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Talarico is trying to win back Hispanics along the Texas border who swung toward the GOP

EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — The black campaign bus with “Talarico for Texas” across its side came to a steaming stop at Memo’s Restaurant along the U.S.-Mexico border. Bibi Valdez’s eyes lit up. She marched in heels over to the bus, phone camera trained on its door, chatting about the locals whose political leanings shifted two years ago.

“A lot of people, for some reason, especially the Hispanics, changed to Republican,” she said as security guards created space for James Talarico, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate. “I just don’t see what the logic was.”

Talarico is on a quest to become the first Democrat to win a statewide election in Texas since 1994. Memo’s Restaurant was one stop on a winding trip along the border this month, where he was searching for support from the predominantly Hispanic counties that became national political curiosities after the 2024 election.

Once consistently Democratic, most had voted for Republican President Donald Trump, some by a lot, as Hispanic voters shifted to the right nationally. Along this stretch of border, residents and elected leaders alike tend to point to two reasons: the rise in both border crossings and everyday prices. One dropped dramatically since 2024, and it wasn’t the cost of eggs.

While Trump has tamped down on illegal border crossings — once Democrats’ Achilles’ heel — the cost of living is still high, giving Talarico a topic he’s been hitting on repeat as he campaigns against Republican Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general.

Whether Talarico’s message can sway Hispanic voters who moved to the GOP to return to the Democratic Party will help decide the Senate race, and could determine whether Democrats can win control of the Senate.

So Talarico, a former middle school teacher and state lawmaker, was taking time to shake hands and pose for photos with people outside Memo’s Restaurant, which was at capacity with people wanting to see him. Valdez, waiting her turn, pondered aloud why those she knew had voted Republican.

“They thought a better economy, but obviously it didn’t,” she said, before beaming for a photo with the candidate.
Talarico says the economy is rigged against working people

Inside Memo’s Restaurant, the crowd was revved up, shoulder to shoulder, below beating fans, as Talarico opened his speech.

“So many politicians show up at the border to demonize and weaponize,” Talarico said. “We are doing the opposite. We are showing the beauty of our border communities.”

It was one of the few times Talarico referenced the border during his stop, turning instead to an economy he says is rigged to help “mega donors” and criticizing Paxton as a “puppet politician” for the wealthy.

“We can’t get ahead no matter how hard we work, no matter how much we save, because the system is rigged against us,” he said.

Talarico is not the first Democratic Senate candidate in recent years to draw crowds and give the party hope of winning in the reliably Republican state. Beto O’Rourke went on a similar mission in 2018 and failed.

Republicans remain confident about Texas, but Democrats see some reason for optimism.

While Trump gained with Hispanic voters in 2024, opinions of the president have fallen among Hispanics overall since he took office, according to AP-NORC polling. Only 29% of Hispanic adults nationally approved of his performance as president in a June AP-NORC poll, an apparent drop from 41% at the start of his second term.

With illegal border crossings down, residents worry about high costs

In communities along the Rio Grande, which defines the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, the ebb and flow of migrants isn’t an abstract political issue. People here still recall — often with empathy — hundreds huddled in reflective emergency blankets under a bridge, and the hit to local businesses and town coffers.

Little aid, many said, came from President Joe Biden’s administration.

“It was a nightmare because of him. Now, you don’t see no immigrants,” said Hector Flores, 72, sitting with his two friends at a McDonald’s in Maverick County, about an hour’s drive south of Memo’s Restaurant.

Maverick County had one of the sharpest swings toward Trump than any county in the country in 2024, from backing Biden by 10 percentage points in 2020 to supporting Trump by 19.

The three men of varying political persuasions weren’t following the Senate race particularly closely. But the issues on their minds were the same ones Talarico and Paxton have been talking about, from high costs to ICE and social issues.

Under past presidents, costs were OK, said Eduardo “Lalo” Riojas, 73, who sat next to Flores. Now, “You go down to HEB to buy merchandise, groceries,” he said, trailing off without the right English word.

“Expensive,” Flores offered.

“Yeah,” said Riojas, who supports Talarico. “Mr. Trump is crazy.”

For Flores, who works with orphanages across the border in Mexico, those high prices aren’t making him question his Republican vote. Nor is he politically moved by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s sometimes lethal operations in the interior, which have ruffled some Trump supporters, both Hispanic and otherwise.

“I love ICE,” said Flores.

Mike Garcia, 76, who sat across from the two and said he voted for Trump three times in a row, was more wary.

“The ones they’re killing, some of them, been here in the United States for years and years and got children,” Garcia said.

He said Paxton, who has been impeached, then acquitted, and faced allegations of corruption and extramarital affairs, has a “horrible reputation.” But he also is bothered by comments Talarico has made about God’s gender, a statement Paxton has used to attack his opponent as he appeals to Texas voters’ conservative values.

Garcia still didn’t know which candidate he’ll support come November.

Talarico and Paxton both criticize Biden’s border policy

Paxton has leaned more on immigration enforcement as an issue, including during his own border stop in the Rio Grande Valley.

Speaking in a circle of supporters in McAllen, Paxton first plugged the lawsuits he filed against the Biden administration over immigration enforcement, and his endorsement from the National Border Patrol Council.

He then returned to some of his core attacks on Talarico, including repeating the Democrat’s statements that “God is nonbinary,” which Talarico — a seminary student — said on the Texas House floor several years ago, citing Scripture.

His campaign’s director of Hispanic outreach said Paxton has delivered what Hispanics want, including taking on criminals and companies that gouge consumers, and attacked Talarico as “wimpy.”

“Hispanics know Ken Paxton is a strong man who shares our values, and we see in James Talarico a wimpy liberal,” Alex Alarcon said. “No one looks at him and thinks, now there’s a guy who’ll protect us from the cartels.”

Talarico didn’t avoid talk about immigration enforcement completely during his border tour.

At a news conference, he stood in Sanderson, Texas, alongside local sheriffs to pledge investment in surveillance tech to catch illegal crossings and to hire more border patrol agents and immigration judges.

Later, after a town hall where voters aired their frustrations over affording rent, property taxes and healthcare, Talarico spoke with The Associated Press about what’s been happening here.

“The Biden administration failed border communities like this, and so people were feeling disillusioned. They were open to an alternative and Republicans came down here with some big promises,” he said.

Now, “they’re seeing a lot of those promises weren’t kept.”

Heat dome expands across the central United States, creating dangerous conditions for millions

WASHINGTON (AP) — Temperatures hit sweltering highs across much of the central United States on Saturday as forecasters warned that dangerously hot weather from Dallas to North Dakota would push into next week, with roughly 80 million people facing heat advisories.

A heat dome, where atmospheric conditions trap heat, was forecast to create sustained high temperatures and accumulating discomfort. Meanwhile overnight lows were not expected to come down enough for people to have much chance to recover, allowing heat stress to build as the bad weather lingers, forecasters said. With the high humidity, it feels even worse.

The oppressive midsummer weather was forecast to affect a huge stretch of the country, from the desert Southwest to the Gulf Coast and reaching up into the Midwest and Great Plains. Some records around the Denver area could be broken, forecasters said, and temperatures were expected to be 10 F to 15 F (5.6 to 8.3 C) above normal.

“It looks like it is going to be pretty much stationary in that position as we go through the week,” said Bob Oravec, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Hot weather changes plans and makes life harder for those who work outdoors

Places under a National Weather Service extreme heat warning included western Nebraska, where temperatures Saturday and Sunday were forecast to reach 108 F (42 C).

At the Museum of the Fur Trade near Chadron, Nebraska, there were fewer visitors than usual for this time of year. Fur hats and pelts in the gift shop were not selling so hot.

“I’m sure no one would be willing to wear it on a day like this,” museum employee Hannah Lovelace said. Loose-fitting, period-correct fabric shirts, on the other hand, remained popular sellers among folks headed to historical frontier reenactments called rendezvous, she said.

The region’s heat was forecast to continue through the week, with temperatures topping 100 F (37 C) even in normally moderate areas of Montana and Wyoming.

Las Vegas was also expected to see near record-breaking highs. On Saturday, when temperatures reached around 114 F (45 C) in the valley, HVAC repair technician Kristian “Flaco” Santos spent hours outside fixing air conditioning units. His job involves climbing onto homeowners’ roofs or in their attics, where temperatures can be 15 degrees warmer.

“It is brutal,” Santos said, adding that not everyone can work in the heat. “I’m not Superman, but I do, I do take care of myself when I’m in the heat.”

Santos wears long-sleeve shirts and hoodies to protect himself from the sun, drinks lots of water with electrolytes to stay hydrated and takes small breaks to cool down. He encouraged people who work outside to do the same.

“You want to get home to your family safe,” Santos said.

There might be some relief in the central U.S. toward next weekend, but even that might be temporary, Oravec said.

Some areas will be spared. The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast should avoid the extreme heat, as will much of the Pacific Northwest.

This is the latest miserable stretch of weather during a summer that has already had a lot of it. The eastern U.S. endured an unbearably hot early July that forced communities to cancel Independence Day celebrations and disrupted the country’s 250th anniversary. Another heat wave in mid-July hit the Southwest and Great Plains.

It’s not just the United States: A June heat wave devastated Europe, with France recording at least 5,700 more deaths than usual.

On Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, fans for the Brickyard 400 will be offered water refill stations and places to get cool, and packed coolers will be allowed. In Denver, recreation centers will set aside areas for people to get out of the heat and in front of air conditioning.

In an already hot year, heat extremes are dangerous

Authorities warned that this heat dome will be dangerous. Children and older adults, along with people with medical conditions, are especially at risk of serious conditions including heat stroke. The basics are important: Seek out air conditioning or a cooling center, and make sure to drink enough water and limit time under the direct sun.

The weather will shift somewhat through the week, with the worst pockets of heat becoming particularly severe across Texas and parts of the Gulf Coast by Wednesday.

It can be difficult to know exactly how climate change contributes to particular events in real time. But rising carbon dioxide levels from burning fossil fuels makes it more likely that hotter weather becomes more frequent and extreme, said Andy Pershing, chief program officer at Climate Central, a climate change communications nonprofit.

“We are experiencing exactly what the climate models in the 1990s said we should experience now. That is more frequent, more severe heat waves, bigger temperature anomalies, more humidity, higher overnight temperatures,” Pershing said. “These are all part and parcel of the climate story.”

The continental U.S. endured the second-hottest first half of the year on record in 2026, according to average temperature tracking by the National Centers for Environmental Information. June itself was the 18th warmest.

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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

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Mead Gruver in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Jessica Hill in Las Vegas contributed.

Two killed in head-on car crash

SMITH COUNTY – Two people were killed on Friday evening in Smith County following a head-on car crash. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and our news partner KETK, the crash took place around 6 p.m. on Mixon Road and involved a Toyota Corolla and a Mercedes-Benz.

The crash occurred after the driver of the Toyota, identified as Adam Frantz, who was driving northbound on Mixon, crossed into the southbound lane, causing him to hit the Mercedes-Benz head-on, according to officials. Following the crash, the passenger in the Toyota, Ashlee Frantz, was pronounced dead on the scene, while Adam was taken to a local hospital, where he later died. The driver of the Mercedes- Benz was also taken to the hospital, and their condition remains unknown at this time.

The DPS has launched an investigation into the crash and no further information will be released at this time.

Second skunk found with rabies

SMITH COUNTY – The Smith County Animal Control and Shelter announced on Friday that a second skunk with rabies was found in Smith County recently. Friday’s report of a second rabies-positive skunk from Smith County follows a similar report from earlier in July where a skunk was found dead with rabies. Smith County hasn’t shared exactly where the second skunk was found but they did say it was almost on the opposite side of the county from the first skunk, which was found in southeast Smith County.

According to a paper in the American Veterinary Medical Association’s journal, the Texas Department of State Health Services has developed policies for how to handle both vaccinated and unvaccinated animals that have been exposed to rabies.

Animals vaccinated against rabies are either given an immediate booster and confined in isolation for 45 days to see if they develop rabies symptoms or they’re euthanised. Unvaccinated animals are given a postexposure prophylaxis vaccine and confined for 90 days before getting booster vaccines at three and eight weeks of confinement or they’re euthanized. Continue reading Second skunk found with rabies

SpaceX launches Starship on another, more advanced, test flight

STARBASE, Texas (AP) – SpaceX’s mammoth Starship rocket blasted off Friday on another test flight stretching halfway around the world, this time releasing 20 of the most advanced Starlinks.

Towering 407 feet (124 meters), Starship soared from the company’s base at the southern tip of Texas. NASA monitored the space-skimming flight, a critical step toward using the Starship as a lunar lander for moon crews.

The hourlong journey ended with a splashdown so soft that the spacecraft remained afloat in the Indian Ocean as the SpaceX webcast drew to a close, drawing cheers from employees back at the launch site.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX had replaced six of the 33 engines on the first-stage booster after some of them failed to ignite last week, resulting in a last-second launch abort. The previous Starship flight in May also experienced engine trouble, which prevented the booster from making a controlled return.

This time, all of the engines fired at liftoff, but not enough of them lit back up for the booster’s return, causing it to descend too fast and slam into the Gulf of Mexico. The spacecraft continued soaring eastward, popping out the Starlinks one by one 124 miles (200 kilometers) up before reentering.

It was the 13th flight of the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket, and the second this year of the new version dubbed V3. Like the previous demo, neither the booster nor spacecraft was meant to be saved, instead plunging into the sea.

The stainless steel, retro-looking spacecraft hovered upright over the Indian Ocean before lowering into the water, more than 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) from where the flight began.

It was the best reentry yet, according to SpaceX, with the intact booster floating amid just a few flames. Previous flights ended with the spacecraft engulfed in flames and exploding at splashdown — or rupturing in midair.

“We’re really pumped about this,” said SpaceX engineer Kate Tice, calling it “lucky flight 13.”

The Starlinks accomplished all their jobs before reentering over the Indian Ocean.

After being ejected from the Starship’s Pez-like dispenser, the Starlinks had just 20 minutes to communicate via lasers and radio before reentering. SpaceX said its engineers made contact and even downloaded data from each one. With more than 10,000 Starlinks currently providing internet, SpaceX boasts the world’s largest satellite constellation.

Six of the newly launched Starlinks carried cameras that photographed Starship’s heat shield at flight’s end, beaming back amazingly crisp shots even as the spacecraft bobbed in the ocean. The heat shield was also equipped with sensors to measure the extreme pressure placed on the spacecraft during launch. Most of the heat shield’s thermal tiles were black, but some were deliberately painted white to simulate missing tiles, part of an experiment to test the shield’s robustness.

“We got all the heat shield data we needed and then some!” Musk said on X.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman offered congratulations. “Excited for what will be learned from this mission,” Isaacman noted on X.

SpaceX wants to make sure Starship’s heat shield can withstand the heat of entry before trying to return it to the Starbase launch pad near the Texas-Mexico border. The company already has used a pair of giant mechanical arms at the pad to capture a Starship booster. The company plans to do the same with the actual spacecraft, which is designed to be totally reusable.

NASA needs Starship to wrap up testing and reach orbit soon so the Artemis III astronauts — three Americans and one Italian — can practice docking their capsule with it next year.

Starship is also the vehicle with which Musk intends to build a city on Mars. He’s already booking tourist trips to Mars, as well as the moon.

The latest test flight was delayed first by the July 16 launch abort, then again on Thursday by thick clouds from Tropical Storm Bertha.

FAA: No injuries reported in plane crash

WILLS POINT – The Federal Aviation Administration said that a plane crash in Wills Point on Thursday afternoon resulted in no injuries. Around 12:50 p.m., a Glasair plane ground looped and came to a stop east of the runway, causing significant damage, according to preliminary FAA data. The landing gear, tail, and empennage were all damaged in the collision. Wills Point Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ed Leipply said the plane remained upright in the crash, but sustained damage, including to its propeller and elevator.

Parents sentenced in hot-car abandonment

TYLER – After entering guilty pleas, two parents who abandoned their four young children in a hot car while shopping last year were sentenced to eight years of probation on Friday. Arp residents David Alan and Emily Kay Bearden entered guilty pleas to child endangerment in the 114th District Court on Friday. Each of them received an eight-year deferred adjudication probationary period. As a special requirement of their probation, both will have to spend four days in jail, according to Smith County Assistant District Attorney Heath Chamness. The four kids who were in the car are represented by the four-day jail sentences. Continue reading Parents sentenced in hot-car abandonment

Probation continues in fatal DWI case

TYLER – A man who is accused of killing his two parents while driving while intoxicated will be allowed to continue on probation, but he will be sent to a facility for substance abuse felonies. In 2025, Jose Luis Bravo Jr. received a 10-year probationary sentence in relation to the collision that claimed the lives of his mother, Jose Bravo Delgado, and Santa Lucia Bravo. He was detained in April on suspicion of violating his probation. Officials confirmed on Friday that Bravo’s probation will continue with a modified sentence of being sent to a facility for the punishment of felonies involving substance abuse. Continue reading Probation continues in fatal DWI case

Machete attacker get 45 years

QUITMAN – The last of three people who assaulted a Wood County woman in 2023 was sentenced to 45 years in state prison on Friday.According to our news partner KETK, Acey Joe Farris, 64 of Quitman sentenced to serve 45 years in state prison by visiting Judge Paul Banner on Friday in connection to an assault that happened in Wood County in 2023. On April 6 2023, Farris, Bryan Scott Ransom and Ruby Dee Isaacs went to a Wood County woman’s property without permission at around 10:30 p.m. that night. Continue reading Machete attacker get 45 years

East Texas woman named new Game Warden Captain for Nacogdoches district

NACOGDOCHES (KETK) – The Texas Game Wardens announced the promotion of a new Nacogdoches District Captain on Friday.

Shawna Poole, an East Texas native, is returning to her roots and moving back to the Piney Woods to serve Nacogdoches as the district’s new Game Warden Captain.

Captain Poole said her interest in a law enforcement career began at a young age with her involvement in the Nacogdoches Police Explorers.

After attending college at Stephen F. Austin State University and some time as an educator, she found her passion and graduated from the 59th Texas Game Warden Academy in 2015.

After graduation, Poole was stationed in Webb County and after spending a year down south took the opportunity to get closer to home and transferred to Freestone County, where she was serving before this promotion.

Poole was recognized in 2022 as the Hunter Education Game Warden of the Year and in 2016 she received the Director’s Citation Award.

Captain Poole’s service to the Nacogdoches District will begin August 1.

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ debuts season 3 teaser trailer

Jamie Campbell Bower stars in season 3 of 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.' (Ben Rothstein/Prime Video)

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3 teaser trailer has arrived.

Prime Video released the new trailer for the upcoming third season on Friday. It debuted during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con for the fantasy series.

Appearing on the panel were showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, as well as cast members Benjamin Walker, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Owain Arthur, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Charlie Vickers and Daniel Weyman. Season 3 newcomer Jamie Campbell Bower also participated in the panel.

Season 3 finds Middle-earth at war. "Five years have passed since the fall of Eregion. Sauron’s armies have marched across the whole of the world, conquering all in their path. Only a few isolated pockets stand between the Dark Lord and total victory – Khazad-dûm, where the Dwarves are now sealed deep within their mountain halls, and the elven realms of Lindon and Rivendell, which are protected by their Three Rings," according to the season's official description.

"But deep in the land of Mordor, in his newly completed tower of Barad-dûr, the Dark Lord toils day and night, obsessed with harnessing a power that will bring the last of his enemies to their knees: One Ring to rule them all," the description continues. "Now, all the free peoples of Middle-earth – Dwarves, Elves, Men, and Wizards alike – must find a way to come together, in a race against time to prevent Sauron from achieving his goal of utter domination of all life."

The panel also revealed that Simon Pegg will take on the voice of the Balrog.

The first four episodes of season 3 are set to premiere on Nov. 11. They are followed by episodes five and six premiering on Nov. 18 and the final two episodes dropping on Nov. 25.

Discord ordered to protect children from online predators

AUSTIN (KETK) — The popular social messaging app Discord has been handed a 90-day deadline to assure the protection of Texas children after Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a court order on Thursday demanding the app add safety parameters for children.

The court hearings come after the Texas attorney general’s office started an investigation into the app in Oct. 2025 due to reports that the platform is “addictive” and has allegedly exposed minors to sexual exploitation and extremist content. Paxton sued the online platform in May 2026, claiming that the tech company was deceiving users about the platform’s safety.

Nearly 500,000 reports of suspected child exploitation on Discord were submitted to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in 2025 alone, according to the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

Currently in the United States, users under 13 are prohibited from using Discord according to the company’s own policies, but Paxton claims that they have no way of actually knowing how many of the 200 million monthly active users are teenagers, or how many adults are posing as teenagers. More than 90% of users are never asked to confirm their age, the attorney general’s office said.

“Discord built a platform where adult predators could hunt Texas children, then looked parents in the eye and told them it was safe,” Attorney General Paxton said. “It wasn’t. Discord built safety measures to protect these kids. It extended these measures to children in Britain and denied them to children in Texas. That ends now. My office forced Discord to turn those protections on for every Texas child, and I will never stop fighting to keep predators away from our kids.”

According to Paxton’s office, Discord announced in February 2026 that it would roll our protections for children worldwide after facing a legal deadline in the United Kingdom. Discord, however, delayed the rollout until the second half of 2026.

After a two-day evidentiary hearing that included the testimony from four Texas parents whose children experienced abuse or exploitation, the court ordered a temporary injunction which orders Discord to extend its existing safety features in the United Kingdom to Texas within the next 90 days.

Under the order, Discord must implement the following:

“Discord must route messages from strangers into a separate request inbox.”
“Block sensitive content for Texas teens and lock that setting unless it confirms the user is an adult.”
“Close adult-only spaces to anyone it has not age-assured.”

Additionally, Discord must report its progress on the protections to the Office of the Attorney General every 30 days. The judge’s order will stand until a final judgment is reached in the trial.

A third death has been confirmed from catastrophic Texas floods, governor says

AUSTIN (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Friday that a third person has been confirmed killed by catastrophic floods this month that prompted more than 500 rescues, damaged homes and businesses, and are still making some areas inaccessible.

Abbott said a person attempting to drive through floodwaters was swept away Monday.

The governor went to the city of Cotulla, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio, for a flyover to assess the damage of floodwaters he said have left some areas of the city still unreachable. The Nueces River reached major flood stage at 29 feet (8.8 meters), but has crested and is expected to continue to decline.

Other areas downstream will continue to see waters rise into early August, notably at the Lake Corpus Christi reservoir, Abbott said.

“Anyone living, working, commuting or just walking around areas downstream of the Nueces … needs to be aware of possible dangers,” Abbott said.

The Central Texas area was pounded by rain for several days last week. Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall Thursday, but Abbott said state officials had not received any new reports of flooded homes or businesses from that storm.

The governor has already issued a disaster declaration for 59 counties and requested federal disaster help for 33 counties.

Sky Yang, Sean Kaufman to star in ‘Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow’ film adaptation

A photo of Sean Kaufman. (Eddy Chen) | A photo of Sky Yang. (James Greenhalgh)

Sky Yang and Sean Kaufman are taking on a popular book film adaptation.

The actors have joined the cast of the movie adaptation of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, ABC Audio has learned.

They join star Daisy Edgar-Jones, who is set to play Sadie Green in the upcoming Paramount Pictures film adaptation of Gabrielle Zevin’s bestselling novel. Yang will play the role of Sam Masur while Kaufman will take on the character Marx Watanabe.

CODA director Siân Heder will write and direct the upcoming film based on script drafts written by Mark Bomback and Zevin.

The film is a modern love story about two friends who meet during childhood and reunite as adults. Together, they create video games and find intimacy "in digital storytelling that eludes them in their real lives," according to its official synopsis.

"The relationship explores the intimacy, passion, and heartbreak of creative collaboration, set against the visually groundbreaking worlds brought to life by the rising video game industry of the 1990s-2000s," the synopsis continues.

Zevin will executive produce while Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen and Isaac Klausner will produce for Temple Hill.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow spent over a year on The New York Times Best Sellers list. It has sold over 4 million copies worldwide, including 2 million in North America alone.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow will be released in theaters on Nov. 12, 2027.

Man sentenced to 10 years for Trinity County child sex crime

TRINITY COUNTY (KETK) — A 33-year-old man was sentenced to 10 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Friday after being convicted on three felony charges related to child sex crimes. The Trinity County Sheriff’s Office said Timothy Michael Zawodny entered a no contest plea. He was convicted of sexual performance of a child and possession of child pornography.

A district judge ordered that Zawodny serve his 10-year sentence concurrently and register as a sex offender under Texas Law. Zawodny was arrested in February 2022 after investigators with the Texas Attorney General’s Office and Trinity County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant.

Sheriff Woody Wallace stated that protecting children remains one of the Sheriff’s Office’s highest priorities and thanked the investigators, prosecutors, and the Texas Attorney General’s Office for their work in bringing this case to a conclusion.

Hunter Schafer, Michelle Yeoh star in ‘Blade Runner 2099’ teaser trailer

Hunter Schafer stars in 'Blade Runner 2099.' (Amazon MGM Studios)

The teaser trailer for Blade Runner 2099 has arrived.

Prime Video released the new trailer for its upcoming limited series on Friday. It was first revealed onstage during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con with stars Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer.

"Fifty years after the events of Blade Runner 2049, Los Angeles has been reborn, just not by humanity. Cora, a fugitive in a final bid to stop running, takes on one last identity: a Blade Runner. Forced to partner with Olwen, a Replicant days from dying, she hunts down a runaway hiding a truth that could collapse their fragile city," according to an official description of the show.

The trailer finds Schafer's Cora monologuing about the state of the world.

"We already fought a war. We lost. Replicants. They keep taking it all away. Not much longer until we have nothing. Until we are nothing," she says.

All of the limited series' eight episodes are set to premiere on Nov. 25.

Dimitri Abold and Lewis Gribben also serve as series regulars alongside Yeoh and Schafer. Katelyn Rose Downey, Daniel Rigby, Johnny Harris, Amy Lennox, Sheila Atim, Matthew Needham, Tom Burke and Maurizio Lombardi are recurring guest stars on the show.

Silka Luisa serves as showrunner on the series while Ridley Scott, Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson executive produce.

Water line repaired late Friday

UPDATE: KTBB received this notice from the City Of Marshall. Repairs are now complete and water pressure is being restored to areas impacted by the water main break on FM 1998. Customers who continue to experience low water pressure after 7 p.m. Friday or over the weekend should contact the Public Works Emergency Line at 903-935-4487.

MARSHALL – A water main break has caused low water pressure across the city of Marshall on Friday as crews work to make repairs. According to our news partner, KETK, the City of Marshall is asking residents to limit water use.

A 16-inch water main is leaking due to a break from construction along FM 1998 and east of Loop 390. Residents and businesses on the east side of Marshall are reportedly experiencing low water pressure.

As crews work to repair the break, residents and businesses in the Oak Lawn Municipal Golf Course area are asked to limit their water usage.

New court date for shooter

TYLER – A trial date has been set for 23-year-old Dayton Morgan, who is accused of fatally shooting a man during an alleged road rage incident in Tyler. According to our news partner KETK, on Friday, Judge Austin Reeve Jackson announced that a trial has been scheduled for Feb. 8, 2027. Morgan faces a murder charge in the death of Trevor Julian, a 29-year-old from Whitehouse.

The prosecution has requested that a hearing for a bond reduction be postponed until early next month while they gather a mental health evaluation, as records have indicated that Morgan has a history of anger issues. Defense attempted to have the documents suppressed from trial, but the request was denied.

The Tyler Police Department reported that officers responded to a shooting incident on February 13 at approximately 5:10 p.m. The shooting took place in the eastbound lanes of Grande Boulevard, where vehicles were halted at a red light at Paluxy Drive. Continue reading New court date for shooter

Weekend Watchlist: What’s new in theaters, on streaming

Ready, set, binge! Here's a look at some of the new movies and TV shows coming to theaters and streaming services this weekend:

Hulu
King of the Hill: Hank and Peggy return for season 15 of the adult animated TV series.

Paramount+
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Star Trek series returns for its fourth season.

HBO Max
Stuart Fails to Save the Universe: The Big Bang Theory spinoff series makes its debut.

Netflix
72 Hours: Kevin Hart and Marcello Hernández star in the new comedy film.

AMC, AMC+
The Walking Dead: Dead City: Maggie and Negan are back in the season 3 premiere.

Movie theaters
Her Private Hell: Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton star in the horror thriller film.

That’s all for this week’s Weekend Watchlist – happy streaming!

11 indicted in smuggling deaths of 7 migrants in rail cargo container in Texas

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A U.S. attorney announced a federal indictment on Friday against 11 people in the smuggling deaths of seven migrants who were hiding inside a sweltering rail cargo container in Texas in May.

Six people were found dead inside the shipping container in a rail yard in Laredo, Texas, and another had been left for dead alongside the tracks along the way, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, Justin R. Simmons.

“It’s very hard to survive in an un-air conditioned, sealed container with … the temperature being what it was on that day,” Simmons said.

The group boarded the train in the Texas border town of Del Rio and headed to San Antonio, which officials believe was their intended final destination. But when smugglers opened the door, a man fell out, so the smugglers closed the door and fled. It’s unclear if he was already dead by then, Simmons said.

The remaining six people were left inside the shipping container, and the next day the train departed for Laredo, where a worker at the Union Pacific Rail Yard saw a leg sticking out and found the six bodies inside.

“One of those individuals frantically contacted their family as they were dying from the sweltering heat in that container,” Simmons said.

The migrants were from Honduras and Mexico and included a 14-year-old boy, authorities said. Six of the bodies were discovered by a Union Pacific employee. The Webb County medical examiner suspected the deaths were caused by hyperthermia, or heat stroke.

The shipping container was stacked on top of another container, could not be opened from the inside and had no ventilation or cooling system. The temperatures that day ranged from 88 to 92 degrees Fahrenheit (31 to 33 degrees Celsius), the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

The group was indicted on two charges: Conspiracy to transport aliens, resulting in death, and aiding and abetting the transportation of aliens resulting in death. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, Simmons said.

The migrants paid “generally the equivalent of $1,500 -$10,000 to individuals in Honduras, Mexico, the United States, and elsewhere, to be transported into the interior of the United States,” according to the indictment.

One of the defendants was arrested May 12 in Del Rio, and eight more were arrested over several days last week in central and south Texas. Two of the 11 remain at large, including a man and a woman. Officials said four are U.S. citizens and two are permanent U.S. residents. They didn’t specify any other nationalities.

Smuggling on trains has long been a concern partly because trains headed to the United States often slow or stop in Mexico before crossing the border. That creates an opportunity for smugglers or immigrants to climb aboard or hide drugs or other contraband on a train before it enters the U.S.

There are already more US measles cases this year than in all of 2025

ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) – The number of measles cases in the U.S. has surpassed the record-breaking tally for all of 2025, with five more months of 2026 still to come.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention logged 2,318 cases of measles as of Thursday, according to an agency update on Friday.

The nation had 2,289 cases in 2025, the worst year for measles in more than three decades. Now, 2026 has easily become the U.S.’s worst year for measles since 1991, as major outbreaks in South Carolina, Utah and Arizona have sickened hundreds and smaller clusters of cases sparked in other states.

In November, international health officials will meet to determine if the U.S. and Mexico have lost their measles-free status. The U.S. eliminated local measles spread in 2000 by maintaining high vaccination rates, which have fallen in recent years to below the 95% coverage needed to prevent outbreaks.
Measles cases are undercounted

While measles cases in the U.S. are climbing, it may be impossible to say exactly how far-reaching the spread is. Public health departments and disease researchers have long acknowledged that official counts are incomplete, because some people get sick and don’t seek out treatment — something not unique to measles.

Furthermore, experts say the spread might be greater than what’s known because the virus is one of the most contagious known to medicine and vaccination rates nationwide have declined. National vaccination rates for measles, mumps and rubella — which dropped to 92.5% among kindergartners in the 2024-25 school year, from 95.2% in 2019-20 — obscure even lower rates in certain communities.

In Utah, where public health officials have fought measles for more than a year, the virus has sickened more than 700 people during that time, according to the state health department. Experts relying on mathematical modeling and genetic analyses indicate that a large outbreak on the Utah-Arizona border could be around three to four times bigger than what’s currently known, state epidemiologist Dr. Leisha Nolen said.

The picture is muddier in South Carolina, which had the nation’s largest outbreak in 35 years. There, the 997 total is likely an undercount, the state health department has said, but it doesn’t know by how much.

Dr. Brannon Traxler, acting director of the state department of health, said the undercount is “impossible to know and may vary during the course of an outbreak.”

Data gaps can make it hard to reliably estimate an outbreak’s true scope. Experts say hospitalization rates can be a good barometer, but measles hospitalizations are not required to be reported in every state.

“If we really had some kind of solid gold standard for the percentage of all cases that have hospitalization or some measure of severity, then that would be another way of estimating the outbreak size that we could see if it’s consistent with these other methods,” said Damon Toth, an applied mathematician at the University of Utah’s medical school who is working on one of the Utah outbreak analyses.
Researchers are still analyzing the 2025 Texas outbreak

In Texas, researchers are still working to estimate the size of the state’s 2025 outbreak and early findings show it might have been nearly twice the size of the 762 known cases.

Rémy Pasco, a mathematical epidemiologist at the University of Colorado Boulder who is working on the analysis, said the undercounts were unsurprising. In the absence of an adequate community vaccination rate — 95% according to health experts — “there’s just not much you can do about measles once you have it,” he said.

The CDC defines an outbreak as three or more linked cases. But by the time three such cases are identified in communities with low vaccination rates and less disease surveillance, “either you missed the previous ones or you’re going to have a lot more,” he added.

Dr. Varun Shetty, Texas’ chief state epidemiologist, said there were instances where people tested positive for measles but health officials couldn’t confirm who else was in the person’s household or if they were sick.

“What we’re able to count and report is almost always an underestimate of what actually occurred, because it relies on people being willing to be able to get tested, to share information with healthcare providers and with public health,” Shetty said. “Sometimes that just doesn’t happen.”

The state health department previously reported that 182 probable measles cases went unconfirmed in March 2025 among minors in Gaines County — the epicenter of the outbreak — due to a lack of information. The confirmed case count for the western Texas county for the whole outbreak is 414.

Shetty expects to keep seeing measles cases and even outbreaks because so many people are unprotected.

“It’s really critical, not only for individual people, but for communities, to have high vaccination coverage,” he said.
Vaccination is about protecting others, physician says

Dr. Mark Roberts, retired director of the Public Health Dynamics Lab at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, worries most for the people he calls “innocent bystanders.”

Research and measles modeling by his team shows those who cannot get vaccinated — young babies, people with weak immune systems and those who rarely don’t get robust immunity from the vaccine — bear the brunt of outbreaks early on.

Some people see skipping vaccination as like deciding not to wear a seat belt in a car, Roberts said.

“Not vaccinating your kid is like saying, ‘I don’t want my car to have brakes,’” he said. “Because it’s other people that you can hit. It’s not just you in your car. It’s other people.”

Appeals court overturns order closing Texas midwife clinics accused of illegal abortions

HOUSTON (AP) – A Texas appeals court on Thursday dismissed an injunction that forced a Houston-area midwife to close her clinics, ruling that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ’s office relied solely on an anonymous email as evidence that she violated the state’s 2022 abortion ban.

Paxton’s office secured the injunction last year against clinics operated by Maria Margarita Rosas. She still faces criminal charge that she provided unlawful abortions and employed unlicensed individuals.

But the Texas 15th Court of Appeals, created three years ago by the Texas Legislature to handle major business and state civil cases, found that the trial court erred in granting the injunction because the judge relied only on affidavits from Paxton’s office that didn’t provide direct evidence that the violations occurred.

Justice Scott Field’s opinion said the evidence submitted to support the injunction “does not reasonably support” the claim that abortions were performed at the clinics and the lower court “abused its discretion in granting the temporary injunctive relief.”

Abortion is completely banned in Texas with very limited exceptions.

The appeals court, overseen by three Republican judges appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, did not give an opinion on whether the accusations against Rosas are valid. Instead, it focused on the injunction that forced the clinics’ closure.

A spokesperson for Paxton’s office said the attorney general will appeal the court’s decision to the Texas Supreme Court to “ensure clarity in temporary injunction procedure in this and other cases.”

In a statement, the Center for Reproductive Rights called the appeals court ruling a “significant step” toward justice for Rojas, adding that the state has unfairly targeted her.

“The state of Texas has no case,” said Jenna Hudson, the group’s senior counsel. “Maria Rojas has been an upstanding midwife who delivered babies and provided lawful care for underserved pregnant patients.”

Rojas owned and operated Clinica Waller Latinoamericana in Waller, Clinica Latinoamericana Telge in Cypress, and Latinoamericana Medical Clinic in Spring, according to the attorney general’s office.

This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

LeBron James to join the Philadelphia 76ers

LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts against the Utah Jazz during the second quarter at Crypto.com Arena on November 18, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. . (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) -- LeBron James is heading to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The four-time NBA champion and four-time MVP made the announcement on social media on Friday.

"I believe I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship team and I am so excited to energize a new fan base and start this incredible journey one last time," wrote James in a social media post announcing his decision on Friday.

James, a basketball icon and the NBA's all-time leading scorer, agreed to a two-year, $8 million deal with a player option, according to ESPN's Shams Charania, who cited Rich Paul, James' agent.

The decision to head to Philadelphia concludes a summer of anticipation as much of the sports world waited for the former Los Angeles Laker to announce his next destination.

Possible rumored destinations for James included his home state Cleveland Cavaliers, Steph Curry's Golden State Warriors and another former team, the Miami Heat.

"The last few weeks have really been special. I've never been able to have no clue what to do and take real time to just think. I've had an incredible few months with all the people I love trying to figure it all out. This is my last decision. I'm not going for money. I'm not going for family. What am I really playing for at this point?" James wrote in his post.

He signed off, "Thank you LA. Miami I'll forever love and Northeast Ohio will always home!"

James' decision to join the Philadelphia 76ers puts him on a roster with all-stars Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey.

James recently completed his 23rd season in the NBA, and his eighth with the Lakers, after which it was announced in June he would be departing Los Angeles for a new team.

The announcement came moments before the NBA's free agency period, where high-profile player movement is traditionally frequent.

With the announcement, James also leaves his son Bronny James in a Laker uniform. The younger James, who was drafted by the team in 2024, is still on the roster, but could be waived should the Lakers choose to part ways with him.

James will now build on his legacy with a 24th NBA season, this time in Philadelphia.

Ben Affleck’s mother Chris Affleck dies at 83

Ben Affleck and his mother Chris Affleck at the premiere of 'Jersey Girl' on March 9, 2004. (Sylvain Gaboury/FilmMagic via Getty Images)

Chris Anne Affleck, the mother of actors Ben Affleck and Casey Affleck, has died, according to an obituary posted online. The former school teacher was 83.

According to the obituary published this week, Chris Affleck was born in New York City in 1942 and died in early June 2026.

She was given "six months to live" in December 2025, and attended her grandson's high school graduation prior to her death, according to the remembrance. The obituary does not state her diagnosis or the cause of her death.

ABC News has reached out to representatives for Ben Affleck and Casey Affleck for comment.

The mother of the two Hollywood actors attended Nightingale-Bamford School in New York and "made the most of an elite education while remaining skeptical of the tightly cloistered world it represented," according to the obituary.

Chris Affleck graduated from Harvard, pursued a career as a public school teacher and taught literacy classes in Mississippi, the obituary said.

Along with her two sons Ben and Casey, she is survived by five grandchildren: Indiana, Violet, Atticus, Fin and Sam.

According to the obituary, Chris Affleck pursued a life of political and social activism, volunteering on the Obama campaign, organizing with Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine and helping found the Sustainable Cape project in Massachusetts.

Ben Affleck famously brought his mother to the Oscars with him in 1998 alongside Matt Damon and his mother.

David Rancken’s App of the Day 07/24/26 – The Great Course Plus!

How would you like to learn a new skill but, without leaving your home? Find David Rancken’s App Of The Day. It’s called The Great Course Plus. You can find The Great Course Plus in the Apple Store and Google Play below.

Teen Colt Gray pleads guilty to committing mass shooting at his Georgia high school

A police line is put up in front of Apalachee High School after a school shooting took place on September 4, 2024 in Winder, Georgia. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

(WINDER, Ga.) -- A teenage boy accused of carrying out a mass shooting at his Georgia high school pleaded guilty Friday to all 55 counts against him, including murder and aggravated assault.

Colt Gray, 16, agreed to a non-negotiated guilty plea, the judge said, meaning there is no plea deal; the state will present its argument for an appropriate sentence, and the defense will do the same.

The judge said the minimum sentence is life with parole and the maximum is a life sentence without parole.

Gray was 14 years old in September 2024 when he opened fire at Apalachee High School, killing two students and two teachers and injuring several others.

Breanna Schermerhorn, whose son, 14-year-old Mason Schermerhorn, was killed, said in a victim impact statement Friday, "Mason was so much more than a victim."
"Mason was kind, compassionate, funny and fiercely protective of others," she said. "As a child with exceptional needs, he understood what it felt like to struggle and be overlooked by others. Instead of becoming bitter, he became an advocate."

"He made people that were typically unseen feel seen, accepted and safe," she said.

“I had no doubt in my mind if Colt had actually attended school as he should have, that Mason would have befriended him," Breanna Schermerhorn said.

She said Gray "knew that pulling that trigger was wrong, he knew that every choice he made that day would forever alter countless lives.”

One of Mason Schermerhorn's sisters, Alanna Schermerhorn Wallace, said through tears that she lost the life she knew and her sense of safety on the day her brother was killed. She said she's always scanning for exits and monitoring the people around her and is triggered by loud noises and unexpected sounds.

Another sister, Lilianah Ahmed, said through tears, "From a very young age, Mason wanted to be a family man. He wanted to have a wife, kids. He wanted to go to school and pursue a career. ... All these different parts of himself he didn't get to explore because of Colt."

"My brother died alone and scared. [Gray] was the last person to see Mason alive, and he took him from us," Ahmed said.

She also called her brother "the success story that Colt could have been."

Shayna Aspinwall, whose husband, Richard Aspinwall, was killed, described him as a beloved dad, teacher and coach.

"Every holiday, birthday, anniversary and ordinary day is a reminder of what has been stolen from us,” she said. "… Now our daughters, who were 5 and 2 at the time, must grow up without their father. They will miss his guidance, his encouragement, his hugs, and all the milestones he should have been here to witness.”

Shayna Aspinwall asked the judge to not sentence Gray to life with the chance for parole, saying the parole hearings would be “continued torture” for her family.

Ismael Angulo, whose brother, 14-year-old Christian Angulo, was killed, also asked the judge to sentence Gray to life without the possibility of parole, as he described "every day as a nightmare."

"The defendant’s family will still get to see their son, talk to him and know he is breathing. My mother, my father don’t get that privilege," he said. "… There is no fairness in that reality. Christian was a beautiful, innocent soul who was robbed of his dreams."

Gray was accused of carrying out the shooting with a rifle his father, Colin Gray, gifted him as a Christmas present, officials said. This March, Colin Gray was convicted of charges including second-degree murder and manslaughter, becoming the first parent in the U.S. convicted of murder due to the alleged acts of their child.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

In brief: ‘Primetime’ gets theatrical release date and more

The lineup for the 2026 Venice Film Festival has been revealed. Films from directors Martin McDonagh, Florian Zeller, Danny Boyle, Werner Herzog and Lance Oppenheim are all set to open at the festival. Among them are McDonagh's Wild Horse Nine, which stars John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell; Zeller's Bunker, a psychological thriller starring Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz; Boyle's Ink, starring Guy Pearce as Rupert Murdoch; and Oppenheim's Primetime, which comes from A24 ...

Speaking of Primetime, the Robert Pattinson-starring film has also received a theatrical release date. The movie is set to debut nationwide on Sept. 25. Its plot follows Pattinson as Chris Hansen, the host of To Catch a Predator, as he made TV history with the show's premiere in 2006 ...

Audiences have been changed for good by Jon M. Chu's Wicked films. Fans may have another opportunity to witness the story of Elphaba and Glinda, as the film's official Instagram is teasing a live Wicked concert. "Everyone, we have an announcement," the post is captioned. Wicked in Concert seems to be a version of the film that includes a live orchestra, and the post teases more information will be "coming soon" ...

Duo sentenced in Lego scheme

TYLER – In a Smith County courtroom on Thursday, two members of a $400,000 Lego theft ring that targeted Walmart and Target stores in Texas and elsewhere entered guilty pleas. During court appearances in the 241st District Court, Semetric Danielle Baker, 36, and Shane Gentry, 28, both entered guilty pleas to participating in organized crime. Their accusations are related to a scheme that impacted stores in Florida and Oklahoma as well as Tyler, Longview, Gun Barrel City, and other Texas cities. Gentry was given a 10-year probationary period and a $250,000 restitution order, which included $107,000 to Target and $142,000 to Walmart. Continue reading Duo sentenced in Lego scheme

‘Myron Bolitar’ Netflix series adds 10 more to its cast

A photo of Melissa Benoist. (Amy Harrity) | A photo of Griffin Dunne. (Martina Tolot) | A photo of Isaiah Hill. (Netflix)

The upcoming Myron Bolitar TV series adaptation has added even more to its cast.

Netflix has announced that Melissa Benoist, Griffin Dunne, Bebe Neuwirth, Isaiah Hill, Ra'Mya Latiah Aikens, Amanda Warren, Quincy Isaiah, Charlie Tahan, Jamie Hector and Sandrine Holt have joined the cast of the upcoming drama series.

They join previously announced stars Colin Woodell, KJ Apa and Diane Guerrero, who will play Myron Bolitar, Win Lockwood and Esperanza Diaz in the show. Also part of the main cast are Jabari Banks, Chloe Fineman, Jamie McShane and Ben McKenzie.

Myron Bolitar will be based on writer Harlan Coben’s longest-running series, which spans 12 books.

"After an injury ends his NBA dreams, Myron Bolitar reinvents himself as a sports agent — using charm, smarts, and a ruthless partner to navigate the high-stakes and dirty world of sports, where saving his clients often means risking himself," according to the show's official logline.

Benoist will play Valerie Simpson, a former tennis star launching a comeback. Dunne is set to play Alan Bolitar, Myron's father, while Neuwirth will play Ellen Bolitar, Myron’s mother.

Hill will portray Jayden Elder, a generational basketball player primed to be the first overall pick in the NBA draft.

Aikens is playing Wanda Green, who is Dwayne Richmond's fiancée, while Warren will portray Deanna Richmond, Dwayne’s mother.

Isaiah will play Rodney Keys, an NBA player and one of Myron's clients. Tahan is playing Roger Quincy, "an off-kilter man who doesn’t want to be defined by his past," according to the streamer.

Finally, Hector will play Avery Crowder, a man with a criminal past determined to make it in the sports business, while Holt will play Detective Sharon Steele.

Emmy winner David E. Kelley and Kyle Long are set to co-showrun, write and executive produce the series.

Texas crime rate continues to drop, with McAllen seeing its lowest levels in decades

In 2019, a historic theater’s marquee in McAllen’s downtown district once lauded, “Welcome to McAllen, 7th Safest city in America.”

The theater placed the message front and center ahead of a visit from President Donald Trump during his first term in office, using it to dispute the narrative at the time that the border was a dangerous place. The ranking itself came from a 2015 study by Smart Asset, a financial technology website.

Now, 10 years after that report, McAllen is highlighting its crime rate again — this time, celebrating its lowest crime levels in 40 years.

But McAllen is not unique. The decline in crime here is in line with a national and statewide trend that’s been ongoing for years.

Crime in Texas has been decreasing since 2023, according to Uniform Crime Reporting Data released by the Texas Department of Public Safety. In the last five years, crime in Texas peaked in 2022 — with a rate of 2,830.14 per 100,000 people — before trending downward.

Between 2022 and 2023, the state’s crime rate decreased by 3.3%, and between 2023 and 2024, the crime rate dropped another 8.2%. Then, between 2024 and 2025, Texas’ crime rate decreased by 13%.

McAllen, the second-largest city in the Rio Grande Valley with 151,000 people, reported a 21% drop in 2025. Brownsville, the Valley’s largest city with 193,000 people, also had a 21% drop in crime in 2025.

“We’ve been decreasing crime on a fairly consistent basis,” said McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez.

He credited the crime rate drop on the city’s population growth, an engaged community that reports potential crimes to the police and elected officials who prioritize public safety funding, enabling the department to maintain two officers per 1,000 people.

Rodriguez also suggested that heightened immigration enforcement under Trump’s second term may have played a role in driving down crime.

“That saturation of law enforcement authorities in this part of the country also help us, I think, maintain a lower crime rate in this part of the country, in this part of the state, and for McAllen as well,” Rodriguez said.

ICE presence might have played a role, but it might not have driven down crime as much as it could have created fear in reporting it. However, it is still too soon to know, experts said.

McAllen and the state of Texas are not outliers, but part of a broad national trend, said Alex del Carmen, a former criminologist with the Dallas Police Department and current dean at Westfield State University in Massachusetts.

Homicides across major U.S. cities fell by about 21% between 2024 and 2025 and are down 44% from the peak in 2021, del Carmen said.

“Texas is riding that same wave,” he said.

The declining crime rate occurred in places with and without active immigration enforcement, said Thomas Abt, founding director of the Center for the Study and Practice of Violence Reduction.

“I haven’t seen any hard evidence that suggests that aggressive immigration enforcement has any effect on crime, positive or negative,” Abt said. “Part of it is that it’s too soon to know. It takes time for research to come out.”

However, research shows that immigrants are, on average, less likely than U.S. citizens to commit crimes, del Carmen and Abt said.

“That doesn’t mean that there aren’t immigrants out there who are engaged in crimes,” Abt said. “But if you look at immigrant populations, as a whole, you’ll see that they commit less offenses, and you’ll also see that cities that have higher populations of immigrants often have lower crime rates.”

Studies using Texas’ own arrest and conviction data, del Carmen said, consistently find that immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, are not responsible for the majority of the crimes that take place in the U.S.
Less reporting may be part of the drop

There is a legitimate concern that the decline in crime could be, at least partially, attributed to fear of reporting crimes among immigrant communities.

After the Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched a program to identify immigrants in local jails in 2008, known as Secure Communities, Hispanic victims were about 30% less likely to report crimes to police. And that effect extended to citizens, not just the undocumented, del Carmen said.

More recently, he added, surveys of foreign-born Latinos found 16% have avoided calling police or reporting a crime for fear of being questioned about their legal status, and police chiefs in Los Angeles and Houston have publicly attributed drops in crime reports from Latino residents to deportation fear.

Still, fear of reporting cannot account for all of the decline as homicide numbers, which are less subject to reporting bias, are also going down.

The most serious offenses tend to be the most reliable because there is typically more evidence available, Abt said. If a homicide occurs, undeniable evidence typically comes with it which is the remains of the victim.

”We have extremely reliable data on how many homicides we have,” he said. “We also have fairly reliable data on serious assaults and shootings, because people have to go to the hospital, and we can access those records.”

On the other end of the spectrum, the number of shoplifting or drug offenses are largely a function of how much attention law enforcement is paying to those things.

An example of that is during the pandemic, there were reports and anecdotal evidence of a massive increase in shoplifting and disorder that didn’t ultimately show up in data.

“Does that mean that it didn’t happen or does it mean that a lot of stores were just so discouraged that they stopped reporting it?” he said.
Back to normal

Instead, the drop in crime rate could just be a return to normal following a spike in crime that occurred across the country in 2020 and 2021.

In 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the closure of businesses and public gatherings could have created a recipe for social disruption. That was further fueled by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a white police officer, which prompted mass anti-police protests.

Additionally, Americans bought a record number of firearms in 2020, with first-time gun owners accounting for 40% of buyers

In the wake of the crime surge, Abt said there was a fractured view of criminal justice across the country, with many on the political right favoring aggressive law enforcement and many on the left wanting to de-emphasize or even defund the police.

“Neither of those extremes was particularly helpful,” Abt said.

What emerged, instead, was what he believed to be a more sensible approach. With the help of federal funding under President Joe Biden, cities returned to a balanced approach to fighting crime, investing in both law enforcement and in community groups.

“A more sensible center was created that said, ‘Look, we need cops, we need communities, and we need them to work together,’” he said.

In Texas specifically, del Carmen said, about 70% of statewide violent crime volume is concentrated in the most populated 25 jurisdictions. So when cities like Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas invest in hot-spot policing and violent crime reduction plans, the statewide numbers move.

“The honest answer is that no single actor gets to claim credit,” del Carmen said. “Declines this broad, occurring simultaneously in cities with very different policies, tell us structural and post-pandemic forces are doing much of the work.”

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Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.

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This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.