ATHENS – According to Henderson County authorities, a shooting investigation in Athens resulted in the discovery of suspected drugs and the arrest of three people on Tuesday night. Investigators were called to the 400 block of Jonathan Street in Athens on Tuesday after a building was hit by several bullets, according to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators found the following items in a backpack while they were helping at the scene: two big plastic bags that possibly contained cocaine, a big plastic bag containing what appeared to be marijuana, digital scales and smaller plastic bags that are consistent with the distribution of drugs. Additionally, a bottle that appeared to contain Xanax pills was taken from the home by investigators. Continue reading Shooting leads to drug arrests
Tyler gets national honor
TYLER – The City of Tyler Main Street program has been designated as a 2026 Accredited Main Street America program. The program is one of 838 nationally recognized Accredited Main Street America organizations and is part of a network of more than 1,600 communities leading positive commercial district transformation efforts throughout the United States.
“Receiving our 2026 accreditation signals that our efforts in leading revitalization, partnerships, and programming are in line with a greater movement happening nationwide: transforming historic downtowns into destinations that a community can be proud of,” said Main Street Director Amber Varona. “Main Street has worked to ensure this forward progress is advocated for and that the everyday person living, working and playing Downtown is represented in these revitalization and programming efforts.” Continue reading Tyler gets national honor
Obama Center’s opening draws former presidents, music legends and A-list celebrities
CHICAGO (AP) – Former President Barack Obama, joined by three former presidents, celebrated the opening of his presidential museum in Chicago in an extraordinary event Thursday that brought together world leaders, A-list celebrities, athletes and other internationally known figures.
Bono, John Legend, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony and Eddie Vedder took turns on the stage ahead of planned performances by Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder.
Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters were seated on stage with former presidents Joe Biden, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton along with former first ladies Jill Biden, Laura Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Former Vice President Kamala Harris was also in attendance.
President Donald Trump was not in attendance. He called the $850 million center a “total disaster” in a social media post in February.
Michelle Obama spoke directly to her husband when she stepped up to the podium. “Eight years in the crucible and not once did you melt in the heat. Not once did you let it harden you.
“Instead, you used it to reveal your truest essence,” she said. “Your stubborn optimism and unflinching courage. Your dazzling brilliance and unpretentious decency. Your ferocious work ethic and absolutely unshakable moral fiber. And to do it all as a first.”
She ticked off highlights from her husband’s eight years in office, including ordering the raid that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden, “standing up for marriage equality” and “listening to science.”
“And you did it all with such grace and class and cool,” she said. “You made the hardest job in the world look like a walk in this beautiful park.”
Obama appeared to wipe away a tear as she praised him.
Michelle Obama also referenced the current “anxious and divisive times” and warned against being cynical or complacent as “everything feels so upside down.” She pitched the center as “a respite from all that.”
Jennifer Hudson sang the national anthem and Aguilera delivered a rousing rendition of “What a Wonderful World.” Pearl Jam’s Vedder, joined by Chicago teenagers in the nonprofit Guitars Over Guns program, sang an original song called “Better Believe,” written just for the dedication.
Legend sang “Someday We’ll All Be Free” and was joined by the rapper Common and Uniting Voices Chicago for their Academy Award-winning song “Glory.”
Bono, who said he was there representing the Irish, joined with The Edge in singing the U2 song “City of Blinding Lights.” The Roots served as the house band.
The invite-only celebration was livestreamed and kicks off a weekend of events centered around the Obama Presidential Center, which opens to the general public on Juneteenth. Thousands more watched from a nearby park.
Those at the event included California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate; civil rights leaders Andrew Young and Al Sharpton; Oprah Winfrey; comedians David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Stephen Colbert; actor Tom Hanks; tennis legend Billie Jean King and Chicago Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts.
Former world leaders in attendance included former Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“This is not a monument to the Obamas,” said Valerie Jarrett, the Obama Foundation’s chief executive and former Obama top adviser. “This is a tribute to all those who made this journey possible.”
Martin Nesbitt, chair of the Obama Foundation board, wore a tan suit in a joking nod toward the outfit Obama wore in 2014, drawing criticism over his fashion choice.
General admission tickets for the center are sold out through the end of October. But tens of thousands of people have already been offered a sneak peek of the nearly 20-acre campus on Chicago’s South Side in Jackson Park.
The center, located near where Obama lived and began his political career, is expected to attract more than 1 million visitors annually. It is adjacent to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in the lakefront park, and not far from the University of Chicago.
The campus includes a towering museum that covers the political and personal realms of the nation’s first Black president and first lady, while public spaces include a branch of the Chicago Public Library, a playground and athletic center, basketball courts and a picnic area with grills.
The tower’s design is meant to depict four hands coming together in solidarity. Wrapped around one side are 5-foot tall concrete capital letters, an excerpt of Obama’s 2015 speech commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march. It begins, “You are America.”
Comedy trailblazer Tom Dreesen, Sinatra’s longtime opening act, dies at 86
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tom Dreesen, who along with partner Tim Reid formed one of America’s first interracial stand-up comedy duos and later spent years as Frank Sinatra’s opening act, died Wednesday. He was 86.
Dreesen died at his home in Los Angeles, according to publicist Lori De Waal. A cause of death was not provided.
After meeting in Chicago, Dreesen and Reid, who was Black, formed “Tim and Tom” in 1969. Against a backdrop of simmering racial tension, they used humor to address social issues and promote understanding between audiences of different backgrounds. They worked together until the mid-1970s. Reid went on to solo success playing DJ Venus Flytrap on the popular TV sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati,” where Dreesen was a guest star.
“When I was a kid I found an album he and his comedy partner did called Tim and Tom and took it home and played it and it was one of the albums that changed the course of my life. So great,” comedian and filmmaker Mike Binder wrote on X.
After splitting with Reid, Dreesen honed a solo comedy act, making over 500 national TV appearances, including 60 visits to “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” He also was a frequent guest and sometime guest host on “The Late Show with David Letterman.” Their friendship dated to the early 1970s when both worked at The Comedy Store in West Hollywood, California.
Dreesen’s final TV appearance came last week on “Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen,” which replaced Stephen Colbert’s canceled CBS late-night show.
Dreesen was Sinatra’s opening act for 14 years and became close with the entertainer.
“If he loved you, he worshipped the ground you walked on,” Dreesen told The Desert Sun newspaper in 2014. ”In a lot of ways, he was like a father to me. I didn’t have a father that really cared that much where I was and what I did. But Frank would give me advice and counsel, and then he was a buddy in a lot of ways. I thought the world of him.”
Dressen also toured with Sinatra’s fellow Rat Pack member Sammy Davis Jr., as well as Liza Minnelli, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight and Tony Orlando.
“He was one of the most brilliant comedians of all time. Tonight, he’ll once again be opening for Dean, Frank and Sammy,” Deana Martin, a daughter of Dean Martin, posted on X.
In 2008, he co-wrote the book “Tim and Tom: An American Comedy Act in Black and White” and in 2020 he authored his memoir.
Dreesen acted in such TV shows as “Columbo,” “Murder, She Wrote,” and “Touched by an Angel.” His film roles included “Spaceballs,” “Man on the Moon” and “Trouble With the Curve,” as well as the HBO movies “The Rat Pack” and “Lansky.”
Dreesen was active in charitable work, motivational speaking and veterans’ causes, including serving as ambassador for the Gary Sinise Foundation.
“America lost one of our great comedians and patriots, and I lost a dear friend,” Sinise posted on X.
He was born on Sept. 11, 1939, in Chicago and raised as one of eight children in suburban Harvey. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy at age 17 and after getting out in 1960 he returned home to work a series of jobs, including selling insurance.
Dreesen is survived by daughters Amy and Jennifer from his marriage to Maryellen Subock, which ended in divorce in 1984, as well as seven grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son Tommy
At Shinnecock, the forecast calls for a windy, wild US Open
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — The sight of workers dragging a garden hose onto the seventh green in the middle of the final round at Shinnecock Hills in 2004 has long been remembered as the equivalent of the USGA waving a white flag. The message: We’ve officially lost the golf course.
This year, with the U.S. Open returning to one of the country’s most difficult and windswept layouts, the USGA sent a message before the tournament began: It will be watering the greens and it’s not a sign of surrender.
It is, however, the reality of what’s shaping up to be a rough week at what is traditionally the season’s roughest major — America’s national championship. Sustained wind near the eastern tip of Long Island was expected to rise beyond 30 mph at times for the opening round.
The 126th edition of U.S. Open began ominously Thursday morning when the large American flag atop the clubhouse was crackling at 6:30 a.m. Fog began to roll in, prompting James Nicholas to ask the starter if they were on time.
“I just wanted to make sure,” Nicholas said. “I can’t see the fairway.”
But he had plenty of room to see the flight of his 3-iron. To give the players a chance, the USGA has made the fairways wide and is trying to keep the greens soft and slower than usual.
That’s all part of the plan to keep it tough but fair.
“When we start to talk about numbers in the mid-30s, that becomes problematic in a number of ways,” John Bodenhamer, the USGA official in charge of course setup, said in referencing the wind forecast.
Shinnecock, considered one of America’s true cathedrals of golf, has also been the scene of some of its more jarring debacles.
In 2018, Phil Mickelson, frustrated with a ball he putted past the hole on No. 13 that just kept rolling, jogged toward the ball and swatted it back up the hill while it was still moving. That was a two-shot penalty that left the left-hander “embarrassed and disappointed by my actions.”
In 2004, organizers had to water the heavily sloped Redan green on No. 7 in between groups on Sunday — the signature moment on a fiasco of a day in which not a single player broke par.
Bodenhamer outlined a plan for the first two days, in which the USGA built in more time between the morning and afternoon waves to “syringe” the greens. He described that as applying a light mist on top of the surfaces, sort of like what happens when they water vegetables in the produce section at the grocery store.
He said course workers would wait until as late as possible before the start of the weekend rounds to water, in hopes they would remain receptive throughout the day. Saturday’s forecast calls for heavy wind out of the north and northwest, which is the opposite of normal at Shinnecock and can blow balls from the back to front of what Bodenhamer called “the problematic greens — or the more severe greens, not problematic.”
He said the speeds of the greens could be set to measure around 10 on the stimpmeter. A normal reading for a major would be around 13. If that’s the case, these could be the slowest U.S. Open putting surfaces he can recall since 1995, when Corey Pavin won at Shinnecock with a score of even par.
But when asked what this year’s trip around Shinnecock could look like, Bodenhamer brought up 1992, when Tom Kite used a 6-iron on the 102-yard seventh hole, then chipped in from left of the green to set up a win in gale conditions at Pebble Beach.
“We think Thursday could look a little bit like that, with what we’re seeing in the forecast,” Bodenhamer said. “We’ve given that some thought.”
The USGA has been transparent with the players about the watering plan.
“When I first heard of it, my first reaction was, ‘That’s stupid, why are they doing that?’” Rory McIlroy said. “Then, once you actually listen and you’ve let them break it down to you, you’re, like, ‘Yeah, that makes sense.’”
Since Bodenhamer took over the course setup job in 2019, the USGA has more or less stopped using par as a benchmark for a winning score. The year before he took over, Brooks Koepka won at Shinnecock with a score of 1 over. Since then, the average winning score has been nearly 7 under, even with notoriously tough courses like Winged Foot and Oakmont in the mix.
This year, the goal, in Bodenhamer’s words, is to “let Shinnecock be what it’s supposed to be.”
If the wind kicks up, as expected, it will be the toughest test in golf. If it doesn’t and the USGA sticks with its watering plan, it could turn into something totally different.
“It is a very unique site. It is up on top of the hill. It does get battered by the elements,” Justin Rose said. “The course changes dramatically from morning to afternoon. What I’m hearing is some slightly different protocols this week make sense to me, and I think it’s set up to be a great tournament.”
Trump administration reveals list of civil rights, climate change materials removed from national parks
(WASHINGTON) -- The Trump administration revealed the list of materials that the National Park Service removed from parks across the country that relate to civil rights, diverse populations, science and the environment.
The list was made public on Wednesday as part of a court filing brought by various organizations. The Interior Department is appealing a federal judge’s order to restore those materials ahead of America 250 celebrations on July 4.
Included in the list are vague descriptions of the materials that were removed and their location. The list, however, does not provide images of the content that NPS found objectionable.
Examples of items that were removed include signs about climate change at parks like Acadia National Park in Maine and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in New York; materials involving civil rights at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and at the Medgar and Myrtle Evans Home National Monument in Jackson, Mississippi; materials involving slavery at the President’s House in Philadelphia and materials on women’s rights at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge at the Gateway National Recreation Area in New York.
The list also includes reasons for the removals.
“Disparages Americans past or living” appears to be the reason provided by NPS for the removal of items related to civil rights, diverse communities, slavery and atrocities committed by the United States against Native Americans.
“Unrelated to beauty, abundance and grandeur of the national landscape” was listed as the reason for the removal of items related to science and the environment.
A spokesperson for the Interior Department confirmed to ABC News in a statement that the government is appealing the judge’s order to restore the items.
“We fully believe politically charged language denigrating our Founding Fathers is inappropriate and only further divides Americans,” the spokesperson said. “Through President Trump, we have encouraged Americans to visit our cultural and historic sites and engage in meaningful conversations about the moments that have shaped our country.”
The spokesperson added that the government seeks to “strengthen our shared understanding and ensure that future generations inherit not just the land we love, but the truth of the journey that brought us here.”
ABC News reached out to the Interior Department and NPS for further comment.
U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley ordered the restoration of the materials in a Friday ruling and cast their removal by NPS as “a dangerous precedent of censorship and sanitization.” She ordered the government to restore all items by July 3.
The federal government has filed a motion asking for an emergency stay pending appeal, which would block the restoration as the appeals court considers the case. In the motion, the government argued that the restoration of the materials would cause "irreparable harm.”
In response, Kelley ordered the government to produce the list of changes and the condition of the materials, writing that this information was necessary for her to consider the government’s argument.
The removal of materials, which relate to civil rights, diverse communities, science and the environment, was made in compliance with a March 27, 2025, executive order in which President Donald Trump ordered the Interior Department to remove content that cast the United States’ “founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.”
The complaint filed in February challenges the removal of the materials and was brought by a coalition of organizations committed to preserving history, the parks and the environment.
"National parks belong to the American people and censorship of any kind goes against the values these places represent," said Alan Spears, a senior director " said Alan Spears, a senior director at the National Parks Conservation Association, one of organizations suing NPS. "Americans count on national parks to help us understand our full, rich history. Stories of triumph and tragedy alike deserve to be told out loud at parks."
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
NHL clears Mike Babcock to coach the Oilers after review of his Columbus tenure
NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL said Thursday it completed a review of Mike Babcock’s tenure in Columbus, cleared him to coach the Edmonton Oilers if they opt to hire him.
The league launched an investigation at the request of the NHL Players’ Association in light of the Edmonton Oilers’ interest in hiring Babcock. The league in a statement said even in the least favorable light, there was no basis to restrict Babcock’s employment.
It was not immediately clear if or when the Oilers would name Babcock coach. They have been looking for a replacement since firing Kris Knoblauch following a first-round playoff exit that came after back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final.
Babcock, 63, has not coached in the NHL since 2019, when he was fired by Toronto 23 games into his fifth season in charge. The Blue Jackets hired him on July 1, 2023, and Babcock resigned in September after his requests for personal photos from players in an attempt to get to know them drew criticism as an invasion of privacy.
A statement from the NHLPA called the allegations very concerning and said, “Moving forward, we expect that Mr. Babcock will uphold the high standards required of NHL head coaches.”
The NHL dropped its planned investigation at the time because Babcock stepped down. It got underway this week after the final ended
Babcock coached Detroit to the Stanley Cup in 2008 and has made two other trips to the final, along with guiding Canada to Olympic gold medals in 2010 and ’14.
Layoffs expected with contract ending
TYLER – Dozens of Tyler workers could lose their jobs by the end of June after John Soules Foods abruptly moved to end its sanitation contract with Fortrex, putting the company’s entire on?site workforce at risk.
Fortrex said it may have to shut down its operations at the facility effective June 26, which would affect all 84 Fortrex employees working at the John Soules Foods plant at FM 14 in Tyler.
The John Soules Foods plant itself will continue operating and is expected to bring in a different sanitation provider.
“The unforeseen business circumstances related to John Soules Foods, Inc.’s decision to immediately cease operations at its plant are not something that we anticipated,” Fortrex said in a statement. “We hope that this notice will be helpful to you in making a smooth transition.”
College sports bill clears key Senate hurdle despite SEC, Big Ten opposition
WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill that top lawmakers and athletic leaders have described as the best chance to stabilize college sports cleared a key vote in the Senate on Thursday with bipartisan support after weeks of input from schools, conferences and athletes.
The bipartisan Protect College Sports Act aims to regulate payments to players, limit them to one free transfer over their careers and create a rule to restrict coaches from changing jobs during a season. It advanced out of the Senate Commerce Committee on a 19-9 vote Thursday and now heads to the full Senate for consideration.
The legislation is the product of months of negotiations between Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the top lawmakers on the Senate Commerce Committee, and comes as lawmakers in both chambers of Congress are grappling with whether it’s time for them to intervene in college sports.
“The greatest risk facing college athletics today is not any single controversy, court decision, or headline. The greatest threat to college sports is inaction,” Cruz said in opening remarks.
Bill moves forward without Big Ten and SEC support
The committee vote advancing the bill — which included Senate Majority Leader John Thune voting in favor — followed endorsements from several athletic conferences, the NFL and its players union, and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. The Olympic committee backed the revised measure after lawmakers added additional protections for women’s and Olympic sports.
Yet the two most powerful conferences in college sports — the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten Conference — are not supporting it. In a joint statement released Thursday morning, the two conferences wrote that “revisions are needed to secure our support for the bill.”
“What we did today was say we’re not going to let the most powerful, richest conferences dictate to the rest of America what’s going to happen to 500,000 athletes,” Cantwell said after the committee vote.
Earlier this month, the Congressional Black Caucus also urged the Senate to suspend action on the bill in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that effectively disabled a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. Democratic Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, a member of the CBC, voted against the legislation Thursday.
Support and opposition for the bill does not fall neatly along party lines, reflecting the national reach of SEC and Big Ten schools and broader divisions in Congress.
While President Donald Trump has backed the bill, multiple Republicans opposed the legislation Thursday, while several Democrat supported it.
Some of the senators who voted against the bill represent states that are home to prominent SEC and Big Ten programs, including Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, a Democrat, and Republican Sens. Todd Young of Indiana and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.
“We still are trying to get some changes that the Big Ten would like to see,” Peters told The Associated Press late Wednesday.
A long road ahead
Clearing the committee is just the first step in a long process.
Passage through the Senate is far from guaranteed, as leaders already have a packed schedule and a dwindling number of legislative days left before the November election. The bill would need to clear a 60-vote threshold in the 53-47 Republican-controlled chamber.
The bill will also still need to clear the House. Earlier this year, House Republican leadership had been working toward a vote on its own college sports bill, known as the SCORE Act, before the Congressional Black Caucus announced its unanimous opposition.
Still, supporters on Thursday touted the committee action as a massive step forward.
“Today we are proving that we are resilient in keeping this product moving,” Cantwell said.
Ben Stiller confirms upcoming Knicks documentary with A24
Ben Stiller is working on a documentary about the New York Knicks.
The actor opened up about what he called a "dream project" in a new interview.
"Couldn’t be more excited to make this doc with @A24 and @HBO about the NY KNICKS!!!!!! #LETSGOKNICKS," the actor and director wrote in an X post Wednesday.
The Knicks' hometown held a ticker-tape parade on Thursday to celebrate their first NBA championship since 1973 last weekend.
Stiller, a Knicks fan, has been seen recording video footage with an iPhone courtside at recent games and throughout the last season.
He discussed the project with Knicks captain and MVP Jalen Brunson, Knicks guard Josh Hart and their co-host Matt Hillman on the latest Roommates Show podcast.
"We are officially making a documentary about the New York Knicks for HBO, and doing it with A24, and full cooperation of [Madison Square Garden] and NBA," Stiller said.
"Obviously, I've been shooting some stuff on my phone but it's kind of gonna be about all eras of the Knicks and this team, obviously, you know, there's a culmination here of something that has been going on for a long time," Stiller continued. "It's super exciting."
Stiller said he plans on filming more footage, including interviews with Knicks players, in the next Knicks season as well.
"There's so many great eras. And this team, I think, you know, when you look at the '70s championships, the '90s runs and then this team doing it again, I think there's just so much within that," said Stiller, adding that he wants to make a doc "for the fans."
A24 also confirmed to ABC News Wednesday that a "landmark" documentary about the Knicks and their legacy is in progress and the "multi-part series" will cover the NBA team's culture and history.
"The series will trace the full arc of the franchise from the 90s to the improbable, record-breaking run that finally returned a championship to New York. The series is expected to offer unprecedented NBA access, never-before-seen footage, and a definitive look at one of basketball's most iconic stories," said the production company.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Reward increased after shooting
TYLER – A $25,000 reward has been offered by the FBI for information that results in the apprehension and conviction of those responsible for the shooting of a five-year-old. On the evening of May 29, Josiah Williams was shot at the Victory Parks Apartment in Tyler. For emergency care, Josiah was flown to a hospital in Dallas. Over thirty shell casings were found at the scene by investigators. Josiah was an innocent bystander, and officials believe the incident was gang-related. According to the FBI, multiple people are thought to have participated in the shooting, and all of the suspects are men.
Officer involved in shooting outside Walmart that killed 1-year-old boy placed on leave
(SENATOBIA, Miss.) -- An officer who fired upon a vehicle, killing a 1-year-old boy, outside a Walmart in Mississippi has been placed on administrative leave, officials said, as outraged community members call for justice amid an ongoing investigation into the deadly shooting.
The incident occurred Sunday afternoon outside a Walmart in Senatobia, located in northwestern Mississippi about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee.
Law enforcement officers who responded to a shoplifting call encountered two adults allegedly fleeing from the store with a child and going into a vehicle, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, with one opening fire when the driver allegedly drove toward them, the bureau said. The child was killed and an adult critically injured, officials said.
One-year-old Kohen Wiley, his mother and a family friend were in the vehicle at the time, according to Ben Crump Law, which has been retained by the victim's family. Kohen was killed and the family friend was critically injured, the law firm said.
The officer involved in the shooting has been placed on leave, according to Senatobia city officials. The decision was made during a meeting with city officials on Tuesday.
The name of the officer has not been released.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting. Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell, who oversees the bureau, promised transparency in the investigation.
"To make no mistake, this is a very tragic situation," Tindell said during a press briefing on Tuesday. "I want the public to be assured that the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation will conduct its independent investigation."
He said five agents are working on the case, gathering evidence and witness statements, to ultimately present to the state's attorney general's office. He said investigators are also working to get security footage from Walmart.
"I would ask that the public maintain patience as much as possible," Tindell said. I know this is a very frustrating time, but maintain patience as this process is done."
Tindell declined to get into the details of the case due to the ongoing investigation. He said body-camera footage will be released once the investigation is completed.
Civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Kohen's family, said the child's mother has not been charged with any crime and that she says she was "trying to communicate to officers that there was a baby in the car."
"They fired anyway, leading to the death of an innocent 1-year-old," Crump said in a statement. "We intend to seek justice for baby Kohen and the life that was stolen from him."
Kohen's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, said in a video released through her attorneys that her friend was being pursued for allegedly shoplifting diapers.
"I raised my baby up trying to show them that he was in the car," she said. "By the time I sat my baby down, it was like three to four shots. One of the shots hit him in his ribcage."
Wiley said her friend was driving the vehicle at the time.
"They tried to say that she forcefully was trying to drive and hit them, but they was all on the right side and she was driving towards the left," she said.
Protesters outraged over the deadly shooting gathered outside the Senatobia City Hall on Tuesday for a rally, some holding signs saying "Justice for Kohen."
Later that night, protesters gathered in the Walmart parking lot where the shooting occurred, shouting, "No justice, no peace." Officers in riot helmets and gas masks formed a line at the front doors of the store, at one point appearing to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The Walmart temporarily closed, before reopening on Wednesday morning.
"We're saddened by what took place at our Senatobia, MS, store," a Walmart spokesperson said in a statement on Monday in response to the shooting. "The safety of our associates and customers is a top priority. We're working with law enforcement as they continue investigating."
City officials called the deadly shooting a "heartbreaking tragedy" while urging residents to await the results of the investigation.
"We understand that emotions are high and that many questions remain. We respectfully ask our community to avoid speculation and the spread of unverified information while the investigation is underway," the city said in a statement on Tuesday. "Please allow the investigative process to take its course so that the facts -- not rumors or assumptions -- guide our understanding of this tragic event."
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Road closures in Bullard
BULLARD – Drivers in Bullard should prepare for detours next week as TxDOT shuts down several streets to continue its widening project along Main Street.
The closure will stretch from Main Street down to South Houston Street, and officials are urging drivers to avoid the area while work is underway. To get around the construction zone, motorists are encouraged to use North Phillips Street and West Emma Street as alternate routes.
The project is expected to last through next Friday.
‘Outer Banks’ season 5 gets teaser trailer, release date
Outer Banks is starting up on its final adventure.
Netflix has shared the official teaser trailer for the drama series' fifth and final season. It has also announced that the season will make its debut on Aug. 20.
Returning to the show are series regulars Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, Jonathan Daviss, Drew Starkey, Carlacia Grant, Austin North and Fiona Palomo. J. Anthony Crane and Cullen Moss have also been upped to series regulars for the final season.
This new season finds the Pogues "at their absolute breaking point following the tragic loss of JJ in Morocco. Stranded far from home and mourning the heart of their crew, they’ve lost the Blue Crown and continue to face a gauntlet of familiar threats," according to its official description. "With Chandler Groff still at large, Dalia and the Corsairs closing in, and the Kooks ensuring the Pogues have no home to return to, John B, Sarah, Kiara, Pope, and Cleo must rely on their scrappy instincts—and an uneasy alliance with Rafe—to keep from falling apart for good."
This new mission is now a race to "reclaim their future and finally win the freedom they’ve been chasing since the beginning," the description continues. "It’s the Pogues against the world as they seek to avenge their best friend and bring it on home…one final time."
The teaser trailer finds the crew reeling after the death of their friend JJ.
"I saw what he did to JJ. And he knows I'm not letting it go," Bailey's Kiara says, before Cline's Sarah Cameron says, "If you're on the bottom, you have to risk everything."
Jonas Pate, Josh Pate and Shannon Burke are the creators of Outer Banks. Season 5 consists of 10 hourlong episodes.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Jeremy Peña homers, Lambert allows 2 hits and Astros beat Tigers 4-2
HOUSTON (AP) — Jeremy Peña homered and had an RBI single, Peter Lambert allowed just one run on two hits and the Houston Astros beat the Detroit Tigers 4-2 on Wednesday.
Yordan Alvarez extended his on-base streak to 24 games and scored Christian Vazquez on a double for his 55th RBI of the season.
Lambert (6-4) retired nine of his first 10 batters. He gave up a leadoff single to Dillon Dingler in the fourth, and went on to retire 11 straight before Kerry Carpenter’s solo homer in the seventh. He finished seven innings with five strikeouts and walked none.
Peña homered in the third inning off Casey Mize (2-4). Alvarez hit his double in the fifth to make it 2-0.
Mize was making his first start since coming off the injured list after dealing with right adductor inflammation. He retired eight of the first nine batters he faced before Peña lined his fourth home run of the season.
Mize gave up three runs on six hits with three strikeouts and one walk in 4 2/3 innings.
The Astros extended their lead with an Isaac Paredes RBI double and Peña’s bases-loaded single in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.
Rookie Kevin McGonigle hit his sixth homer of the year in the ninth, lifting a first-pitch fastball from Josh Hader into the left-field seats.
Hader went on to strike out the side and secure his fourth save of the season.
Up next
Houston: Opens a three-game series with Cleveland at home on Friday. RHP Tatsuya Imai (3-3, 6.43 ERA) is slated to pitch the series opener.
Detroit: Opens a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox at home on Friday. LHP Tarik Skubal (3-3, 2.81 ERA) will counter White Sox RHP Erick Fedde (2-5, 4.50 ERA).
Residents have data center water worries
HENDERSON COUNTY – Local leaders in Henderson County held a workshop on Tuesday to discuss a proposed data center near Key Ranch Estates on Cedar Creek Lake. During the meeting, community members voiced significant concerns regarding the project’s potential impact on the lake, particularly the risk of water depletion.
According to our news partner KETK, the proposed data center’s water requirements sparked worries among residents, who fear that water levels at Cedar Creek Lake, considered the heart of their community, could be depleted. The workshop aimed to inform the community and allow residents to understand the potential impact on their area. Continue reading Residents have data center water worries
Scam calls on the rise
Smith County – Smith County and surrounding areas have seen an uptick in scam calls — specifically, calls that instill fear by making it seem a family member is in danger and you need to pay to save them.
Smith County Precinct 4 Constable Josh Joplin and a local woman, who had experienced one of these scam calls, say they can seem so real, even using the sound of someone in distress to sell their story. The calls from unknown people range from kidnapping a loved one to crying out that a daughter’s been in a crash. These scammers are capitalizing on the fear.
Tammy Humes says she received a phone call from a regular, wireless number with a local area code, urgently stressing that her daughter had been in a car crash, and money was needed to tow her car. In the background, she could hear a woman yelling, “Mom!”
“A parent’s gonna freak out hearing that their child’s in an accident,” Humes said.
Humes said she recognized the caller was not able to provide a location of the call or identify the daughter, instead only saying he needed her credit card information. Continue reading Scam calls on the rise
Stocks rise on Wall Street, erasing much of their loss from a day earlier
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks rose on Wall Street Thursday, taking back most of their losses from a day earlier, and are on track to notch weekly gains.
The S&P 500 rose 1.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 302 points, or 0.6%, as of 10:49 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite jumped 1.4%. Every major index is on track for weekly gains. U.S. markets will be closed Friday for Juneteenth.
The gains are helping to cut losses from a day earlier that were driven by anticipation that the Federal Reserve will likely raise interest rates this year in an effort to fight inflation. Bond yields are pulling back. That, along with falling oil prices, is relieving much of the pressure on stocks.
The gains were broad and being led by technology stocks. Intel surged 7% after President Donald Trump announced that the semiconductor giant will make chips for Apple in the U.S. Other big semiconductor companies gained ground. Nvidia rose 2.2% and Micron Technology surged 7.7%.
On the losing end, SpaceX fell for the second straight day since its ballyhooed debut on the U.S. stock market last week. The Elon Musk-led rocket maker and AI company was down 6.5% following a 4.9% loss Wednesday.
Crude oil prices continued to fall after the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tanker traffic. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3% to $77.20 per barrel. U.S. benchmark crude fell 3.4% to $73.46 per barrel.
Easing oil prices are relieving pressure on companies that rely heavily on fuel. Airlines had some of the bigger gains. American Airlines rose 4% and United Airlines rose 4%. Cruise line company Carnival jumped 3.4%.
Energy companies, though, lost ground on falling oil prices. Exxon Mobil fell 2.7% and Chevron fell 2.1%.
Prices for crude oil are still above roughly $70 per barrel from before the war, but are well below the $100-plus price from a few weeks ago.
Higher oil prices had been weighing on markets throughout the U.S. war with Iran. The current deal between the nations waives sanctions against Iran and allows it to sell its oil freely. It also opens up the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil supply is shipped.
Rising energy costs have also been putting more pressure on already hot inflation. The average price of gasoline in the U.S. has dipped below $4 a gallon, but is still 25% higher from a year ago. Prices have been rising for a wide range of goods because of higher shipping costs.
Hotter inflation prompted the Federal Reserve to shift course from cutting its benchmark interest rate to likely raising rates by the end of the year. Lower interest rates can boost the economy by making borrowing easier for businesses and households, but it also tends to stoke inflation.
The Fed has been trying to balance its job of curbing inflation while supporting employment growth. The jobs market has remained relatively strong amid rising inflation, with low unemployment and solid job growth.
The central bank closed its two-day meeting on Wednesday by maintaining its benchmark interest rate at its current level. But it signaled that it will likely raise the rate at least once by December.
That prompted a jump in bond yields on Wednesday, but they eased on Thursday.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.43% from 4.49% late Wednesday. The yield on 2-year Treasury, which more closely tracks action by the Fed, fell to 4.15% from 4.20% late Wednesday.
Markets were mixed in Europe and Asia.
Tyra Banks to join ‘Project Runway’ season 22 as recurring judge
Tyra Banks is hitting a new kind of catwalk.
Freeform revealed that the supermodel and entrepreneur will join Heidi Klum, Law Roach and Nina Garcia on Project Runway as a recurring judge.
Christian Siriano will also return for season 22 as a mentor.
The new season will be bigger than ever with 22 designers from different backgrounds slated to compete.
A press release for the upcoming season says that it is the most designers in Project Runway history to compete for a chance to take their careers to the next level.
The new season of the hit reality competition show will also see the Dancing with the Stars cast hitting the runway, with appearances from Brandon Armstrong, Alan Bersten, Val Chmerkovskiy, Jenna Johnson, Emma Slater, Ezra Sosa, Britt Stewart and Julianne Hough.
Stars from the Get Real universe, including former Bachelorette star Charity Lawson, Sarah Jane Nader from Love Thy Nader and Ekin-Su from Vanderpump Villa, will appear as models in an episode this season.
Also joining this season as guest judges are Ciara, Fausto Puglisi, Ice Spice, Iman, Kiernan Shipka, Niecy Nash, Nina Dobrev, Sergio Hudson, Willy Chavarria and Winnie Harlow.
Project Runway season 22 will arrive on Freeform on July 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT and will be available to stream shortly after on Hulu and Disney+, followed by weekly airings.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Supreme Court sides with a Texas man who says it’s not a crime for marijuana users to have guns
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sided Thursday with a Texas marijuana user who wants to legally own a gun, the latest in a line of firearm cases from a court that has expanded gun rights.
In a unanimous decision, the justices ruled in favor of Ali Danial Hemani, who argued that a law barring guns from anyone who uses drugs illegally violates the Second Amendment. Hemani wasn’t charged with any other crimes or accused of using the weapon under the influence.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the opinion, saying the ruling limits but doesn’t end the government’s power to take guns from drug users.
The decision is a loss for President Donald Trump’s Republican administration, which had defended the 1968 law despite arguing against other gun restrictions. The measure was also used in a case against Hunter Biden, who was convicted in Wilmington, Delaware, of buying a gun while addicted to cocaine in 2018. He was later pardoned by his father, then-President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
Someone addicted to a drug could still be prosecuted after Thursday’s decision, Gorsuch wrote. “We do not address efforts to ban addicts, or those presently intoxicated, from possessing a firearm,” he wrote. Prosecutors could potentially still charge a marijuana user, if they had evidence the person was dangerous.
It’s the latest in a series of firearm cases to reach the Supreme Court since a landmark ruling expanding gun rights in 2022 led to a wave of challenges around the country.
Since then, the high court has upheld a law aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence and strict regulations on ghost gun kits but has struck down a ban on bump stocks, an accessory that enables rapid fire. The justices are also considering a second firearm case this term over strict regulations on carrying guns in Hawaii.
The Texas case comes after significant shifts in the legality and use of cannabis. More than half of U.S. states have now legalized it broadly, and it’s gained widespread use for health purposes.
“Whatever one thinks of these developments, the federal government has not just tolerated them; it helped fuel them,” Gorsuch wrote. “All of which leaves it awkwardly positioned to suggest that the millions of Americans who now regularly use marijuana are categorically and unusually dangerous.”
Recreational use remains illegal on a federal level even after the Trump administration reclassified medical marijuana as a less-dangerous drug in April.
It’s rare to see standalone criminal charges filed against people accused solely of owning guns and using drugs. The charge is more often filed against people also accused of other crimes.
The case made for some unusual political alliances. The American Civil Liberties Union and the National Rifle Association both supported Hemani’s case, as did cannabis legalization groups like NORML. On the other side were gun safety groups like Everytown that usually oppose the Trump administration on Second Amendment issues.
Supreme Court allows some marijuana users to own guns, limiting federal gun ban
(WASHINGTON) -- In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a longstanding federal ban on guns for unlawful users of any controlled substance is unconstitutional as applied to a Texas gun owner who used marijuana several times a week.
The decision set new limits on federal prosecution of gun owners who are targeted simply for having a history of drug use. It was especially welcomed by millions of American cannabis users who have had to disarm or risk up to 15 years behind bars.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the court's opinion that unlawful drug use alone cannot be grounds to seek to send someone to prison and potentially force them to give up firearms for life.
"We do not question that sometimes an individual's unlawful use of marijuana (or any other controlled substance) may render him a danger to others," Gorsuch wrote. "But, again, the government disclaims the need to show anything like that in this case. ... affording the government that kind of broad power to designate any group as dangerous and thereby disqualify its members from having a gun would risk allowing it to quickly swallow the Second Amendment."
The Justice Department has said it prosecutes roughly 300 cases a year in which a violation of the drug-user gun ban is a leading charge.
Gorsuch said the opinion was narrow and did not disturb other provisions of the law, which includes a ban on guns for drug addicts, ban on guns for people presently intoxicated and prohibition of firearms for those deemed a danger to themselves or others.
The ruling would not, for example, have prevented the prosecution of Hunter Biden under the law since he was a known and admitted drug addict while in possession of a firearm.
The decision was most immediately a victory for plaintiff Ali Hemani, a Texas man who admitted to using marijuana "every other day" while keeping a Glock 9mm pistol in his home. He was prosecuted by federal authorities for a single charge of unlawful possession as a drug user but was neither intoxicated nor physically holding the weapon when arrested.
A federal appeals court tossed out the Hemani indictment saying the ban as applied to him was unconstitutional. The justices agreed with that decision.
While more than 40 states have legalized marijuana in some form, it remains prohibited under federal law.
"Today's unanimous 9-0 decision makes it clear that the government cannot make it crime for people to own a gun, which the Supreme Court has held is a fundamental constitutional right, simply because they use marijuana," said Cecillia Wang, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union.
"With nearly half of Americans reporting marijuana use at some point in their lives, this ruling protects the rights of millions and curbs the government's ability to impose arbitrary and discriminatory penalties," Wang wrote in a statement. "The court has sent a strong message that the government cannot criminalize the conduct of large numbers of people by making categorical and unfounded assumptions about whether they are dangerous."
The decision was also praised by the National Rifle Association as "a major victory for the Second Amendment and peaceable gun owners across America."
"No one should be deprived of their God-given right to keep and bear arms for engaging in nonviolent conduct, and there is no historical justification for doing so," said NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford in a statement to ABC News.
Gun safety advocates, which had joined the Trump administration in opposing a rollback of the drug-user gun ban, said the bulk of the law remains a robust and "common-sense" public-safety measure.
"Although the Court said that the particular law at issue in this case cannot be upheld specifically as to the person challenging it, it reaffirmed the ability of legislatures to restrict firearms access by certain categories of people," said Kris Brown, president of Brady, a gun safety group.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Guillermo Rodriguez of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ joins ‘Dancing with the Stars’
Guillermo Rodriguez is stepping out from behind Jimmy Kimmel's desk and onto the dance floor.
The longtime Jimmy Kimmel Live! personality has officially joined season 35 of Dancing with the Stars as a celebrity contestant.
The announcement was made Wednesday night on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, making Rodriguez the latest star revealed for the upcoming season.
Rodriguez has become a familiar face to television audiences through his work alongside Jimmy Kimmel.
His journey to late-night stardom began when he worked as a security guard at the show's Hollywood studio before being featured in comedy sketches and recurring segments that quickly made him a fan favorite.
Over the years, Rodriguez has become one of the show's most recognizable personalities, appearing in countless comedy bits, celebrity interviews and his signature segment, "Guillermo's Hollywood Roundup."
He has also made appearances in films and television projects, including a cameo in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Now, Rodriguez will take on a new challenge as he competes for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy.
He joins a growing season 35 cast that includes reality TV stars Ciara Miller and Maura Higgins, as well as Savannah Bananas player and social media personality Jackson Olson.
Dancing with the Stars is coming off a successful season 34, which ABC said delivered the show's strongest finale audience in a decade.
The competition series is set to return this fall on ABC and Disney+, with episodes available to stream the next day on Hulu.
The full celebrity cast, professional dancer pairings and premiere date are expected to be announced Sept. 2 on Good Morning America.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
On the site of a former Alabama coal plant, Google bets big with a data center expansion
(NEW YORK) -- In the foothills of the Appalachians, where a coal plant once operated, now sits a massive data center operated by Google -- and it's about to get even bigger.
This week the tech giant announced a $1.5 billion expansion of its Jackson County, Alabama site. The company gave ABC News a rare exclusive look inside the campus -- including its high-security server room -- as public backlash grows against the buildout of data centers nationwide.
"There's a lot of negative sentiment," Thomas Gamble, the Southern Corridor Area Manager for Google Data Centers, told ABC News. "As we're building, we're trying to figure out the best, most efficient use of all the power, the water, any of the systems we can."
Gamble, who grew up just five miles from the sprawling campus, said that the company pays for 100% of the power it uses at the facility, where corridors stacked with servers feed global demand for the company's offerings, from maps to email to video streaming.
"We're just a lot of servers storing information, just like books are in your library," Gamble said.
Google is one of several big tech companies that has signed on to a voluntary "Ratepayer Protection Pledge" pushed by the Trump administration that seeks to protect American households from paying more for electricity costs associated with the construction of new data centers.
But the public remains skeptical. A Gallup poll conducted this spring found that 71% of Americans oppose the construction of AI data centers in their area, citing concerns about quality of life, the economy, local resources, pollution, water usage, electricity bills, and AI in general.
Of the poll respondents who said they would be in favor of a data center in their area, two-thirds cited local economic benefits as the reason.
ABC News has observed this debate play out in contentious town halls across the country, where impassioned residents and local leaders wrestle over the presence of these facilities, which developers say deliver hundreds of jobs and renewed investment in regions that may be otherwise neglected.
Lawmakers in at least 14 states are now considering slowing or banning the development of data centers. Proposed moratoriums in these states all target new facilities, and in some cases, include requirements to study the impacts of data centers.
Opponents of data centers argue that moratoriums will allow additional time to explore their effects on local communities, while proponents argue the moratoriums will hamper AI development and hurt local economies.
The map below shows states that have recently considered moratoriums, and the status of bills that include language on data center development. Click on or scroll over any of the shaded states for details on the bills.
Back in Jackson County, Chamber of Commerce president Rick Roden says Google's data center has made him more excited about the future than he's ever been.
"This changes our history, this changes our future, and we're now known as a technology area," he told ABC News. "We know that that's going to open doors that we would have never had open before, just because we landed Google."
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
In brief: ‘Survival of the Thickest’ season 3 trailer and more
The trailer for the third and final season of Survival of the Thickest has arrived. Michelle Buteau stars in the comedy series, which is based on her book of essays. The show follows Mavis Beaumont, a stylist and designer who is determined to thrive and grow her brand. Season 3 debuts on July 2 ...
Podcaster Brooke Averick's debut novel, Phoebe Berman's Gonna Lose It, is getting adapted into a movie for Netflix. Averick, who co-hosts Brooke and Connor Make a Podcast, announced the news on Instagram Wednesday. "Wanted to let you all know," she captioned the post. The Nightingale producer Elizabeth Cantillon is set to produce the film, which will be written by Book Lovers screenwriter Sarah Heyward ...
Wagner Moura is in talks to join the Ocean's Eleven prequel. Deadline reports the actor is negotiating to join the upcoming Warner Bros. film. Margot Robbie and Bradley Cooper are also set to star. In addition to starring in the film, Cooper is directing and writing it ...
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
‘Leviticus’ director, star talk mixing horror with romance
Horror is the hottest ticket at the box office this summer, with films like Backrooms and Obsession finding success in the theaters. Joining that wave of buzzy new films in the genre is the Australian horror romance Leviticus.
Written and directed by Adrian Chiarella in his feature debut, the film tackles themes of homophobia through a supernatural lens.
“What if there was some ritual that put some seed of fear inside of its victims to make them scared of their own desires? And that's where I came up with this idea of a horror movie monster or an entity that looks like the person you're most attracted to,” Chiarella tells ABC Audio of the film’s premise.
He adds, “And once I had that, I thought, well, now I've got a horror movie, but I really want to focus on this other thing that I'm interested in, which is the love story.”
Joe Bird and Stacy Clausen star as Naim and Ryan, the two teenage boys at the center of the love story who are each forced to undergo a ritual in their devoutly Christian community with the aim of scaring them straight.
“I think the love story has to work for the horror to work,” Bird says. “Because I think you've got to care about these characters and care about this relationship.”
The film was an early success at Sundance and SXSW, and reviews have been drawing comparisons to the queer hockey romance series Heated Rivalry – with one Letterboxd review dubbing it “Haunted Rivalry.” Chiarella and Bird say they appreciate being mentioned alongside an impactful piece of media.
“They're two very different things, I think, but it is exciting that there's this kind of ecosystem of queer stories that exists and that can sort of allow audiences to keep the conversation going,” Chiarella says.
Leviticus hits theaters Friday.
Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Man who died in Texas plane crash was a key figure in seeding Austin’s technology boom
The man who died when a small jet crashed on a Texas highway was an entrepreneur well-known in the state for being at the center of Austin’s turbocharged evolution as a technology hub.
Joshua Baer, 50, described himself as an “Austinpreneur,” a reference to the state capital and his enthusiasm for getting people into business. He founded Capital Factory, which has grown into an important Austin-based venture capital firm supporting a range of technology startup companies, from robots to autonomous ships.
Baer’s LinkedIn page shows him wearing a black T-shirt and pointing at the message: “I help people quit jobs.” His email had a similar handle. Capital Factory’s downtown headquarters is among the offices of tech giants like Google.
“Whether you’re in technology or not, there’s a hole in the heart of Austin today,” Thom Singer, CEO of the Austin Technology Council, which promotes the local tech industry, said of Baer’s death.
Baer listed his life strategy as, “Plant lots of seeds. Water everyone’s. Repeat.” And people noticed: The Austin mayor in 2023 gave him a key to the city, a symbol of civic honor.
Bryan Chambers, co-founder and president of Capital Factory, said his business partner was a “true super connector.”
Baer was aboard a business jet that crashed Tuesday on a highway in Laredo, Texas, after the pilots reported mechanical problems and requested to make an emergency landing at an airport. His LinkedIn profile said he had a wife and three children. It wasn’t known whether three young people who survived the crash were family members.
After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he created an email marketing business, Baer moved to Austin in 1996 to work as a software developer at Trilogy Inc. He started Capital Factory in 2009 and regularly held business chats with people at a coffee shop.
“My hobby is startups,” Baer told the Austin American-Statesman in 2012. “I don’t watch sports or anything like that. So this is what I do. … I want to be an investor in every great tech company that comes out of Austin. That’s probably unrealistic, but I’m going to try anyway.”
Baer often spoke to high school students and had the title of “entrepreneur in residence” at the University of Texas.
“He was passionate that technology could change the world and make people’s lives efficient and better,” Singer said. “And if entrepreneurs did it right, they could make money and help their communities. He believed in those two things.”
Texas U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn said they were saddened by Baer’s death. Cornyn wrote on X that Baer was an “innovative & creative leader in Austin’s entrepreneurial culture.”
Tropical Cyclone Arthur weakens to a low pressure area along the upper Texas coast
COVINGTON, La. (AP) — Tropical Storm Arthur was downgraded to a low pressure area along the upper Texas coast Wednesday night but forecasters expected its remnants to bring life-threatening flooding and days of heavy rains to parts of the southeastern United States, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Arthur was the first tropical storm of the season in the Atlantic basin and it’s expected to keep weakening as it moves inland over southeastern Texas and western Louisiana, then cross the southeast Thursday through Friday. Maximum sustained winds were around 35 mph (55 kph).
All coastal watches and warnings were discontinued Wednesday night, but flooding was likely through Friday over parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, the hurricane center said.
In Louisiana and Mississippi, some communities had set up locations for residents to collect sandbags and cleared debris from drainage systems.
“The main threat from Arthur is going to be a prolonged, multiday, heavy rainfall event that could produce dangerous to life-threatening flash flooding,” National Hurricane Center director Michael Brennan said.
The storm spun off the Texas coast on the same day a World Cup match took place in Houston but did not disrupt the contest, which was played indoors. Heavy storms in the Houston area earlier in the week had canceled outdoor watch parties and fan events.
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno said police were preparing boats and setting up barricades in known flood areas. Collection points for residents to fill sandbags also sprung up around the state.
“We both decided we got so much rain yesterday at our house that it was probably a good idea just to pick up a few bags,” said Luke Barwick, who filled sandbags at a collection center in Covington, Louisiana.
After being inundated with heavy rain earlier this week, parts of central and south Mississippi braced for a second wave of potential flooding.
Officials in Picayune, Mississippi, located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of New Orleans, declared a state of emergency Tuesday after downpours brought nearly 7 inches of rain in six hours. On Wednesday, city officials gave out thousands of sandbags and put emergency responders on standby.
Arthur is expected to produce rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters), with isolated higher totals near 20 inches (50 centimeters).
Swells generated by Arthur are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip-current conditions along the northwestern Gulf Coast for the next couple of days, forecasters said. Tornadoes were possible through Thursday.
Arthur formed as some areas along the Texas coast had already been drenched by bands of heavy storms that caused flooding and high waters. Near Houston, a 15-year-old drowned Tuesday after entering the water of a retention pond while playing near a construction zone, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. ___ Fischer reported from Miami. Associated Press writer Sophia Bates in Jackson, Mississippi, contributed to this report.
With a sledgehammer and a shovel, volunteers raced to save passengers in Texas plane crash
The business jet barreled cockeyed down the dark highway, knocking down one light pole after another, an orange glow of sparks trailing it.
From a distance, Ivan Franco thought it must be a car. But as he approached in his tow truck, he saw it was a plane — broken in half, its fuselage resting on its side, bright fire beginning to rise above. He stopped and rifled through the rescue kit his company keeps in the truck, grabbing a sledgehammer as well as three fire extinguishers, which he handed off to police officers.
“At that moment, you don’t think much about what to do, because I knew the plane could explode since it was on fire,” Franco told The Associated Press in Spanish. “My idea was to try to break the windows because the pilots hadn’t come out yet.”
Franco was one of several motorists who happened across the crash in Laredo, Texas, late Tuesday night and rushed to help — putting their own lives in danger to help those on board escape as smoke filled the cabin.
Passersby helped save lives
Police were also on the scene quickly, and their teamwork with the good Samaritans undoubtedly saved lives, officials said.
“The officers and the good Samaritans that went to the scene, our firefighters that responded — I do also want to commend each and every one of them,” Laredo Police Chief Mike Rodriguez said during a news conference Wednesday. He said he asked his staff to track down all the civilians who helped.
The Cessna Citation Latitude twin jet departed Tuesday evening from the Mexican resort city of San José del Cabo and was bound for Austin, Texas, the FAA said in a statement. The plane was operated by NetJets, a company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway that lets people buy part ownership in private jets. NetJets said in a statement that it was cooperating with authorities.
The crash occurred after its pilots reported mechanical problems while requesting an emergency landing at a nearby airport. The fuselage came to rest across a concrete barrier, while its tail broke off and fell to a lower section of roadway.
One person was killed: Joshua Baer, a leader in Texas’ technology and startup sectors. Three teenage passengers and two pilots survived, as did a person in a truck struck by the plane as it crashed. Authorities have not released more detail about the passengers’ connections to one another.
Investigators combed through wreckage Wednesday for clues to the cause.
It was the third significant aviation accident in as many days in the U.S. A B-52 crashed Monday during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California and killed all eight people aboard, while on Sunday, 12 people were killed when a plane on a skydiving outing in Missouri crashed.
‘It looked like part of a movie’
Among the motorists who stopped in Laredo was Zayra Garza, an esthetician who was driving her co-workers home when she saw the wreckage. She recorded video as her husband ran to help.
“It looked like part of a movie. I was in shock,” Garza said. Most worrisome was the fire: “I was concerned that it could have just exploded at any time.”
Garza saw people leave their cars to try to smash the cockpit glass. Her video shows the aircraft’s door popping open slightly from inside as a voice cries “Help! Help! Help!” The rescuers strain to lift the door farther open as the three teenagers dart out, followed quickly by one pilot and then by another.
Franco, a 23-year-old from Laredo, frantically swung the sledgehammer through heavy smoke. Others struck at the window with a shovel and tools from their own vehicles.
Cockpit windows are designed not to shatter
They accomplished little more than spiderwebbing the cockpit window with small cracks: Airplane windshields have multiple layers of glass and are designed to remain structurally sound even if the outer layer shatters. The windows must be able to withstand a bird strike at cruising speed and hold up to extreme pressure differences at high altitudes.
“They are basically bulletproof,” said retired airline pilot John Cox, who is CEO of Safety Operating Systems.
Police officers tried to remove the final person inside — Baer — as the smoke grew thicker. Officers doubled over coughing after turning away from the smoke.
Eventually firefighters with oxygen masks were able to get inside.
Firefighters also removed a dog from the plane that was suffering from smoke inhalation. The dog was turned over to animal control and was expected to survive, said Jose Baeza, an investigator with the Laredo Police Department.
Five officers were treated for smoke inhalation; the five people who survived the crash were also released from a hospital.
As the plane crashed on the northbound lanes of the highway, its wing hit a truck traveling southbound. The driver of that vehicle also survived, Baeza said.
There has been an outpouring of support on social media for those who stopped to help, heralding their bravery and selflessness.
Laredo Mayor Victor Treviño called it “nothing short of a miracle that this tragedy did not become a mass fatality event,” thanks in part to the late hour when the crash occurred and the quick action of first responders.
Franco said that as he tried to help, all he could think of was getting people out of the plane. But to do it, he had to conquer another feeling.
“You’re in constant fear,” he said. “You don’t know what situation you’re in.”
___
Johnson and Golden reported from Seattle. Taxin reported from Santa Ana, California. AP journalists Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed.
Zoo welcomes newest residents
TYLER — The Caldwell Zoo announced the birth of two healthy ocelot kittens Monday. The kittens and their mom, Maya, are slowly warming up to this new world in a secluded den where zoo keepers are tending to them quietly to avoid disturbing the new litter.
“Ocelots are endangered because their habitat (the thick brush where they live) has been cleared for farming and growth of cities,” Texas Parks and Wildlife said. “Only about 30 to 35 Ocelots live in the shrublands remaining at or near the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge near Brownsville, Texas. In 1995 it was estimated that 80 to 120 individuals lived in Texas.”
According to our news partner KETK, the species was deemed endangered in 1972 and has remained in that category ever since.
Landowners local to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and into Mexico play a crucial part in these animals’ survival as a species. Across Texas, hundreds of generational farm/ranch properties are trying to rewrite history by saving brush habitats on private land. Continue reading Zoo welcomes newest residents
Two additional city officials resign
CHANDLER — As more controversy surrounds the City of Chandler, two city officials have submitted their letters of resignation, causing further turmoil for the city. The resignations were submitted by Utilities Director Justin Bolton and City Engineer Brian Capps, according to our news partner KETK. In a letter, it was announced that Capp’s tenure with the city will conclude on Wednesday, while it is uncertain when Bolton’s last day will be.
Capps and Bolton’s decision to resign comes less than two weeks after city administrator Kalon Rollins issued his resignation, claiming it was in his best interest to remove himself from a “toxic atmosphere” in the city’s government.
Rollins’ resignation comes after a Thursday city council meeting where Chandler city council members considered taking action against Rollins and the current Chandler Police Chief Johnny Foster for improper spending, bond issues, social media policy and hiring policies. Continue reading Two additional city officials resign