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AUSTIN – The Dallas Morning News reports that the Texas House approved a bill that would create a nuclear power incentive program designed to jump-start a long-dormant energy industry. Its passage is a step forward in an energy arms race against China and Russia, the bill’s author said. The proposal would create a grant program for the development of a nuclear industry in Texas that could cost taxpayers as much as $2.75 billion if voters approve a related amendment to the Texas Constitution. “Investment in nuclear technology has now become a strategic and moral imperative for our country,” Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, said. “The global race for energy dominance is not just an economic competition. It is a geopolitical contest with immense national security implications.” The proposal was approved with bipartisan support on a voice vote.

House Bill 14 would create a Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office overseen by the governor. The office would manage the state’s grant program and assist nuclear development organizations in navigating the federal permitting process. The House budgeted $750 million for the program. Harris has a proposed amendment to the Texas Constitution that could increase its budget by $2 billion. Lawmakers haven’t voted on the amendment. Eligible projects could receive grants of up to $200 million for those that produce electricity. Businesses and universities researching and developing nuclear technology would be eligible for $12.5 million grants. Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, opposed the bill. He said he supports the nuclear industry but creating a new state office and an incentive program was not the way forward. “It creates more government. It creates more bureaucracy,” Harrison said. “It adds more bureaucrats and, guys, this is pure crony corporatism and corporate welfare.” The bill requires passage from the Senate before it can become law. A Senate companion to the bill has yet to advance in that chamber. Gov. Greg Abbott signaled he would approve a nuclear fund as large as $5 billion last year after a regulatory task force recommended creating similar incentive programs.

BEAUMONT –According to a press release from the acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern district of Texas Abe McGlothin, Jr, a Mexican national has been sentenced for illegally reentering the United States.

Heladio Ruchon Rocha-Tellez, 31, pleaded guilty to illegal re-entry after removal, and was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone on April 22, 2025.

According to information presented in court, on December 19, 2023, local law enforcement responded to a burglary in progress at a Beaumont laundromat. When officers arrived, they encountered Rocha-Tellez hiding behind the counter of the laundromat with a large amount of cash hanging out of his pocket. A check of immigration records revealed that Rocha-Tellez was a Mexican national who had previously been removed from the United States in 2015, and twice again in 2022.

In addition to the immigration charges, Rocha-Tellez was convicted of a state burglary charge in Jefferson County court. He was sentenced to 12 months in state prison on November 19, 2024. Judge Crone ordered that the sentences run consecutively, and Rocha-Tellez will begin his federal prison sentence after completing his state sentence.

AUSTIN – The Quorum Report newsletter reports that the vast majority of state agencies report that flexible work schedules have improved productivity, reduced costs, and strengthened recruitment efforts; Gov. Abbott’s return to office order could cause more turnover, increase burnout and has already caused chaos with employees complaining hours wasted hours in Austin traffic could’ve been used instead for work

Since the COVID-19 pandemic forced workers to work remotely, many agencies have implemented telework arrangements.

According to a 2024 Legislative Budget Board study, of the 96 agencies surveyed about their remote work policies, the benefits are non-exhaustive.

29 agencies reported positive fiscal impacts, including reduced office space needs, fewer consumables and furniture needs. Only the Texas Medical Board and 10th Court of Appeals reported negative fiscal impacts, citing higher supply, phone and Internet costs.

80 agencies reported having remote work and hybrid policies were better for recruitment and retention. 46 agencies reported an increase in productivity. 40 reported no change in productivity.

Yet Gov. Greg Abbott’s return to office order could cause turnover, increase burnout and has already caused chaos with employees complaining the hours wasted hours in Austin traffic could’ve been used instead for work and returning to cramped and overcapacity spaces while they struggle to find parking.

DOGE Committee Chairman Gio Capriglione’s House Bill 5196, which was heard in the committee last week, would create a framework for agencies to restart remote work for government employee

AUSTIN – The Dallas Morning News reports A proposal to clarify Texas’ strict abortion laws and allow doctors to provide emergency abortion care — along with amendments aimed at addressing concerns that pregnant women themselves could be criminalized — passed a key legislative hurdle Tuesday. The Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs voted 11-0 to send an amended version of Senate Bill 31 to the full Senate. That bill was authored by Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola. Abortion rights advocates have raised concerns that the originally filed version of the bill could resurrect a century-old law that would criminalize women who receive abortions. They’ve called for the bill to be amended. Before sending the bill to the full Senate, the Committee on State Affairs adopted a substitute version of Senate Bill 31.

Hughes described the changes to the bill in the committee meeting. “The committee substitute reflects feedback to strengthen the bill, make sure that pregnant women — further clarify they would not be prosecuted in any way,” Hughes said. Hughes’ office sent a copy of the substitute version to The Dallas Morning News. The substitute version removes some of the references to the century-old abortion ban. The substitute also makes it clearer that doctors do not need to wait until a medical condition is “actively injuring” the pregnant woman before providing necessary abortion care. In a joint statement Tuesday evening, five abortion rights advocates and survivors of traumatic pregnancies said they had learned of the changes earlier in the day. They were taking time to review the changes to the bills, according to the statement, which was issued by reproductive rights organization Free & Just. Tuesday’s committee meeting, which lasted about six minutes according to the recording posted online, did not include any discussion of the bill.

EL PASO (AP) – Speaking to the gunman who killed her brother and 22 other people, Yolanda Tinajero did not raise her voice or condemn him for his racist attack at a Walmart in 2019. Instead she told him Tuesday that she forgave him, and wished she could give him a hug.

The judge, in a surprising turn in an El Paso courtroom, allowed her to do just that.

Their brief embrace — while Patrick Crusius was still shackled — was among many emotionally charged moments during two days of impact statements given by victims’ family members and survivors.

Some described their pain and devastation while others assured him the community had met his hatred with love and unity. Later, another person also hugged the man who pleaded guilty in one of the deadliest mass shootings in the U.S.

Crusius, a white community college dropout, had posted online a screed about a Hispanic invasion of Texas before opening fire with an AK-style rifle at the store near the U.S.-Mexico border on Aug. 3, 2019. Crusius didn’t address the families and survivors at his plea hearing Monday. He will serve multiple life sentences after pleading guilty to capital murder and 22 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

“We would have opened our doors to you to share a meal, breakfast lunch or dinner, Mexican-style, so then your ugly thoughts of us that have been instilled in you would have turned around,” Tinajero told him.
‘Hug you very tight’

Tinajero said her brother, 60-year-old Arturo Benavides, was a “kind, sweet-hearted person,” whose wife of over 30 years is broken hearted over her loss.

“Now she lives alone in their home full of memories that she can’t forget,” she said.

“I feel in my heart, to hug you very tight so you could feel my forgiveness, especially my loss, but I know it’s not allowed,” Tinajero said. “I want you to see and feel all of us who have been impacted by your actions.”

Later, the judge asked her: “Ma’am, would it truly bring you peace and comfort if you could hug him?”

’Yes,” she replied.

Her daughter, Melissa Tinajero, told reporters: “I don’t know how she was able to do it. I could not do that. But she showed him something he could not show his victims.”
‘A survivor, not a victim’

Stephanie Melendez told Crusius that she did not want to address him but rather read a letter to her father, 63-year-old David Johnson, who was killed when he shielded his wife and 9-year-old granddaughter from the gunfire.

Melendez thanked her father for making her study, giving her a curfew and telling her when she was 16 that she needed to get a job.

“You made me into the strong woman I am today,” she said.

Her daughter, Kaitlyn Melendez, now 14, told Crusius: “I am a survivor, not a victim.”

“I’m going to walk out these doors and move forward with my life and not let you haunt me anymore.”
‘A disgrace to humanity’

Dean Reckard, whose 63-year-old mother Margie Reckard was among those killed, expressed anger and forgiveness as he addressed Crusius.

“You’re a disgrace to humanity and to your family,” Reckard said, adding that he hopes Crusius wakes up each morning wishing he were dead.

But Reckard also said he forgave the gunman who will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

“In order to be forgiving, you have to forgive others,” he said. “That’s the only reason I forgive you. May God have mercy on your soul.”

Thousands of people attended Margie Reckard’s funeral after her partner of 22 years, Antonio Basco, invited the public to the service, saying he felt alone after her death.
‘Left me sad, bitter’

Liliana Munoz of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, said in court Monday that she was shopping for snacks when Crusius opened fire, forever changing her life physically, economically and emotionally.

In her statement, she said she used to be a “happy, dancing person,” but now is afraid every morning when she awakes. Since she was shot, she has had to use a cane to walk and wears a leg brace to keep her left foot from dragging.

“It left me sad, bitter,” said the 41-year-old mother.

She also granted Crusius forgiveness.
‘You brought us together’

Javier Rodriguez was 15 and starting his sophomore year in high school when he was shot and killed at a bank in Walmart.

On Tuesday his father Francisco Rodriguez shouted at Crusius: “Look at me, I’m talking to you.”

He told Crusius that he and his family have to go to the cemetery to commemorate his son’s birthday.

“I wish I could just get five minutes with you — me and you — and get all of this, get it over with,” he said.

But Rodriguez also referred to comments made about Crusius’ impact on El Paso during his sentencing.

“Like the judge said yesterday, you came down to El Paso with the intention of tearing us apart, but all you did, you brought us together,” he said.