests revealed is especially concerning, since ICE detention facilities have historically disregarded the health, dignity, and constitutional rights of migrants,” said Adriana Piñon, legal director for the ACLU of Texas. “Texas’ diverse communities deserve resources, like better schools and access to health care, to help them flourish, not more immigration officials splintering our vibrant migrant communities and jailing people in inhumane conditions.”

Three companies — CoreCivic, the GEO Group and the Management & Training Corporation — sent responses expressing their interest in providing detention services in Texas. On June 21, Tennessee-based CoreCivic submitted information about a facility it operated in Dilley, Texas, to support ICE’s operations out of its field office in Harlingen. ICE terminated the contract for that facility on June 10, citing cost concerns. Ryan Gustin, CoreCivic’s director of public affairs, confirmed that the company no longer operates that facility. Immigration advocates have pointed to abusive conditions at the facility, including a 19-month-old migrant child who died after leaving the facility in 2018, which sparked an investigation into allegations of abuse and neglect. CoreCivic also submitted information about two facilities it operates in New Mexico that fall under the jurisdiction of ICE’s El Paso field office. Critics have denounced “inhumane conditions” at those facilities. Gustin told the Star-Telegram in an email that all of its immigration detention facilities “operate with a significant amount of oversight and accountability.”

AUSTIN – Tech Crunch reports that Tesla is evaluating multiple Texas cities where it wants to test a long-promised robotaxi service, including Austin, according to emails obtained by Bloomberg News. An employee has apparently been in touch with Austin officials since May, and recently held an event in December to “train first responders on how to best work with Tesla’s autonomous vehicle technology,” which is still in development. The employee told the city that “Austin is obviously on our roadmap, but has not yet been decided where we will deploy first as we have many options available.” (Tesla often pits multiple cities and states against each other when it’s making decisions on where to do business; it caused a bidding war over the location of its original Gigafactory that reportedly inspired Jeff Bezos to do something similar when locating Amazon’s second headquarters.) Tesla is not testing any vehicles on public streets, according to the report. That could be because, despite unveiling a so-called “Cybercab” prototype in October, the company has yet to deliver on CEO Elon Musk’s years of promises of making a fully self-driving Tesla, let alone a robotaxi service.

KILLEEN (AP) — A pickup truck driver fleeing police careened through the doors of a JCPenney store in Texas and continued through a busy mall, injuring five people before he was fatally shot by officers, authorities said.

The truck crashed into the department store in Killeen, about 68 miles (109 kilometers) north of the state capital Austin, around 5:30 p.m. Saturday and continued into the building, striking people as it went, Sgt. Bryan Washko of the Texas Department of Public Safety said in an evening news briefing.

Emergency medical services transported four victims from the mall to area hospitals and another traveled to a hospital separately. They ranged in age from 6 to 75 years old and their conditions were not immediately known, he said.

The chase began around 5 p.m. on Interstate 14 in Belton, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Killeen, after authorities received calls about an erratic driver in a black pickup, Ofelia Miramontez of the Killeen Police Department said.

The driver then pulled off the road and drove into the parking lot of the mall.

“The suspect drove through the doors and continued to drive through the JCPenney store, striking multiple people,” Washko said. “The trooper and the Killeen police officer continued on foot after this vehicle, which was driving through the store, actively running people over. He traveled several hundred yards.”

Officers from the state public safety department, Killeen and three other law enforcement agencies “engaged in gunfire to eliminate this threat,” Washko said.

One of the officers who traded gunfire with the suspect was working as a security guard at the mall and others were off duty, he said.

Washko did not have information about the suspect’s identity at the time of the briefing.

Witnesses interviewed by local news outlets outside the mall said they heard multiple gunshots and saw people fleeing through the mall.

HOUSTON – KPRC reports that animal advocates are renewing efforts to ban the sale of commercially bred puppies and kittens in Texas pet stores, citing concerns over unethical practices and animal welfare. The Texas Humane Legislation Network released undercover footage as part of its campaign to highlight what they call the “puppy mill pipeline.” This system brings weeks-old puppies from Midwest breeders into Texas, where they are sold for thousands of dollars each. THLN Executive Director Shelby Bobosky explained the risks these puppies face during transport. “What they endure is the trip down to Texas… Various types of puppies in their own feces and urine with a very weakened immune system,” said Bobosky. “That’s why sometimes when they arrive at the store, they are sick or become sick soon after.” Undercover video shows puppies in Texas pet stores appearing sick, lethargic, or undergoing treatment. One video, reportedly submitted by a former pet store employee, shows a puppy unable to stand.

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EL PASO – El Paso Matters reports that the El Paso District Attorney’s Office improperly directed the alteration of court records as it prepared to appeal the dismissal of dozens of cases against migrants charged with rioting when they entered the country earlier this year, a judge ruled this week. “The State’s failure to notify the trial Court that the Certification Order had been altered, and its refusal to respond to requests for a hearing by the Defense to ensure that the record that was transmitted to the Court of Appeals was correct, indicate that the State was not and is not acting in good faith to ensure an accurate record,” County Court at Law 7 Judge Ruben Morales wrote in an order issued late Wednesday. “The lack of good faith by the State is further evidenced by its refusal to cooperate with the trial Court in setting this matter for an evidentiary hearing and its reluctance to participate in the hearing.” He ordered that the altered record be removed from the hearing record provided to the 8th Court of Appeals, which could make it more difficult for prosecutors to challenge Morales’ June 6 decision to dismiss charges against migrants who were arrested as part of Texas’ Operation Lone Star, which seeks to deter illegal entry into the United States and use state charges to prosecute those who do.

BEDFORD – The Dallas Morning News reports two ministries that broadcast TV shows on Daystar Television Network have announced they are parting ways with the Bedford-based company, which has been rocked by a family rift over child abuse allegations. LoveIsrael, a Bible teaching ministry led by Baruch Korman, announced in a YouTube video Tuesday that the organization is taking its shows off Daystar’s network. And Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson, an author and former co-host of The 700 Club Canada, announced last month that she was removing her show, Laura-Lynn Live at the Eagle’s Nest, from Daystar. Daystar did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the departures of LoveIsrael and Thompson.

“I could no longer be a part of it [the network],” Thompson told The Dallas Morning News in a Dec. 18 interview. She said her show had been airing on Daystar for about six weeks before she terminated the relationship. “When I saw Joni Lamb make a brief statement… and talking about performance reviews and that he [Lamb’s son] has engaged in a smear campaign, my heart as a mother sank,” Thompson said. Korman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the video, Korman said his organization has had a relationship with Daystar for about 10 years, and would be severing its relationship with the network “as soon as possible.” LoveIsrael says on its website that its weekly TV program is broadcast in about 190 countries, including on Daystar’s network. Daystar broadcasts a slate of around-the-clock programming to over 100 TV stations across the country, and its programming includes shows hosted by some of the most influential evangelical televangelists and pastors including Joel Osteen and Dallas’ Bishop T.D. Jakes.

PECOS (AP) — Federal officials investigating the deadly West Texas collision between at Union Pacific train and a tractor-trailer hauling a wind turbine base said Friday they were trying to determine why the tractor-trailer was stopped on the tracks, leading to the crash that derailed the train and propelled the enormous wind turbine base into the air.

Two employees of Omaha, Nebraska-based Union Pacific were killed in the collision Wednesday at a railway crossing in Pecos. The National Transportation Safety Board said it hasn’t yet determined how long the tractor-trailer was on the tracks before the collision or if anyone tried to contact the railroad through the emergency number posted at the crossing.

The train was traveling at about 68 mph (109 kph) before the crew applied emergency brakes prior to impact, the NTSB said.

The collision caused the wind turbine base to fly into a nearby building, NTSB said. The Chamber of Commerce building was damaged in the collision, and a Reeves County official has said that some people in the building were injured.

The Pecos police chief has said all of the three injuries from the collision were minor.

NTSB said that a data recorder recovered from the wreckage is being transported to its lab.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A teacher at a San Antonio-area day care was killed and another employee and five toddlers were injured when a parent’s car accelerated into another vehicle in the parking lot and both vehicles crashed into a play area, authorities said.

The crash happened Thursday afternoon as parents were leaving a holiday performance at the preschool in Boerne. The teacher who died was Alexia Rosales, 22, authorities said.

The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said a 23-year-old employee and five 1-year-olds were injured and taken to the hospital.

Sheriff Javier Salazar said a parent had put her children into her vehicle and suddenly accelerated for an unknown reason. He said her vehicle hit another in the parking lot, sending both vehicles through a fence and into an area where students were playing.

“It appears to be just a very tragic accident,” Salazar said.

AUSTIN (AP) — A second attempt by Texas lawmakers to bring a man on death row to the state Capitol over doubts that he killed his 2-year-old daughter failed again Friday, dimming the likelihood of Robert Roberson testifying publicly after a last-minute subpoena halted his execution.

Roberson, who had been scheduled to be die by lethal injection in October, would be the first person in the U.S. to be executed over a conviction tied to shaken baby syndrome, a diagnosis that medical experts have questioned.

The latest unsuccessful effort to have Roberson testify comes after Texas’ attorney general asked a court to block a second legislative subpoena issued by lawmakers, who are running out of time until the Legislature reconvenes in January and the subpoena expires.

“We have been attempting to fight accommodation since October, and they have never responded to anything meaningfully because they don’t want to have Robert here,” said Democratic state Rep. Joe Moody, one of the lawmakers who led the effort to halt Roberson’s execution.

Roberson, 58, was convicted of killing his daughter in 2003. Prosecutors argued that he violently shook his daughter back and forth, causing severe head trauma in what’s called shaken baby syndrome.

The state’s Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, has staunchly defended Roberson’s conviction and said the science around shaken baby syndrome has not changed enough to absolve his guilt.

In the court order, Paxton’s office said that “it is not the role of the Legislature to adjudicate offenses” and that lawmakers overstepped their power when they halted his execution.

The Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence issued their first subpoena for Roberson to testify one day before his scheduled execution — an unprecedent legal maneuver that successfully staved off his execution.

A new execution date has not been set.

Texas has a “junk science law” that allows people wrongfully convicted on dubious science to have their sentences overturned. The House committee said they wanted Roberson to testify about this law and how they believe it has not worked as intended for his case. Criminal justice advocates say the state’s highest criminal court has deliberately misinterpreted the law.

The Texas Supreme Court ruled in November that although the subpoena was valid, it cannot be used to circumvent a scheduled execution.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has maintained that Roberson was rightfully convicted. The Texas Board of Pardons and Parole voted unanimously to not recommend him clemency in October.

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