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AUSTIN (AP) — City leaders in Uvalde, Texas, approved a $2 million settlement for families of the victims of the 2022 Robb Elementary School shooting, marking the first time one of the myriad lawsuits has led to financial compensation.

Attorneys for the families first announced the terms of the settlement with the city in May 2024, and it was approved by the Uvalde city council Tuesday night.

The settlement with the city will spread the $2 million among the 21 families of the victims killed in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, said Javier Cazares, whose daughter Jackie was one of 19 fourth-graders killed by the gunman. Two teachers were also killed.

The suit addresses the botched law enforcement response by requiring enhanced training for city police officers. It also expands mental health services available to the families and the greater Uvalde area, sets May 24 as an annual day of remembrance, and establishes a permanent memorial in the city plaza.

“This is a small win in a larger battle and a lot of injustice we are still going through,” Cazares told The Associated Press. “I couldn’t care less about the money.”

Uvalde is a city of about 15,000 people about 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of San Antonio. Uvalde Mayor Hector Luevano said the city’s settlement included “restorative justice initiatives for the families” but declined to discuss details. He did not say why it took nearly a year to approve the previously announced deal.

“The City of Uvalde is committed to honoring the memories of the lives lost, families of the victims, survivors and those affected by this tragedy,” Luevano said.

The families have several other lawsuits pending in federal and state courts, including a $500 million lawsuit against Texas state police officials and officers. There’s also a suit against social media company Meta Platforms and the company that made video game ”Call of Duty,” as well as Daniel Defense, the maker of the rifle used in the attack.

Multiple reports from state and federal officials have laid bare cascading problems in law enforcement training, communication, leadership and technology, and questioned whether officers prioritized their own lives over those of children and teachers.

More than 370 responding officers from multiple local, state and federal agencies waited more than an hour to confront and kill the gunman.

Two former Uvalde schools police officers, Pete Arredondo and Adrian Gonzales, face criminal charges of child endangerment and abandonment and are scheduled for trial later this year, but they remain the only two officers charged. They have pleaded not guilty.

The track record for lawsuits following mass shootings is mixed. Over the past decade, courts have tossed numerous attempts, many of which brought negligence claims against the government or the places where the attacks took place. But some get results for victims and their families.

In 2020, the casino company MGM Resorts International and its insurers agreed to an $800 million settlement over a shooting on the Las Vegas Strip that killed 58 people and injured hundreds more.

In April 2023, the Justice Department announced a $144 million settlement with relatives and families of a 2017 Texas church attack, which was carried out by a former U.S. airman with a criminal history.

An attorney for the Uvalde families in the recent settlement with the city said they did not want to bankrupt their community — and that the settlement will be paid through the city’s insurance coverage.

“Faced with a difficult decision, these families worked with the community they love to make things right without creating deeper economic hardship,” attorney Josh Koskoff said. “The road to healing is long and painful, but we are hopeful that this agreement enables families who lost so much and the city they call home to continue that process.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has charged an alleged high-ranking member of Tren de Aragua in Colombia with terrorism offenses, making the first case of its kind against a member of the gang the Trump administration has designated a foreign terrorist organization, officials said Wednesday.

The case is part of a broad push to target Tren de Aragua or TdA, a Venezuelan gang that has been blamed for drug smuggling and violence in the United States. President Donald Trump has labeled the gang an invading force under an 18th century wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants to a notorious El Salvador prison as part of Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.

The Justice Department’s application of a criminal statute primarily reserved in recent years for extremist groups such as the Islamic State and al-Qaida underscores the extent to which the administration is relying on a strikingly expansive definition of terrorism as it pursues a national security agenda focused on drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

“TdA is not a street gang – it is a highly structured terrorist organization that put down roots in our country during the prior administration,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “Today’s charges represent an inflection point in how this Department of Justice will prosecute and ultimately dismantle this evil organization, which has destroyed American families and poisoned our communities.”

Jose Enrique Martinez Flores, 24, was charged in Texas federal court with drug offenses as well as conspiring to provide and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Prosecutors described him as part of the “inner circle of TdA leadership,” and accuse him of playing a role in the international distribution of cocaine.

He is in custody in Colombia awaiting further proceedings. The Justice Department said he faces up to life in prison.

The material support statute has long been a favored tool of the Justice Department to build prosecutions against people who are suspected of facilitating the operations of a militant group but not always carrying out violence themselves.

The addition of TdA to the State Department list of foreign terrorist organizations enables the Justice Department to wield the statute against individuals suspected of supporting that group.

The announcement comes days after prosecutors announced what they said was the first case to bring federal racketeering charges, which were famously used to bring down the Mafia, against the Venezuelan street gang.

HOUSTON (AP) — The State Bar of Texas rescinded a speaking invitation to the NAACP’s president after the civil rights group challenged the Trump administration’s dismantling of the Education Department, citing new rules over speaking topics the bar says could be deemed political.

Derrick Johnson, the NAACP’s president and CEO, had been set to speak during the state bar’s annual meeting in June in San Antonio. He said Wednesday he was shocked his invitation to speak was taken away.

“They have decided to censure free speech on notions of being political when it’s not political,” Johnson told The Associated Press. “This is the State Bar of Texas. These are lawyers who are sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States. And nothing about our actions is contrary to the very principles that they have sworn to uphold. And so, I find it ironic to say the least that a lawsuit would generate a rescission of the invitation.”

Johnson was set to speak on the Juneteenth holiday, which marks the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in the U.S. learned they were free.

At issue is a lawsuit the NAACP and other civil rights and education groups filed in March against President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Education Department. The lawsuit argues the administration’s cuts will hobble mandated functions like protecting students from discrimination or funding educational programs.

Trey Apffel, the executive director of the state bar, said his organization rescinded the speaking invitation because the NAACP’s lawsuit violated state bar rules that call for it to be politically neutral. He said the bar had been unaware of the lawsuit until learning about it in the press.

The bar is required by law, including a November 2023 ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, to limit what information it can communicate to issues related to the practice of law.

The bar, which regulates the legal profession in Texas, is also mandated by the Texas Supreme Court, which has administrative control over the group, to stay clear of anything “even having the perception of being political or ideological,” Apffel said.

The bar views the NAACP’s lawsuit as “political because it is taking on the federal government on an executive order of the president,” Apffel said.

Johnson said he disagrees with Apffel’s view of the lawsuit.

“It is a case questioning whether or not there is constitutional authority for the president to take a certain action. That’s not political. That’s the job of lawyers. That is the job of the NAACP,” Johnson said.

During a phone call in February with Apffel and other state bar leaders, Johnson said, he was asked to not make his speech political in any way and he agreed.

In a letter sent to Apffel and the bar earlier Wednesday, Johnson said there was a “glaring inconsistency” in the group’s decision to rescind his invitation but to allow former U.S. Attorney General William Barr to speak at the 2023 annual meeting.

The bar was criticized by some of its members for inviting Barr to speak, citing his actions during the first Trump administration, including authorizing federal prosecutors across the U.S. to pursue allegations of voting irregularities before the 2020 presidential election had been certified despite no evidence of widespread fraud.

Apffel said when Barr spoke in 2023 he was a former officeholder “whose role as the attorney general and thoughts on legal matters, both pro- and anti-Trump, were relevant to a legal audience.”

In a column written before Barr’s appearance, Laura Gibson, a former president of the state bar, defended the decision to have Barr speak.

“It is easy to defend the rights of speakers we agree with, but it is essential to the rule of law that we also defend the rights of speakers with whom we disagree,” Gibson said. “In these polarized times, it seems we’re in danger of losing that. As lawyers, we should be in the forefront of protecting unpopular or controversial speech.”

With tighter restrictions in place today by the bar on what can be said, Barr would not have been allowed to speak, Apffel said.

“I have great respect for Derrick Johnson and his position as president of the NAACP,” Apffel said. “And I have great respect for the NAACP and what they do and what they stand for.”

He said Johnson’s replacement, former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson, who is Black, will speak on the significance of Juneteenth.

“We are in an intersection point in our democracy,” Johnson said. “Are we going to uphold the Constitution and ensure that this speech is something that we value, or are we going to take a different approach?”

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Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70

AUSTIN (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill Wednesday creating an office inspired by the Department of Government Efficiency and aimed at reducing state regulations, joining other Republican governors who have pledged their own versions of billionaire Elon Musk’s cost-cutting group.

In establishing the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office, Abbott welcomed cutting regulations and putting stricter standards on new ones. He made no mention during a ceremonial bill signing at the state Capitol of intentions to slash jobs like DOGE, which has divided the country.

“The regulatory environment in Texas is getting too burdensome,” said Abbott, who made the bill the first he has signed this year. “It will put a check on the growth of the administrative state in Texas.”

The law also states that courts are not required to comply with a state agency’s interpretation of its rules or regulations in legal challenges.

More than 20 states have initiated DOGE-style efforts to varying degrees. Most have done so by introducing legislation to create DOGE offices or have created their own legislative committees. Some, such as Texas, have done both; in January, Texas House lawmakers created a DOGE legislative committee, which has primarily worked to audit and modernize dated technology in state agencies.

The governors of Montana, Oklahoma, Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida and Louisiana have issued executive orders to create state DOGE departments.

In Texas, leaders of the state’s employee union dismissed the bill as adding a layer of bureaucracy instead of eliminating one.

“The definition of ‘efficiency’ is being stretched beyond recognition,” Myko Gedutis, vice president of the Texas State Employees Union, said in a statement.

Abbott’s signing comes days after protests popped up across the country in opposition to Musk and the thousands of job cuts DOGE has initiated across the federal government. The measures have set off multiple court challenges and come under criticism for cutting essential services.

In Wisconsin, Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who created a bipartisan DOGE committee, has said its purpose is to rid of government fraud and waste. Texas lawmakers’ focus — whose committee holds eight Republicans and five Democrats — has been to audit state agencies.

More than 10 states, including Georgia, Connecticut and Arizona, have only introduced bills on the matter. The “Red Tape Rollback Act of 2025” in Georgia would require state agencies to review the economic impact of their rules and regulations.

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Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

HUNTSVILLE (AP) — A Texas man convicted of fatally strangling and stabbing a young mother more than 20 years ago was executed Wednesday evening as the victim’s mother and other relatives looked on.

Moises Sandoval Mendoza, 41, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville and was pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m. He was sentenced to death for his conviction in the March 2004 killing of 20-year-old Rachelle O’Neil Tolleson.

After a spiritual adviser prayed over him for about two minutes, Mendoza apologized repeatedly to the victim’s two parents and other relatives present, calling to each by name. “I am sorry for having robbed you of Rachelle’s life,” he said, addressing the parents, one of her brothers, a cousin and an uncle watching through a window from an adjoining room.

Mendoza also said he had robbed Tolleson’s daughter of her mother, adding, “I’m sorry for that. I know nothing that I could ever say or do would ever make up for that. I want you to know that I am sincere. I apologize.” The daughter wasn’t present for the execution.

He then spoke briefly in Spanish, addressing his wife, his sister and two friends watching through a window from another witness room. “I love you, I am with you, I am well and at peace,” he said in Spanish, his words provided in a transcript in English translation. “You know that I’m well, and everything is love.”

As the injection began, he could be heard making two loud gasps and then began snoring. After about 10 snores, all movement ceased and he was pronounced dead 19 minutes later.

Prosecutors say Mendoza, 41, took Tolleson from her north Texas home, leaving her 6-month-old daughter alone. The infant was found cold and wet but safe the next day by Tolleson’s mother. Tolleson’s body was discovered six days later, left in a field near a creek.

Evidence in Mendoza’s case showed he also had burned Tolleson’s body to hide his fingerprints. Dental records were used to identify her, according to investigators.

Pam O’Neil, the victim’s mother, told reporters after witnessing Mendoza’s execution that it could not undo the loss of her daughter. Reading from a statement, she said of Mendoza: “He’s been on death row 20 years. That ended today. He was put to sleep. He felt no pain. I wish I could say the same about my daughter’s death.”

As Mendoza’s relatives and friends left the prison, they appeared distraught and embraced one another.

Hours earlier on Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a final request by Mendoza’s attorneys to stop his execution. Mendoza’s attorneys told the justices in a filing that he had been prevented by lower courts from arguing that he had been denied effective assistance of counsel earlier in the appeals process.

But the Texas Attorney General’s Office told the Supreme Court that Mendoza’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel had previously been found “meritless and insubstantial” by a lower federal court.

Lower courts also had previously rejected his petitions for a stay. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday denied Mendoza’s request to commute his death sentence to a lesser penalty.

Authorities said that in the days before the killing, Mendoza had attended a party at Tolleson’s home in Farmersville, located about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northeast of Dallas. On the day her body was found, Mendoza told a friend about the killing. The friend called police, and Mendoza was arrested.

Mendoza confessed to police but couldn’t give detectives a reason for the killing, authorities said. He told investigators he repeatedly choked Tolleson, sexually assaulted her and dragged her body to a field, where he choked her again and then stabbed her in the throat. He later moved her body to a more remote location and burned it, they said.

Mendoza was the third inmate put to death this year in Texas, historically the nation’s busiest capital punishment state, and the 13th in the U.S.

On Thursday, Alabama plans to execute James Osgood for the 2010 rape and murder of a woman.

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Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70

FORT WORTH – The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that it’s getting more expensive to protect your home in North Texas. Homeowners insurance premiums increased 22% in 2024, according to the Texas Department of Insurance, and insurance companies have had to pay out more claims because there have been more severe storms. The state has had more disasters causing $1 billion in damages in the last five years than the previous decade, according the National Atmospheric and Oceanographic Administration. While legislators in Austin are working to lower residential property taxes, insurance brokers, Realtors, and industry experts say not much can be done when it comes to insurance — the other major cost of a monthly mortgage payment. More storms and inflation have pushed rates higher. It’s making housing more expensive, and causing some to fear losing their homes.

The biggest cost driver in North Texas has been wind and hail, said Chandler Crouch, a Realtor known for helping his clients lower their property tax bills. Crouch even tried his hand at offering homeowners insurance a few years ago, but found many carriers were avoiding new business in North Texas because of storm losses. “I’ve been in the business since 2002 and I’ve seen a lot of market changes, and I’ve never seen insurance rates this bad,” he said. “It’s pretty bleak out there.” Texas ranks at or near the top of states that experience weather catastrophes, including hurricanes, hail, flooding, fire, wind, and tornadoes, said Richard Johnson, a spokesperson for the Insurance Council of Texas. The cost of materials is also going up, said Frank McArthur, a Tarrant County roofing contractor who primarily works on insurance claims. It’s not unusual to get a notice from suppliers twice a year that materials are going up 2% or 3%, but about a month ago, McArthur said one of his suppliers told him prices were going up 10%. He used to not think much of it, because insurance companies were always going to pay, but now McArthur is seeing how rising prices are having an impact on the broader market.

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.