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PORT ARTHUR (AP) – An oil refinery fire near the Texas coast was put out Tuesday and a shelter-in-place order was lifted, hours after a large explosion at the complex shot plumes of smoke into the air, officials said.

No one was injured in Monday’s explosion at the Valero refinery in Port Arthur, about 90 miles east of Houston, Mayor Charlotte M. Moses said. She had urged residents in parts of the west side of the city to stay put.

“There’s been an explosion, yes, but we’re OK; everybody’s OK,” she said. “They’re trying to put the fire out as quickly as possible.”

Residents at least several miles away said they felt their homes shake. Some schools in the area were closed Tuesday as a precaution.

The explosion comes amid a spike in gas prices driven by uncertainty over the global oil supply because of the Iran war.

The refinery has about 770 employees and can process about 435,000 barrels of oil per day, according to Valero’s website. The plant refines heavy sour crude oil into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

Images and video posted online show a large plume of smoke and flames billowing out from the refinery.

Valero did not respond to emails and a call from The Associated Press seeking comment. Local television stations reported a company spokesperson said everyone was accounted for.

Texas state Rep. Christian Manuel said in a post on social media that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality arrived at the refinery with air monitoring equipment and was working with local and state partners.

AUSTIN (AP) – As states that already ban abortion look to further restrict access this year, much of the focus is on pills sent by out-of-state providers.

A survey released Tuesday helps explain the emphasis. It suggests that more women in states with bans obtained abortions last year using the pills prescribed via telehealth than by traveling to places where it’s legal.

Most of the states with the political will to impose broad bans have already done so in the nearly four years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door to enforcing them. So far this year, just one state has a new one.

Here’s a look at where things stand as many state legislatures are wrapping up or have completed their 2026 sessions.

States are taking steps to make abortion pills harder to get

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, a Republican, signed a bill last week that makes it a felony to advertise, distribute or sell abortion pills.

Similar measures have cleared both legislative chambers in Mississippi this year. There, the House and Senate would need to iron out differences between their versions before it can be sent to the Republican Gov. Tate Reeves.

A survey of state abortion policies from the Guttmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, finds that at least three states — Florida, Oklahoma and Texas — already have laws that specifically ban providers from mailing the pills to patients. Louisiana has classified one of the drugs, mifepristone, as a controlled dangerous substance.

Bills intended to keep out the pills have cleared one chamber of the legislature in Arizona, Indiana and South Carolina this year. Republicans control the legislatures in all three states and the governor’s office in two of them. But in Arizona, any restrictions that pass could be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.

Survey suggests abortion pills are a growing option in states with bans

A Guttmacher survey released Tuesday sheds light on why abortion opponents may be focusing on pills.

The report suggests that in 2025, for the first time, more women in the 13 states that ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy obtained pills through telehealth than traveled to other states for abortion.

The prescriptions come from providers in states with laws adopted since the fall of Roe that are intended to protect those who prescribe abortion pills to patients in states with bans.

The estimated increase in mailing pills comes as Guttmacher’s estimates also suggest fewer women are traveling to states like Colorado, Illinois, Kansas and New Mexico for abortion.

Guttmacher’s estimates are based on data from a monthly survey conducted among a random sample of U.S. abortion providers, combined with historical data from every provider in the U.S.

That follows a trend that’s been documented in other surveys of abortion providers.

Court battles are also centered on pills

Multiple states have court challenges to the federal rules that allow the abortion pill mifepristone to be prescribed via telehealth.

If they could require in-person prescriptions, it would at least dent the ability of out-of-state providers to get pills into places with bans in place.

Louisiana has such a lawsuit in federal court there; the attorneys general of Florida and Texas have one in Texas; those two states, along with Idaho, Kansas and Missouri, are making the same case in a Missouri court.

Meanwhile, Texas has filed civil cases and Louisiana criminal ones against providers accused of sending pills into their states.

The Food and Drug Administration last year approved a generic version of mifepristone, which frustrated abortion opponents.

One state imposed a ban, but its fate is uncertain

Wyoming is the only state this year that has imposed a new abortion ban.

Under a law signed in March by Republican Gov. Mark Gordon, it became the fifth state with a ban on abortion at about six weeks’ gestational age — before many women realize they’re pregnant. Like most of the others, Wyoming’s ban is on abortions once cardiac activity can be detected.

Courts have rejected previous Wyoming efforts to limit abortion.

The Wyoming Supreme Court in January struck down a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy.

The idea of punishing women is not gaining ground

No state has adopted a measure intended to allow criminal prosecutions against women who have abortions.

Proposals to do so keep getting made but sputter early in the legislative process.

The farthest such a bill has made it was a hearing last year before a Senate subcommittee in South Carolina. One was scheduled for a subcommittee hearing in Tennessee this month, but didn’t get one.

Pregnancy Justice, which advocates for the rights of pregnant people, says it’s tracked new “abortion-as-homicide” measures introduced in six states in 2026 — down from 13 states last year.

The major established anti-abortion groups oppose the approach. “Women require compassion and support,” said Ingrid Duran, the state legislative director for National Right to Life. “Not prosecution.”

Melissa Murray, a professor at New York University School of Law, says that introducing bills with penalties against women can break down the idea that such policies are off-limits.

“You keep pushing the boundary, pushing the envelope, eventually you will get what you’re seeking,” Murray said. “It will no longer feel fanciful or shocking.”

She also noted that women are already sometimes charged with crimes related to their pregnancies. This month, police in Georgia charged a woman with murder after allegedly using an abortion pill and the opioid painkiller oxycodone.

Abortion will be on ballots in November

Abortion questions will be before voters in at least three states in November.

Missouri lawmakers are asking voters to repeal the right to reproductive freedom that they put into the state constitution in 2024.

Elsewhere, voters are being asked to add constitutional amendments that largely mirror current state abortion laws.

In Nevada, a state constitutional amendment to allow abortion until fetal viability — generally considered to be sometime after 21 weeks of pregnancy — passed in 2024. But it needs voter approval a second time to take effect.

A Virginia measure on the ballot would guarantee the right to reproductive freedom, including access to contraception and making decisions on abortion care during the first two trimesters of pregnancy.

A large explosion at an oil refinery near the Texas coast on Monday shot plumes of smoke into the air and forced nearby residents to shelter in place, officials said.

No one was injured in the explosion at the Valero refinery in Port Arthur, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Houston, Mayor Charlotte M. Moses said. She urged residents in parts of the west side of the city to stay put, saying firefighters had arrived.

“There’s been an explosion, yes, but we’re OK; everybody’s OK,” she said. “They’re trying to put the fire out as quickly as possible.”

The explosion comes amid a spike in gas prices driven by uncertainty over the global oil supply because of the Iran war.

The refinery has about 770 employees and can process about 435,000 barrels of oil per day, according to Valero’s website. The plant refines heavy sour crude oil into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

Images and video posted online show a large plume of smoke and flames billowing out from the refinery. Some residents reported hearing a loud boom and seeing their windows shake.

“For your safety please remain in place until the ‘All Clear’ is given by emergency personnel,” the City of Port Arthur said in a post on its Facebook page.

Valero did not respond to an email or call from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Texas state Rep. Christian Manuel said in a post on social media that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality had arrived at the refinery with air monitoring equipment and was working with local and state partners.

He told nearby residents to stay inside.

“Please limit outdoor activity, keep windows and doors closed, and follow guidance from local officials,” he said.

HOPKINS COUNTY, Texas (KETK) — Months after a video surfaced of an East Texas breeder shooting a dog, a federal investigation revealed deplorable conditions at her unlicensed facility — charges that could send her to prison for up to 20 years.

An indictment delivered from a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Texas on Monday names Kristine Michelle Hicks, 51, of Cumby and charged her with acting as an unlicensed animal dealer and four counts of wire fraud.

Hicks’ appearance in federal court comes after being arrested on Dec. 21, 2025, for a social media video depicting her allegedly shooting at a dog three times and leaving it for dead, spurring an investigation into her breeding facilities.

Following Hicks’ arrest, search warrants executed in Jan. 10 at her dog breeding and sale business, Giant German Shepherds, found 88 German shepherds held in devastating conditions.

“The dogs had lacked adequate shelter from environmental exposure in their pens,” the indictment said. “Their pens, dirt and mud filled, had rusty buckets clipped to fences in a crowded row that were supposed to be the dogs’ source of food. A few had some kibble in the bottom, but many were empty, and water containers had mostly dirty water in them.”

Dogs were found starving, sick and neglected — many had bite wounds, scars or feces caked on their coats and feet.

An approximate total of 131 dogs were held at the property in December 2025, but Hicks had moved some to another location. Various animal care agencies assisted the remaining 88 dogs, 56 of which were surrendered to the SPCA of Texas for emergency intervention.

Additionally, the investigation into Giant German Shepherds found that Hicks has been running the business fraudulently. She advertised dogs as healthy, met certified parentage and were American Kennel Club (AKC) registered though the indictment found that they were not.

Many of the dogs sold were mixed breeds — not the “purebred” promised on Hicks’ website — and had diseases, the indictment said. Hicks also bought litters through Facebook and allegedly created false AKC documents to defraud buyers.

Four people identified as victims of Hicks’ alleged wire fraud were named in the indictment, including a disabled veteran who received an aggressive dog with false paperwork. The dog, which had medical issues, reportedly drew blood from the buyer several times.

The indictment also states that Hicks knowingly violated the Animal Welfare Act by not obtaining a license from the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture before selling or transporting dogs from June 2024 to December 2025.

If convicted, Hicks could face up to 20 years in federal prison for her count of acting as an animal dealer without a license and four counts of wire fraud.