KTBB News, Weather, Talk – Page 2 – KTBB News, Weather, Talk

NASCAR phenom Corey Heim wins first Cup Series race at Naval Base Coronado

Last month, Denny Hamlin called Corey Heim a “gifted driver” and a “generational talent.”

On Sunday at Naval Base Coronado near San Diego, Heim proved the co-owner of 23XI Racing right.

In his 13th career start in NASCAR’s top-level Cup Series, the 23-year-old Heim won the Anduril 250, taking the checkered flag in the sport’s first-ever race on an active military installation. Heim won by a wide margin with in No. 67 Toyota, finishing 10 seconds ahead of fellow 23XI teammate Bubba Wallace.

“I hope I don’t wake up from this dream,” Heim said. “Caught a good break by some good guys wrecking out, but they don’t ask how, just how many.”

For a while in the late stages of the race, it looked like a day when another 23XI driver, Tyler Reddick, would make his way to victory lane. Reddick already owns five victories this season and leads the 2026 drivers standings over Hamlin.

Carson Hocevar led a restart with 12 laps to go after the final caution of the day, but he couldn’t hold off Reddick. After Reddick passed the No. 77 Chevrolet, Hocevar spun out after getting hit on the bumper by Heim.

Over the next several laps, Heim chased down Reddick, waiting for an opening. After Reddick went wide in turn 2, the two Toyotas went side-by-side, then Heim passed Reddick with less than three laps to go after kissing the wall in turn 5. Moments later, Reddick then blew his left front tire and fell back, finishing 25th. From there, no driver came close to catching Heim.

Heim is running a mixed schedule this season, but will be full-time in the Cup Series for the team co-owned by Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan next year. Driving the No. 11 Toyota for Tricon Garage last season, Heim won the championship in the Truck Series and set the record for most wins in a single season at that level with 12 — breaking Greg Biffle’s mark of nine victories set in 1999.

A native of Marietta, Georgia, Heim has been viewed as one of NASCAR’s best emerging prospects in the last few years. He has three victories in the Truck Series this season.

Wallace’s comeback on Sunday was remarkable too. After leading a few laps early in the race, the driver of the No. 23 Toyota took a two-lap penalty when he lost his right front tire at the end of Stage 1. Wallace battled all the way back and the second-place finish marks his best of the season. It’s also Wallace’s best result ever at a road course.

Another 23XI driver, Riley Herbst, finished eighth, tying his best career finish at the Cup level.

Hamlin finished 14th and now trails Reddick by just eight points atop the season standings.

Three contenders were knocked out of the race in a multi-car crash on the 32nd lap. Battling with Connor Zilisch for the lead out of a restart, Austin Hill seemingly missed Turn 1, and Shane van Gisbergen slammed into his rear, sending Hill into Zilisch. All three Chevrolets received massive damage and were ordered to the garage. The red flag came out to repair the wall the trio wrecked into.

Van Gisbergen was widely seen as the favorite entering this race, as the driver of the No. 97 machine for Trackhouse Racing had won six of the previous seven Cup Series competitions on road courses. Hill, in the No. 33 for Richard Childress Racing, which was previously Kyle Busch’s No. 8, won the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race on Saturday. Zilisch led eight laps Sunday and previously won seven road course races at the O’Reilly level.

“I felt like I was giving Austin space, and the next thing I was in the wall,” Zilisch told Prime Sports after exiting the infield care center.
More: Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray headline NASCAR Truck Series race on Navy base

The DNF for van Gisbergen is bad news for his standings in the points on a day where it was widely assumed he would contend for a win. Asked how disappointed he was after leaving the care center, the New Zealand native said, “I’m filthy.”

Van Gisbergen fell below the Chase cutline with the result, but he should have the chance to bounce back next weekend at another road course, when NASCAR heads to Sonoma.

Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 4 Ford, was also knocked out of the race. Gragson wrecked when Kevin Magnussen drove into his right rear quarter panel, spinning him near the end of Stage 2. Magnussen, a former Formula 1 driver, finished 27th in his first NASCAR race, but had the fastest lap of the day at 2:12.485.

Christopher Bell, still racing with a fractured left wrist that he suffered during a high-speed crash at Michigan two weeks ago, was relieved on the 12th lap by developmental driver Brent Crews. Bell initially said he would be a “game-time decision” to run the road course, but his No. 20 Toyota crew decided he would start the race and exit on the first caution. It was the first Cup Series appearance for the 18-year-old Crews, who has notched six top-five finishes for Joe Gibbs Racing in the second-tier O’Reilly Auto Parts series. Crews ran into problems of his own on lap 29 when he blew up his gearbox, ending his day.

With starting position in parentheses, driver, team and car manufacturer:

(13) Corey Heim, 23XI Racing Toyota
(12) Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota
(14) Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
(4) Zane Smith, Front Row Ford
(15) AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
(16) Chris Buescher, RFK Racing Ford
(23 Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
(24) Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing Toyota
(3) Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford
(9) Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

Weekend shooting under investigation

JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville police are looking into two shooting incidents that happened on Sunday night, including one near a nearby park that injured three. The Jacksonville Police Department reports that at approximately 9:35 p.m., several 911 calls reported a shooting near MB Davis Drive and Holloway Ave. in Lincoln Park. Three men with gunshot wounds were discovered. Private vehicles transported them to nearby hospitals for medical care. Continue reading Weekend shooting under investigation

Alan Greenspan, longtime chairman of the Federal Reserve, dies at 100

In this June 27, 2016 file photo Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve and president and founder of Greenspan Associates, speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE)

(NEW YORK) -- Alan Greenspan, the longtime chairman of the Federal Reserve, has died, his wife confirmed. He was 100 years old.

"Alan passed away at our home this morning at the age of 100 from complications of Parkinson’s Disease,” Andrea Mitchell, his wife and a chief correspondent at NBC News, said in a statement published by the network on Monday.

The economist is remembered for leading the American central bank amid periods of historic U.S. economic expansion, while critics have also said his policies contributed to and exacerbated the mortgage crisis and financial crash of 2008.

Greenspan, a libertarian Republican, became the 13th chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System two months before the stock market crash on Oct. 19,1987, known as Black Monday. He was credited with moving quickly to alleviate investors' fears after the crash and was instrumental in ensuring the Federal Reserve made plenty of money available to alleviate the impact on financial markets. Stocks quickly rebounded.

He was appointed Fed chair by four different presidents during his career, first by Ronald Reagan in 1987. Greenspan continued to serve as Fed chairman under presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He steered the U.S. economy through the economic boom in the 1990s, the dotcom bubble, and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. His final term as chair ended on Jan. 31, 2006.

Under his leadership, the Fed fostered a distaste for regulation and promoted very low interest rates in the early 2000s -- two phenomena critics say encouraged a bubble in housing prices that eventually burst with disastrous effects on the global economy.

During his tenure, and before the financial crisis began, the nation experienced one of the longest periods of economic growth in its history.

A decorated economist, first inspired by music

Greenspan was born on March 6, 1926, in New York City, the only child of Herbert Greenspan, a stockbroker, and Rose Goldsmith Greenspan, a retail worker. His parents divorced when he was 4 years old, and he was raised mainly by his mother and his grandparents.

An aspiring musician, Greenspan attended Juilliard for a year and played saxophone and clarinet before dropping out and enrolling at New York University. He went on to gain his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in economics from New York University. He also engaged in some advanced graduate work at Columbia University in New York, where he studied under the influential economist Arthur Burns.

Though short-lived, his music career was an influential portion of Greenspan's life, and he considered the move into economics a logical progression. He saw the organization of economic data into sound fiscal modeling as analogous to the organization of musical notes into tunes, according to Greenspan biographer Justin Martin in his book, "Greenspan: The Man Behind Money."

"I get the same kind of joy from solving a hard mathematical problem as I do from hearing a Haydn quartet," Greenspan once told The New York Times Magazine.

Greenspan taught economics at NYU between 1953 and 1955 and then founded the economic consulting firm Townsend & Greenspan, where he served as chairman and president from 1954 to 1974. He returned to the firm in 1977 and stayed until 1987.

President Richard Nixon nominated Greenspan to chair the President's Council of Economic Advisers in 1974, the first of many government economic positions he would hold. Nixon resigned as president hours after Greenspan was nominated, but he continued to serve under President Gerald Ford. Greenspan also served as a member of President Ronald Reagan's Economic Policy Advisory Board and was a consultant to the Congressional Budget Office.

In the private sector, Greenspan served as corporate director for many companies, including Alcoa, General Foods and J.P. Morgan & Co. He also served as a member of Time magazine's Board of Economists and a senior adviser to the Brookings Panel on Economic Activity.

In 2002, Greenspan received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his contribution to global economic stability. In 2005, President George W. Bush presented Greenspan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

He held the position of Fed chairman from the time Reagan appointed him in 1987 until 2006, serving an unprecedented five terms under four presidents before being succeeded by Ben Bernanke.

Greenspan is credited by many with facilitating the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. One day after the Black Monday stock crash, Greenspan affirmed the Fed's "readiness to serve as a source of liquidity to support the economic and financial system" and the central bank moved to encourage banks to lend on their normal terms. Unlike prior financial crises, the events of Black Monday notably were not followed by an economic recession or a banking crisis and less than two years later, the U.S. stock market surpassed its pre-crash highs.

During his tenure, Greenspan developed a reputation for being a consensus-builder and for his strong anti-inflation stance, focusing more on controlling prices than on promoting full employment. He led the Federal Reserve through several events with major economic consequences, including two U.S. recessions, the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

'How could we have possibly got it so wrong?'

Starting in June 2003, the Federal Reserve set the federal funds rate, the rate at which banks typically borrow from each other, to one percent for a year. Though its intention was to lower the cost of borrowing and stimulate the economy, critics said the rate was too low and encouraged investments in risky subprime mortgage-backed securities, which they say contributed to the financial crisis in 2008.

The National Bureau of Economic Research, a research organization seen as an authority on measuring economic performance, later said that the recession officially began in December 2007.

In September 2007, Greenspan published a book that was both a memoir and economic commentary, "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World," in which he criticized the George W. Bush administration for overspending and admitted that he supported the administration's tax cuts without stressing the need for spending cuts.

In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek in August 2012, Greenspan said, "one day before Lehman Brothers crashes, conventional wisdom was not even certain that we would fall into a recession."

"In fact, we learned many months later that the downward trend had actually started," Greenspan said. "How could we have possibly got it so wrong? I mean, I actually was saying, 'Yes, recession is coming, not that we're here yet.' We didn't know that it had already hit."

In October 2008, Greenspan acknowledged to a congressional committee discussing financial regulation that, "I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such as that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms."

After Greenspan finished his term as chairman of the Federal Reserve in 2006, he established Greenspan Associates, an economic consulting firm in Washington, D.C.

With Greenspan as president, the firm had four employees as of October 2012. His client list has included giant finance clients like German firm Deutsche Bank and hedge fund Paulson & Co.

Personal life

Greenspan married artist Joan Mitchell in 1952. The couple divorced in 1953 after less than a year of marriage, and the marriage was later annulled. The two remained friends.

His first wife is remembered for introducing him to novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, with whom Greenspan shared a friendship, a belief in free-market economic ideals and a philosophy of objectivism. In his 30s and early 40s, Greenspan spent many hours sitting with Rand's band of followers, known as the "Collective," discussing topics including politics philosophy, current events and economics.

In addition to Burns at Columbia, Rand and her group were instrumental in helping hone Greenspan's capitalist, free-market economic philosophy, according to Martin, Greenspan's biographer.

The group's open style of debate and discussion served Greenspan well in his various governmental roles. During his career in public service, he became known for a well-developed ability to communicate with Congress without offending those with opposing viewpoints or politicizing his messages.

Though he was said to back revamping the Social Security system and raising the retirement age, Greenspan was wary of how his public statements as Fed chairman might move markets. He rarely granted interviews. He was known for making openly ambiguous public statements about the state of the U.S. economy, once telling Congress, "If I've made myself too clear, you must have misunderstood me."

Greenspan married NBC News correspondent Mitchell in 1997. Their marriage was officiated by the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

"We've had the most wonderful marriage," he told Bloomberg Businessweek in August 2012. "It gets better every year. We're still very much together in love."

Mitchell is Greenspan's only surviving family.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces resignation with ‘good grace’

Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces his resignation as UK Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party, outside No.10 Downing Street on June 22, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

(LONDON) -- Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Monday he would resign as the leader of his party and as prime minister, setting the stage for the United Kingdom's seventh prime minister within a decade.

Starmer, who said he spoke on Monday with King Charles, said he expected to remain in office until a successor was chosen from within his Labour Party.

"The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election," he said outside 10 Downing Street. "I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace."

Starmer, who had led Labour since 2020, was elected to lead the country in a general election 2024. His replacement is expected to be chosen by his party.

Starmer said he asked party leaders to open nominations for a successor on July 9. He did not give a date for his departure from 10 Downing Street, but said he expected a new prime minister to be in place by September, when Parliament returns from its summer recess.

The resignation announcement followed months of turmoil for Starmer, with some members of his own party criticizing his leadership, saying he had not been able to deliver the rapid change needed after taking office following 14 years of Conservative Party rule in Britain.

Many in Starmer's Labour party had written to Starmer asking him to step down following local elections in May, which saw the party lose more than 1,000 seats on local councils, results that were widely interpreted as a repudiation by British voters of Labour's performance under the prime minister's leadership.

A formal challenge to his premiership had not yet begun as of Monday, but some members of his party have in recent weeks coalesced in public support of Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, as his potential successor.

Burnham, who won a special election on Friday to become a member of parliament representing Makerfield, was expected to be sworn in in the House of Commons on Monday.

Following Starmer's announcement, Burnham said on social media that he would seek a nomination in the Labour leadership contest.

"People want to see progress on economic growth, cost of living, public services, housing and opportunities for the next generation," he said. "Political change should never distract from the responsibility to improve people's lives."

Another potential successor, Wes Streeting, a member of parliament who resigned from his position as Starmer's health secretary in May, threw his support behind Burnham on Monday.

"We could spend the summer exaggerating our small differences, or we can roll up our sleeves and help [Burnham] to deliver the change our Party and our country needs,” Streeting said in a statement. “That is the choise that I am making and I hope that everyone else will back Andy, too.”

Starmer long said he intended to see out his full five-year term, which began with his party's 2024 landslide election victory, which also delivered Labour a historic majority in the House of Commons.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU Commission, praised Starmer after his announcement, saying, "It can take many leaders years to grow into the statesman you became in just two years. European and Ukrainian security is stronger because of you. Thank you, dear Keir."

ABC News' David Brennan, Jamie Dorrington and Zoe Magee contributed to this report.

Into the record books and beyond: ‘Toy Story 5’ is the year’s biggest debut

Tom Hanks is Woody and Tim Allen is Buzz Lightyear in 'Toy Story 5' (Walt Disney Pictures)

The U.S. box office had a friend in the new Toy Story film.

As per Variety, Toy Story 5 debuted with $160 million, which makes it the biggest domestic opening of the year. The previous record was $131.7 million, set by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. It was also the biggest debut for any of the Toy Story films -- previously, Toy Story 4 held the record with $120 million.

Toy Story 5 -- which boasts a new end-credits song by Taylor Swift -- scored the second-biggest opening weekend in history for an animated film. Only The Incredibles 2, which debuted with just under $183 million in 2018, earned more.

According to Box Office Mojo, last week's #1, the new Steven Spielberg alien extravaganza Disclosure Day, slipped to #2 with earnings of $17 million -- a drop-off of more than 60% from its debut.

The horror film Obsession fell from #2 to #3. The only other new entries in the top 10 were the supernatural horror film Leviticus, at #8, and Hugh Jackman's A24 drama The Death of Robin Hood, in ninth place.

Here are the top 10 films at the box office:

1. Toy Story 5 -- $160 million
2. Disclosure Day -- $17 million
3. Obsession -- $14.2 million
4. Backrooms-- $7.3 million
5. Scary Movie -- $6.7 million
6. Masters of the Universe -- $5.6 million
7. Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu -- $3.9 million
8. Leviticus -- $2.7 million
9. The Death of Robin Hood -- $2.6 million
10. Michael -- $2.2 million

Trump-backed de la Espriella holds razor-thin lead in Colombia’s election as rival challenges vote

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Political outsider Abelardo de la Espriella held a razor-thin lead in Colombia’s presidential election with nearly all the votes counted Sunday, in a runoff vote marked by people’s fears of a renewed internal conflict.

A victory by de la Espriella would effectively be an indictment of the policies of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, whose protégé had promised to continue his agenda if he defeated his rival.

De la Espriella, a business owner and lawyer who earned U.S. President Donald Trump’s endorsement despite never having run for office, led progressive lawmaker Iván Cepeda taking 49.7% of the votes, with 99.9% of the results released by electoral authorities. Cepeda, Petro’s ally, earned 48.7% support. Election officials have not formally announced a winner.

“I appear before you tonight to announce the most important news of my life: the Colombian people have entrusted me with the supreme honor of serving them as their next president of the Republic of Colombia,” de la Espriella told thousands of supporters as he stood behind bulletproof glass in the northern city of Barranquilla. “I will govern for all Colombians … there will be no retaliation, no persecution, because in a democracy there are no irreconcilable enemies.”

Cepeda told supporters that his campaign considers the count “unofficial and non-binding” and that his team will challenge results from more than 30,000 voting stations. No recount has flipped the results of a presidential election in Colombian history.

“We will not allow … the rollback of the social gains we have achieved,” Cepeda said. “We will not allow democracy to be violated.”

Petro also vowed to challenge the outcome.

Both candidates pitched voters widely different strategies to prevent the South American country from experiencing the nonstop merciless violence, such as car bombs, kidnappings, disappearances and forced displacements, that Colombians lived with in previous decades.

Sunday’s winner will begin a four-year term Aug. 7.

De la Espriella promises tough-on-crime approach

De la Espriella, 47, promised a heavy-handed approach to crime-fighting, including drug trafficking. He also said he plans to end Petro’s attempts to establish parallel peace negotiations with multiple armed groups — an effort that has largely failed — and build mega-prisons, emulating Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s aggressive policies. Those tactics have lowered homicide rates in the Central American country but have fueled accusations of human rights abuses.

De la Espriella, nicknamed “The Tiger,” holds dual Colombian and U.S. citizenship. He’s a Trump supporter and a member of the Republican Party.

“We have had an armed conflict and a drug trafficking problem for too long, and this has greatly polarized the country,” retired economist Víctor Duque, 72, said while wearing a national soccer team jersey at a voting center in the capital, Bogota. “I believe it is one of the most important elections that has taken place in Colombia this century.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Presidents Javier Milei of Argentina and Daniel Noboa of Ecuador were among the first political leaders to congratulate de la Espriella.

“The Trump Administration looks forward to working closely with your incoming administration to advance regional security cooperation, end illegal immigration to the United States, and strengthen our economic ties,” Rubio said on X. “Colombia’s best days are ahead.”

“He Won, BIG!” Trump later said on his social media platform.
Voters seek change

In the first round, Cepeda earned 41% of the vote, while de la Espriella garnered 44%, according to official results. Petro, without evidence, sowed doubts in the results after Cepeda, who had consistently led polls ahead of the May vote, did not win outright and even finished behind de la Espriella.

Yolanda Hernández, 49, voted early Sunday before she started selling black-ink pens outside a Bogota voting center. Clients, she said, buy the pens because ink cannot be erased from paper ballots, which reduces the possibility of fraud.

Hernández, who recycles trash for a living, voted for Petro in 2022, but cast her ballot for de la Espriella this time. While she acknowledged that Petro was unable to deliver on promises meant to help the poor because of congressional gridlock, she said Colombia cannot afford another four years under his vision for the country.

“We want change in Colombia because it’s always the same violence, always the same thing,” Hernández said. “(Petro) said he was going to lower the cost of services, that he was going to lower the price of food, and everything is more expensive.”

People in the streets of Bogota yelled “Petro out! Petro out!” and honked car horns as results became public.
Fighting between rebel groups plagues the nation

Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin American Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Sunday’s result shows the country “has not shifted overwhelmingly or decisively” against Petro’s project or for de la Espriella’s outsider “iron fist showmanship.” Freeman added that the result also underscored Colombia’s regional divisions.

“It’s regional not just ideological polarization; or rather, the two overlapping,” he said. “Ironically, de la Espriella’s iron fist message performed best in the core of the country, not the periphery, which bears the brunt of Colombia’s violence.”

The election comes 10 years after Colombia signed a historic peace pact with guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, that had offered hope to break the nation’s vicious cycle of fighting between rebel groups and the government.

But violence has since roared back, particularly as most rebel groups abandoned their ideologically driven fight for the financial benefits of drug trafficking. Colombia’s illegal groups have more than 27,000 members.

Last year, authorities recorded 14,780 homicides, the most since at least 2015 and driven by clashes among illegal armed groups. Among those killed was conservative presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe. Extortions have also soared, reaching 13,417 cases in 2025, more than double the number tallied in 2015.

Explosion as Qatar restarts gas export terminal hurts 54 and leaves 18 missing

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An explosion tore through Qatar’s key natural gas export terminal Sunday night as workers tried to resume operations there after Iran bombed it during the war, causing a fire that hurt at least 54 people as another 18 were still missing hours later.

The blast at the Ras Laffan industrial area could cause further chaos in global energy markets, particularly as Qatar remains one of the world’s top natural gas producers. Qatar shut down its production after Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz meant it couldn’t get shipments out to its clients.

With Iran loosening its grip on the strait as negotiations continue over a permanent end to the war, Qatar began work to try to restart its export terminal. On Sunday night, that work sparked an explosion and fire at the Barzan gas supply facility, the state-run firm QatarEnergy said.

The scale of the damage remains unknown after the blast, with officials initially saying only a few people had been hurt. But hours later, Qatar’s Interior Ministry offered the far-greater casualty figures.

The Barzan plant had a capacity of almost 1.4 billion standard cubic feet of sales gas per day, which Qatar used primarily for local electricity generation and to power its crucial water desalination plants in the desert reaches of the Arabian Peninsula.

Qatar owns nearly all of the plant, with a small share also held by ExxonMobil. The oil company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In March, an Iranian missile hit Ras Laffan, sparking a fire that caused “extensive” damage before it was extinguished, authorities said. Qatar had already halted production there because of Iranian attacks.

Qatar shares its massive offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf with Iran. That natural gas production has made Qatar wealthy. It has used that money to raise its profile worldwide through hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, creating the Al Jazeera news network and funding its work as an international mediator, including the talks in Switzerland between Iran and the United States.

Staggering amounts of fentanyl hit streets as the DEA watched and took no action, records show

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Even as it battled the deadliest drug epidemic in American history, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration permitted hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to hit the streets of New Mexico between 2023 and 2025, according to three current and former DEA agents and government records reviewed by The Associated Press.

DEA agents repeatedly monitored shipments of fentanyl pills — but did not seize them — as federal prosecutors sought to bring bigger criminal cases against traffickers of a synthetic opioid that the White House last year designated a “ weapon of mass destruction.”

Agents and experts, however, said the tactic amounted to a gamble with public safety that potentially imperiled communities in and around Albuquerque and may have violated U.S. Justice Department rules intended to safeguard the public.

“We poisoned our community to make cases,” DEA Special Agent David Howell told AP in a series of interviews in New Mexico. “Through our own willful blindness, we get to say, ‘We don’t really know what happened to the drugs.’ But we 100% got people killed.”

The DEA has long contended it would not be plausible to seize every shipment of every drug. But the strategy of allowing staggering amounts of counterfeit painkillers to hit the streets shocked several veteran agents who spoke with AP.

Ridding the streets of illicit fentanyl, manufactured mostly in Mexican labs, became DEA’s top priority over the past decade as overdose deaths surged. At the same time, its lethality — a few milligrams can kill the average adult — upended time-tested tactics that had been used to combat drugs like cocaine and heroin. Those methods have included allowing drug transactions to be completed so agents might follow the narcotics through the supply chain. Fentanyl, however, is so dangerous that the U.S. Justice Department developed guidelines for agents in such circumstances, encouraging them to seize the opioid whenever “practicable.”

Albuquerque, which has a neighborhood so besieged by drugs it’s known as “War Zone,” and other regions in New Mexico remain at the epicenter of the fentanyl epidemic. While overdose deaths nationwide fell 14% last year, government data show New Mexico tallied a 21% spike.

Alex Uballez, who served as U.S. attorney in New Mexico from 2022 through last year, said authorities at times allowed drug shipments to go unseized as part of a broader effort to gather intelligence and build cases against major drug traffickers. He said the approach reflected his office’s limited resources and his belief that prosecuting larger organizations can have a bigger impact than interdicting every suspected drug transaction.

Last year, DEA recorded the largest fentanyl bust in its history in Albuquerque.

“The bigger fish are worth catching,” Uballez said, “and that will save more lives.”

The DEA said in a statement that “the investigative decisions at issue were lawful, reasonable under the circumstances and consistent with Department guidance.”

“Public descriptions suggesting that DEA knowingly permitted fentanyl to reach communities are false and fundamentally mischaracterize the facts,” DEA spokesperson Amanda Wozniak wrote in an email. She said the investigations involved court-authorized wiretaps “in which agents and prosecutors conducted real-time surveillance, intelligence gathering, and operational analysis targeting larger drug trafficking organizations.”

Precise intelligence on drug deliveries

In some cases, the DEA had such detailed intelligence about drug deliveries that agents were able to tally precise pill counts, according to reports reviewed by AP.

Agents, for example, deciphered coded chatter over cellphones and closely surveilled a transaction at a mobile home park in Albuquerque in June 2023, according to a 66-page report reviewed by AP. Agents wrote in the report that traffickers delivered 74,000 pills as part of that deal, a figure federal prosecutors later confirmed in a court filing.

Days earlier, another DEA report showed, investigators watched the same distribution ring deliver a spare tire hiding another suspected fentanyl shipment that similarly went unseized.

“We did nothing, but sit back and watch,” said Howell, who filed an official whistleblower complaint in 2023 to bring attention to what he thought was a tactic that risked public safety.

Months passed before federal authorities busted the traffickers, and Howell, who participated in the surveillance, said authorities today cannot account for the unseized shipments.

“It’s outrageous to put that many lives at risk in hopes of making a big case,” said Tristan Leavitt, president of Empower Oversight, a whistleblower advocacy group that has asked the Senate Judiciary Committee and Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General to investigate Howell’s claims.

A former DEA supervisor, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said he and his Albuquerque colleagues allowed “millions” of pills to go unseized during a multi-state investigation last year.

Howell reported in his whistleblower disclosures that agents on that case permitted the delivery of at least 1.8 million fentanyl pills.

That investigation, the former supervisor and Howell told AP, culminated in the largest fentanyl bust in DEA history, a takedown announced in May 2025 by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi that resulted in the seizure of more than 3 million pills.

“The amount we ultimately seized was hitting the streets every month while that case was going on,” the former supervisor said, adding that the DEA could have dismantled the organization six months earlier.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Albuquerque did not answer questions about the unseized fentanyl shipments but, in a statement to AP, said the “conduct” Howell brought to light happened during the prior administration.

“The current leadership of this office is focused on aggressively investigating and prosecuting fentanyl trafficking and disrupting the criminal organizations responsible for distributing these drugs,” Tessa DuBerry, a spokesperson for the office, wrote in an email.

Uballez, the former U.S. attorney, said estimated pill counts “based on intercepted phone calls are not reliable.”

“I don’t think I’d contest that drugs are ‘walked,’” he said, referring to the law enforcement tactic of allowing contraband to go unseized to further an investigation. “How much and how frequently — and with what certainty — is incredibly difficult to answer in retrospect.”

To seize or not to seize

As fentanyl overdoses became an epidemic over the last decade, the U.S. Justice Department developed an internal playbook for combatting the deadliest drug ever to cross the Mexican border. The game plan coincided with a publicity campaign that warned Americans that “One Pill Can Kill,” a DEA effort to highlight fentanyl’s unique dangers.

Adopted in 2017, the department’s two-page “Fentanyl Protocols” called on agents to “seize or otherwise prevent the distribution” of fentanyl “as soon as practicable.” The rules, which have not previously been made public, said that “protecting public safety is paramount,” irrespective of whether seizures compromise investigations.

The Justice Department rewrote the rules in 2024 to afford law enforcement more discretion in such cases. The updated protocols say investigators “may exercise discretion in determining whether to take action to prevent the trafficking of fentanyl,” balancing public safety risks against “the benefits to be achieved through preserving the investigation.”

The DEA rarely discusses the tactic of allowing drugs to go unseized. Its agent manual describes taking drugs off the street as “the usual course of action” but adds “there may be instances where the investigative objectives can be better achieved by not doing so.”

The agency has long used “controlled deliveries” in which constant surveillance of the drugs — and often replacing them with fake narcotics — is followed by a takedown to recover them, according to current and former agents.

In interviews, several current and former agents likened the decision to permit fentanyl to hit the streets to the infamous “Operation Fast and Furious,” a 2011 gun-walking scandal in which straw buyers smuggled some 2,000 assault weapons into Mexico with the intent of tracing the firearms to cartel leaders.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was savaged with bipartisan criticism after two of those guns surfaced at the scene of the fatal shooting of a Border Patrol agent, and the Justice Department explicitly forbid agents from allowing firearms to be trafficked.

Blowing the whistle

Howell became so unnerved by his agency’s failure to seize fentanyl that he began flagging overdose deaths that might have been caused by the very pills DEA permitted to flow to dealers. One of those cases included a 15-month-old toddler who died after ingesting burned fentanyl residue last year in Española, a New Mexico town ravaged by grinding poverty and addiction.

Howell, who joined DEA 19 years ago after a decade in the Navy, took his allegations to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. The agency, tasked with protecting whistleblowers, initially found a “substantial likelihood of wrongdoing” and asked the Justice Department to investigate.

In early 2024, Howell told the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility that DEA agents had observed — yet not seized — separate deliveries of 150,000 and 50,000 fentanyl pills.

DEA and federal prosecutors, he added, “are placing themselves in a precarious position where they will not be able to prove that the fentanyl they could have stopped did not result in the death of a person.”

The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility found in 2024 that the DEA and U.S. attorney’s office had made reasonable decisions in deciding to allow drugs to go unseized and that their inaction posed no “specific danger to public health.”

The Office of Special Counsel, which critics say rarely pushes back on agency findings, deemed the Justice Department’s report reasonable.

Howell, meanwhile, paid a price after coming forward. The DEA relegated him to desk duty for more than a year and docked his performance evaluations, according to Howell and DEA records. Internal records also show prosecutors barred him from testifying in federal court, citing his “pattern of refusing to heed” admonitions to allow drugs to go unseized during long-term investigations.

Pointing to DEA’s own “One Pill Can Kill” campaign, current and former agents said they could not understand the watchdog’s finding that the tactics had not put the public in danger. They noted the drug is so dangerous it has to be handled in a specialized laboratory.

___

Goodman reported from Miami.

US, Iranian negotiators enter 2nd day of talks after rough start

OBBUERGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Negotiators from the U.S. and Iran were set to engage in a second day of talks Monday to solidify a permanent end to the war between the countries, after a first day of mediation began with a rocky start.

Mediators Qatar and Pakistan hailed what they called “encouraging progress” made during the talks as Iran and the United States agreed to create a “de-confliction cell” to address the fighting in Lebanon. A senior U.S. diplomat claimed progress on multiple fronts, including the establishment of “mechanisms” to ensure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy shipments, remains open and that a ceasefire in southern Lebanon holds.

Yet the first full day of talks between the U.S. and Iran, who were accompanied by Qatari and Pakistani officials, was jolted by blistering statements from U.S. President Donald Trump, who from thousands of miles away from the Swiss negotiating venue at a mountainside resort near Lake Lucerne was firing off comments that offended the Iranians.

Iranian state media said talks had paused after the “publication of an insulting message by the U.S. President.” The Iranian delegation then met with Qatari mediators and left the negotiating site, state media said. The senior U.S. diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to brief journalists on the ongoing talks, said late Sunday that the Iranians remained on site and the negotiations were on.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had vowed to “never back down from the right to enrich uranium,” according to state media, and Trump later told Fox News in a phone interview that Pezeshkian should watch what he says and also threatened to take over Iran, according to one of the news channel’s correspondents.

Trump also continued to issue warnings against Iran on social media, posting as negotiators worked: “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”

The chief negotiators for the U.S. include JD Vance, the vice president; special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of the president. Iran is represented by Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

It’s unclear when Vance will depart Switzerland, although he told Fox News in an interview Saturday that he anticipates staying only a “day or two.” Kushner and Witkoff are handling much of the technical details on behalf of the U.S. delegation.

In a joint statement, Pakistan and Qatar said the high-level talks had ended and that technical negotiations would continue in Switzerland for the rest of the week. The statement said the sides had agreed to establish a “communication line” to ensure safe passage of ships in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as a mechanism to bring about an end to the fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The U.S. offered no immediate comment, while Iran praised the meditators’ work.

Araghchi wrote on X that Pakistani and Qatari mediators delivered “major progress to end the Lebanon War.” He added that the first “real test” of negotiations would be whether the mechanism succeeded in halting the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

The senior U.S. diplomat said among the issues discussed was Iran’s messaging as it related to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran’s military said it closed Saturday in response to continued fighting in Lebanon. U.S. Central Command has disputed that Iran closed the strait again.

The interim deal to end the fighting in Iran, signed last week by the leaders of the U.S. and Iran, outlines a 60-day period for negotiators to settle the future of Tehran’s nuclear program amid concerns that it wants to use it for military purposes, a claim Iran denies. The fate of frozen Iranian assets, among other thorny issues, are also on the agenda.

Though the talks will encompass a vast array of complex matters, Iran first wants to focus on addressing the fighting in Lebanon.

Saturday’s renewed ceasefire in Lebanon appeared to be holding, and Israel’s military said it would lift movement restrictions for residents near the Israel-Lebanon border on Monday morning. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a signatory to the U.S.-Iran deal.

There was cautious calm Monday in Lebanon, with no Israeli strikes reported overnight after a day of quiet Sunday. Hezbollah likewise has not announced any attacks on Israeli forces since Saturday.

The lull in fighting in Lebanon is the longest since the outbreak of the latest Israel-Hezbollah war on March 2.

___

Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Abby Sewell in Beirut, David Rising in Bangkok and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this story.

2 young suspects in custody after shooting at high school in Philippines kills 3

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Two young students opened fire in a high school in the central Philippines on Monday, killing three fellow students and wounding another seven, police said.

The suspects, aged 14 and 15, were armed with one pistol each. They were arrested. The suspects and the victims were students of the San Jose National High School in Tacloban city, where the mid-morning shooting happened, regional police chief Brig. Gen. Jason Capoy said.

An investigation was underway to determine the cause of the shooting in the government-run school, which has more than 1,500 students. Capoy said that the suspects, who were close friends, said in initial questioning that they were bullied in school. He did not elaborate.

They have no criminal records and it’s not immediately clear where they got the pistols used in the attack. They managed to bring the guns into the campus because there was only one guard on duty at multiple entrances and exits, Capoy said.

“The suspects barged into two rooms because after the shooting in the first, the children scampered and the suspects apparently ran after some victims into another room,” Capoy told reporters.

Most of the dead and wounded were female students, he said.

One of the suspects was arrested in the school after the attack but the second fled and hid in a house nearby. He was found by police who were when alerted by residents, police said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered a thorough investigation of the shooting and asked law enforcers to boost security in all schools, workplaces and public areas, Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said.

“The president was saddened by this incident. Anybody, especially the parents of the victims, will feel sad and terrified,” Castro said.

The national police have urged the public to remain calm and cooperate with authorities by providing any information that may aid the ongoing investigation.

Crimes involving the use of firearms are prevalent in the Philippines, partly due to the proliferation of unlicensed firearms, but school shootings are relatively rare.

Li Yueru hits 2 late free throws as the Wings rally past the Sky 93-92

ARLINGTON (AP) — Li Yueru made two free throws with 12.5 seconds left to give Dallas its first lead as the Wings scored a season high 36 fourth-quarter points to rally from a 14-point deficit to beat the Chicago Sky 93-92 on Saturday night.

Jessica Shepard scored 17 of her 21 points in the second half, adding eight rebounds as Dallas (10-6) won its sixth straight home game.

Paige Bueckers added 19 points, scoring 10 of 11 points for the Wings during one stretch of the rally. She added eight assists and seven rebounds. Rookie Azzi Fudd had 13 points and Arike Ogunbowale scored 12 to help the Wings match their win total from last season.

Kamilla Cardoso had 26 points — one short of her career high — and nine rebounds for Chicago (4-11), which has lost five in a row. Rookie Sydney Taylor had 18 points before fouling out, Skylar Diggins scored 14 and Natasha Cloud added 10 points.

Chicago outscored Dallas 20-0 in the paint to take a 28-16 lead after one quarter.

Dallas chipped away and trailed 43-38 at halftime, but the Sky dominated the third quarter and led 71-57 before losing for the 10th time in 11 games.
Up next

Chicago: At Connecticut Sun on Monday.

Dallas: At Seattle Storm on Monday.

Manny Machado hits a 3-run homer in 10th and has 5 RBIs as Padres beat Rangers 6-4

RLINGTON (AP) — Manny Machado hit a three-run homer, his 13th this season, in the 10th inning and tied his season high of five RBIs, helping the San Diego Padres rally for a 6-4 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday.

The Padres still have a chance to win their seventh consecutive series against the Rangers after their 16th victory in the past 19 games against Texas. San Diego came back from a 3-1 deficit in the eighth a day after losing the series opener 9-7 despite scoring five runs in the top of the first.

Machado had an RBI double in the third, and his run-scoring groundout got the Padres within 3-2 in the eighth before Jackson Merrill’s tying single.

Jake Burger’s two-run homer gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead in the seventh after Texas had pulled even on consecutive doubles from Josh Jung and Wyatt Langford an inning earlier.

Joe Ross (0-1), the sixth Texas pitcher, walked Samad Taylor while the speedy No. 2 hitter was trying to bunt for the third time in the game to start the 10th. Machado lined a 2-0 sinker into the left field seats near the San Diego bullpen.

Adrian Morejon (6-1) struck out five in two scoreless innings, and Mason Miller earned his 20th save in 20 chances despite Langford’s RBI infield single in the 10th. Miller struck out two as the Rangers fanned a season-high 17 times.

Texas scratched scheduled starter Nathan Eovaldi due to left knee soreness. MacKenzie Gore moved up a day to replace him but was pitching on a regular four-day rest. The left-hander allowed five hits and one run with six strikeouts in six innings.

Fernando Tatis Jr. doubled in the third on a liner just out of the reach of Langford in left-center field, and Machado’s two-out RBI double glanced off the fingers of the center fielder’s glove in right center.
Up next

Neither team announced a starting pitcher for the series finale Sunday.

Rookie Travis Bazzana’s career night leads Guardians to 8-1 win over Astros

HOUSTON (AP) — Rookie Travis Bazzana set career highs with four hits, two homers, five RBIs and three runs scored Saturday night, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Houston Astros 8-1.

Kyle Manzardo hit a two-run homer in the third inning to break a 1-1 tie, and tacked on an RBI single in the seventh.

Bazzana took Spencer Arrighetti deep on the first pitch of the game for his second leadoff homer, singled in the third inning and then hit a three-run homer off Arrighetti in the fifth. Bazzana added an RBI single in the seventh.

The first overall pick in the 2024 draft, who made his Major League debut April 28, is the second Guardians’ rookie to record a four-hit game and a two-homer game this season. Chase DeLauter hit two home runs at Seattle on March 26 and had four hits against the Athletics on May 1.

Patrick Bailey added three hits and two runs scored for the Guardians.

Joey Cantillo (6-3) pitched a career-high tying eight innings and allowed one run and four hits while matching a season high with nine strikeouts. The 26-year-old left-hander gave up one hit after the second inning.

Arrighetti (7-3) allowed a season-high six runs and six hits over six innings with eight strikeouts. He has a 6.95 ERA over his last four starts after posting a 1.34 ERA in his first eight starts this season.

Houston’s Yordan Alvarez went 0 for 3 and his on-base streak ended at 25 games.
Up next

Astros RHP Kai-Wei Teng (3-6, 4.31 ERA) faces Guardians RHP Slade Cecconi (3-5, 4.60) when the series concludes on Sunday.

Raging Utah wildfire prompts evacuation as crews struggle to contain it: Officials

The Iron Fire burning in Northern Utah is threatening structures in the town of Eureka, where a mandatory evacuation order was in effect, June 21, 2026. (Utah Fire Info)

(EUREKA, Utah) -- Mandatory evacuations are underway for hundreds of people on Sunday in a central Utah town being threatened by a wind-driven, out-of-control wildfire, officials said.

The Iron Fire is burning in Juab County, about 28 miles southwest of Provo, and officials said on Sunday that flames are bearing down on Eureka, Utah, a small town in the East Tintic Mountains.

The wildfire, which started on Friday night, had burned more than 13,300 acres by Sunday morning and remains 0% contained, according to Utah Fire Info.

The wildfire, according to Utah Fire Info, was human-caused, but details of what sparked the blaze have not been released.

Shifting winds and dry vegetation fueled the wildfire on Saturday and sent it in the direction of Eureka, where authorities issued mandatory evacuation orders on Saturday. Fire officials said flames were threatening "numerous structures" in the area.

The fire rapidly grew from about 5,000 acres on Saturday to more than 13,000 overnight.

"That’s way closer than anybody wants it to be," Daylan Hermanson, a Eureka resident, told ABC Salt Lake City affiliate station KTVX, as he watched flames creep over a mountainside headed for Eureka.

Kelly Wicken, a spokesperson for the Utah Division of Forestry, said the blaze started on private land and has now spread across Juab and two other counties, crossing onto federal land and shutting down a highway.

Before the fire, the National Weather Service had issued red flag fire danger warnings for a large part of the state.

Utah is also in the middle of a severe drought that has dried out vegetation, providing fuel for any fires.

"With June temperatures rising, Utah is facing a deepening drought that has accelerated the drying of soils and vegetation across the state," the Utah Department of Natural Resources said in a June 11 statement. "Wildfire season has already been active with over 230 fires so far this year, a majority of which were human-caused."

The Iron Fire is the biggest of 11 wildfires that have ignited across the state since Friday.

The Hastings Fire, which started on Saturday west of Salt Lake City, had burned 2,500 acres by Sunday morning and was 0% contained, according to Utah Fire Info.

The Middle Fork Fire near Ogden and the Boonville Fire, just east of the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, had both burned more than 300 acres since starting on Saturday and were both 0% contained on Sunday.

"Utah is facing multiple wildfires across the state today, and we are using every available resource to support response efforts," Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said in a social media post on Saturday evening. "Conditions remain dry and dangerous. Please use extreme caution, follow evacuation notices, and do your part to prevent new fires."

In Focus: Upcoming Schedule

06/28/26 – TBA

In Focus: 06/21/26 – Rick Taylor and Will Tomlin – Firework safety

Airdate: 06/21/26

Guests: Rick Taylor and Will Tomlin

Download mp3

Screwworm preventing pet flights

EAST TEXAS – Some rescued dogs and cats from East Texas are being prevented from leaving the state on transport flights due to New World screwworm concerns in Texas. More than sixty animals from East Texas shelters were scheduled to be transported by Wings of Rescue to adoptive homes and out-of-state partners, but as a precaution, some destination states are no longer accepting animals from Texas. Shelters claim that because fewer animals can be placed out of state as a result of the change, overcrowding may get worse. Continue reading Screwworm preventing pet flights

City to rebuild police department

HAWKINS – Candidates running for Hawkins City Council seats informed voters a month ago that, if elected, they would deal with a number of issues, including the lack of a police department. They started the process of doing just that this month. Kayla Ross and her fellow council members unanimously decided to start accepting applications for the position of city police chief during her first full meeting as mayor on Monday night. That is the first step toward reviving the city’s police force, which was shut down a year ago by council members and former mayor Deb Rushing.

Firefighter hit by burning tree

LINDALE – A firefighter from the Lindale Fire Department had surgery on Saturday after being struck by a burning tree that fell on him on Friday while they were responding to a call. Firefighters were dispatched to the 14000 block of County Road 496 at approximately 5:53 p.m. on Friday due to a reported burning tree, according to the Lindale Fire Department. A firefighter was struck in the arm when the tree suddenly collapsed while they were attempting to put it out. He received emergency care on the spot before being transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital. Garrett Rose was identified by the department as the injured firefighter. He will probably require another surgery in the future, according to a family friend.

Flooding leaves Houston County roads damaged, blocked

HOUSTON COUNTY – After heavy rains swept through the area overnight on Saturday, several roads near Crockett and across Houston County have been left flooded or damaged.

The Crockett Fire Department issued a public safety alert on Saturday morning after heavy rainfall caused flooding on several roadways throughout the area, making many roads completely impassable.

The Texas Department of Transportation shared that they’ve closed FM 228 in Houston County after it was damaged and partly washed out by heavy rainfall on Saturday. They said repairs are underway and are expected to be finished on Saturday night.

The Crockett Fire Department gave the following safety tips for anyone on the road during flooding and heavy rains:

Stay home unless travel is absolutely necessary.
Do not drive through flooded roadways.
Turn around, don’t drown.
Use extreme caution if you must be on the roads.
Monitor local weather and emergency updates.

Teen’s body recovered after car crashes into Houston County creek

HOUSTON COUNTY (KETK) – The body of a teenage driver from near Houston was recovered from a creek near Crockett on Saturday after his car left the roadway.
Flooding leaves Houston County roads damaged, blocked

The Houston County Sheriff’s Office said they got a call at around 11 a.m. on Saturday about a young teen who was overdue at his home near Houston after he left Houston County Lake.

Deputies started searching along FM 229 in the areas that usually flood during times of heavy rain like the storms that moved through Houston County on Saturday morning. At around 1:45 p.m., the Houston County Emergency Management Coordinator was travelling on FM 229 when they noticed a damaged guardrail.

That damaged guardrail runs along FM 229 and over a creek which is just off of Loop 304, to the northwest of Crockett. The coordinator and a deputy went around 70 yards down the creek and found a front bumper of a car that had the missing teen’s license plate on it and then they found the roof of a car submerged about 30 yards further down the creek.

A Texas Parks and Wildlife Search and Rescue team that was in the area to help with flooding and the Houston County Search and Rescue team both responded to the scene and they were able to remove the young man’s body from the submerged car.

“This is a tragic event that will affect many of this young man’s family and friends,” Houston County Sheriff Zak Benge said on Saturday.

The cause of the crash is currently under investigation by the Crockett Police Department.

One shot, one injured in police chase

PANOLA COUNTY – One man was shot and a woman was injured after she reportedly jumped from a vehicle that was involved in a pursuit near the Texas-Louisiana border in Panola County on Friday.

According to our news partner KETK, dispatchers got an open-line 911 call at around 10:30 p.m. on Friday. In the background of the call, they could hear a man and a woman arguing. The woman on the call then reportedly told dispatchers that she had jumped from the moving vehicle and was injured. Sheriff’s office deputies, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper, the Flatwoods Volunteer Fire Department and UT Health EMS were all sent to where the woman’s phone was pinged on FM 2517 near County Road 4702 and the state border with Louisiana.

A deputy and sergeant with Panola County Sheriff’s office stopped the vehicle on FM 2517 near County Road 470. The driver was identified as the woman caller’s brother, Napolean Cordell “Polie” Lockett of Beckville. The sheriff’s office said Lockett then fled in his vehicle by turning onto FM 3359 and heading towards Louisiana before he reportedly turned onto County Road 455 where his vehicle crashed and rolled over. Continue reading One shot, one injured in police chase

Nine hospitalized in 13-vehicle crash

KAUFMAN COUNTY – Nine people were sent to local hospitals on Saturday after a 13-vehicle crash happened near FM 2965 on Interstate 20 westbound in Kaufman County.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), a multi-vehicle crash happened in the westbound lanes of Interstate 20 leaving several people injured.

The nearby Elmo Fire Department reported that multiple crashes happened on I-20 westbound near mile marker 511 at around 10:55 a.m. on Saturday. They also reported several other minor crashes on the eastbound side of I-20 from mile marker 509 to mile marker 511.
Video courtesy of Bonnie Rose.

In total, the Elmo Fire Department said 24 people were assessed for injuries at the scene and nine of those people had to be transported to local hospitals to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. They said the crashes at the scene involved a total of 13 vehicles and four 18-wheelers.

The Elmo Fire Department added that mass casualty incident triage had to be established to help treat those injured at the scene. DPS said the roadway was reopened to traffic at around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Extreme heat expected again at the Grand Canyon after 3 hikers die in heat-related incidents

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP) — Visitors to Grand Canyon National Park are being warned about extreme temperatures that will hit the popular destination early next week after a recent increase in heat-related incidents in the inner canyon, including the deaths of three hikers.

The National Weather Service issued an extreme heat watch at the Grand Canyon for midday Monday through Tuesday, forecasting temperatures that could reach or exceed 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) at the low-elevation Phantom Ranch.

People are “strongly advised” to avoid hiking in the middle of the day, the National Park Service said this week in a statement following a “recent influx of heat-related incidents.”

An extreme heat watch was in effect June 16 when two hikers, ages 67 and 68, were found dead on the North Kaibab Trail, which the NPS describes as the most difficult of the major inner canyon trails. The service said they appeared to have succumbed to symptoms of heat-related illness.

A third person, 72, died June 12 along the South Kaibab Trail after becoming ill from the heat, NPS said.

About 90 miles (145 kilometers) to the south, Oak Creek Canyon visitors and residents were evacuated late Friday as a wildfire burned hundreds of acres just north of Sedona.

Much of the Western U.S. from the Rockies to the Pacific Coast saw above-average temperatures Saturday and with even hotter weather anticipated for early next week. Officials also warned that the prolonged dry, hot weather and relatively low humidity increased the risk of fire danger.

Extreme heat increases risk of hiking at the Grand Canyon

Park and weather officials alike emphasize to visitors that hiking conditions can be deceiving. Temperatures at the rim of the Grand Canyon are often 20 to 25 degrees cooler than what hikers will experience at the bottom.

“It’s just a hot place at the bottom of the Grand Canyon,” said Justin Johndrow, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Flagstaff. Johndrow warned that the region is approaching the hottest period of the year before rain monsoon season later in the summer offers some relief.

Hikers may have cooler temperatures and an easier time going downhill to start the descending trails, but they face an intense climb of thousands of feet in elevation and much hotter bottom-of-the-canyon temperatures to get back up. Those conditions can cause heat illness symptoms to sneak up on visitors.

“That’s very strenuous even on a mild day,” Johndrow said of the hike back up to the rim. “Throw in temperatures of 105 to 110 degrees, and that causes some pretty bad problems.”
Wildfire near Oak Creek Canyon posed risk to public safety

A federal interagency team and at least a dozen local agencies were working to combat the blaze, which was burning nearly 300 acres (12 hectares) of very steep and rough terrain near Oak Creek Canyon, said Dick Fleishman, fire information officer with the Southwest area complex incident management team.

The fire was concentrated in the Red Rock-Secret Mountain wilderness area about 7 miles (11 kilometers) north of Sedona, but it started to creep into the Coconino National Forest. Firefighters were working to contain the burn, to prevent it from moving toward Oak Creek Canyon, where residents and visitors were evacuated, or Sedona, and to prepare for the possibility that it does.

Fleishman said the steep slope, the nearby property at risk, the heat from the fire and the risk of post-fire flooding caused by rainwater rushing down the slope were among the reasons the Pocket Fire is particularly concerning.

“This fire ramped up in complexity quickly,” he said. “We want to try and keep it as small a footprint as possible.”

About 30 miles (50 kilometers) of the adjacent state highway was closed in both directions.

The Coconino National Forest issued a formal closure Saturday afternoon for all campgrounds, picnic sites and trailheads in the area.

“For June 20,” said Fleishman, who drove through the area, “I’ve never seen it that quiet.”

Oak Creek Canyon attracts millions of visitors each year.

Ukrainian attacks prompt Russian-held Crimea to halt civilian gasoline sales

KIEV (AP) – Officials in Russia-occupied Crimea suspended civilian gasoline sales Sunday as Ukraine ramped up attacks on fuel supplies on the Black Sea peninsula.

Gov. Sergey Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed head o Crimea, said that overnight Ukrainian strikes killed four people and wounded 28 others. He did not specify the target of the attack.

He later wrote on social media that local gas stations would halt all sales to non-state companies and individuals for an undefined period.

“Fuel will be sold only to government agencies that ensure the functioning and security of the Republic of Crimea,” Aksyonov said. “I ask everyone to remain calm and to only trust official sources of information.”

Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted fuel supplies to Crimea in recent weeks, triggering the worst energy crisis in the region since it was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement Sunday that a Crimean oil depot, as well as an oil transport facility in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region were among the targets. He described the attacks as part of Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” against Russia’s energy infrastructure.

“Russia understands only strength, and our long-range strength is certainly working for peace,” he wrote.

Russian officials in Krasnodar reported earlier Sunday that a drone strike sparked a fire at a Black Sea oil terminal in the village of Chushka. They said that Ukrainian attacks struck a ferry, killing one person.
Motorists struggle to find fuel

The Crimean peninsula has had periodic fuel shortages from Ukrainian strikes before, but the current crisis is the worst since its 2014 annexation.

At the end of May, authorities restricted the sale of gas to 20 liters (5 1/3 gallons) per vehicle owner per week, using prepaid coupons. Those were snapped up immediately following their release on an official messaging app channel, and motorists lined up for hours, waiting to refuel.

Social networks have been abuzz with requests and advice on where to find fuel, and authorities launched a hotline for tourists in the area who have found themselves trapped.

Some motorists bring their own gas from Krasnodar and elsewhere via the Kerch bridge, but they are restricted to carrying 100 liters (about 26 1/2 gallons) per vehicle. Some speculators are selling gas at double the market price.

In a rare public acknowledgment, the Kremlin has recognized the scope of the problem and promised to address the issue quickly.

However, Ukraine’s successes have highlighted its ability to inflict painful damage on Russia and change the course of the conflict while Moscow’s advances recently have ground to a near halt. On June 11, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine reached its 1,569th day, surpassing the duration of World War I.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Vance and Iranian officials arrive in Switzerland to launch talks on Tehran’s nuclear program

OBBUERGEN, Switzerland (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance and senior Iranian officials arrived in Switzerland on Sunday to formally launch negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program and build out the fragile interim deal to end the war in Iran.

The framework was signed last week, and now top U.S. and Iranian negotiators are in a 60-day sprint to reach an agreement on the technical details that hold massive implications for the world economy and global security.

Yet only days after signing the agreement, it’s being stress-tested after fighting escalated in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah — and by the subsequent announcement by Iran’s military that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway that transits a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas.

Separate meetings kick off first

Vance first sat down for talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Staff Field Marshall Asim Munir, who has served as a key intermediary between the United States and Iran throughout the conflict.

“What’s up man! Good to see you,” Vance said as he warmly greeted Munir, who serves as his country’s army chief.

Mediators from Qatar were also on hand at the picturesque mountainside resort near Lake Lucerne on Sunday morning.

Rafael Grossi, chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency — met with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on the sidelines of the gathering.

The agency had monitored the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated between the U.S. and Iran under the Obama administration. Trump in 2018 withdrew the U.S. from the agreement.

Iran’s main focus during negotiations on Sunday will be the ongoing war between Israel and Lebanon, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told Iran’s state news agency on Sunday.

Iran is insisting that the deal’s implementation start with the part of the deal that calls for a cessation of all wars, including between Israel and Hezbollah. Baghaei said the U.S. “has been unable or unwilling” to hold Israel to the ceasefire.

Iranian officials were to hold their own meetings with Pakistani and Qatari mediators before a planned four-way meeting including the U.S. negotiating team.

Iran is cautiously approaching the negotiations given its previous experience with the U.S. negotiations on the nuclear issue, which twice in the past year have been interrupted by massive strikes against the country. “The implementation of any document is more important than its signing,” Baghaei said Sunday.

But Iran’s president added that Iran will maintain its right to a nuclear program.

“What is certain is that we will never back down from the right to enrich uranium, and the other side is also forced to accept it,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday, according to Iran’s state media.

A meeting delayed is now back on

Vance had originally been slated to be on the ground at the picturesque Bürgenstock resort near Lucerne on Friday, but his departure from the United States was delayed after fighting escalated in Lebanon and Iranian officials canceled plans to attend the talks.

U.S. Central Command disputed Iran’s claim that it had once again shuttered the strait and said U.S. forces continued to monitor the situation to ensure traffic continues to flow through the waterway. Vance has said that millions of barrels of oil have moved through the strait in recent days.

Vance departed the U.S. just after Iranian state TV said Iran’s negotiators had arrived in Switzerland. Tehran’s negotiators include parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, along with central bank and oil officials.

The vice president by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, for Sunday’s talks. Witkoff and Kushner were the ground in Switzerland ahead of Vance to begin sifting through the technical details of the nuclear talks.

Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, arrived at Emmen Air Base outside Lucerne just before 6 a.m. local time, according to his office.

While Vance said he planned to be in Switzerland for just “a day or two,” leaving much of the detailed negotiations to be spearheaded by Witkoff and Kushner, his role in the talks has heightened scrutiny of the vice president at a time when he’s actively considering a 2028 presidential campaign.

The deal has stirred much controversy

Trump and Vance have come under searing criticism from parts of their own party for the deal, with Republican hard-liners unfavorably likening it to a nuclear agreement signed by the Obama administration that Trump and the GOP have insisted did nothing to actually terminate Iran’s nuclear program.

The agreement signed by Trump and Iranian President Pezeshkian immediately allows Tehran to sell its oil freely and paves the way for Iran to tap into billions of dollars in assets that are currently frozen. It also calls for Iran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, believed to be buried under nuclear sites that were targeted in U.S. strikes last summer.

The agreement says commercial vessels can pass through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days without a charge, but does not preclude future fees imposed by Iran. Trump made his own threat on Saturday to levy U.S. tolls on the strait if there is no deal with Iran in 60 days, insisting in a social media post that the money would be for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East.”

The Trump administration has been working to reassure global markets that the Iran war has been merely a blip on oil prices, as Americans have complained the conflict resulted in hiking gasoline prices ahead of peak summer travel months. After the White House announced the deal a week ago, oil futures dropped almost 8% — and markets are expected to closely track the progress of talks when they open for trading on Sunday evening.

Further complicating matters, neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a signatory to the deal between the U.S. and Iran, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep his forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt its attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon.

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in the initial days after the agreement between the U.S. and Iran killed 47 people in Lebanon, as well as four Israeli soldiers.

Newly released video captures the aftermath of a fatal teen stabbing at a Texas track meet

FRISCO (AP) — Newly released video from an officer’s body camera and a surveillance camera at a Texas running track captures the moments after a teenage athlete fatally stabbed another teen from a rival team in the stadium bleachers during a high school meet last year.

Karmelo Anthony, 19, was convicted of murder on June 10 in the death of Austin Metcalf, 17, and sentenced to 35 years in prison. A jury rejected Anthony’s claims of self-defense. The videos were included in a batch of evidence released by the Collin County court following the conclusion of the trial.

The surveillance video shows the track and bleachers on a rainy day. Suddenly a figure wearing a gray sweatshirt is seen popping up from behind a yellow tent and then running down the steps. The video has no sound.

He got to the bottom of the bleachers, tripped and fell on the ground, and then kept running along the edge of the fencing that separates the bleachers from the running track. He stopped briefly, turned to look at what appeared to be someone chasing him, and then kept running.

After making his way part way around the track, he was joined by an unidentified person. They stopped to talk and then hugged. They started walking again and were joined by another person. After talking more, Anthony walked toward the fence where he appeared to meet up with a police officer.

The officer put him in handcuffs and walked him toward the police cruiser. Anthony obeyed the officer’s commands and then started crying.

“He put his hands on me,” Anthony said in a broken voice. “I told him not to. He put his hands on me.”

The officers escorted him to the police cruiser and placed him inside.

Flooding leaves Houston County roads damaged, blocked

HOUSTON COUNTY (KETK) – After heavy rains swept through the area overnight on Saturday, several roads near Crockett and across Houston County have been left flooded or damaged.

The Crockett Fire Department issued a public safety alert on Saturday morning after heavy rainfall caused flooding on several roadways throughout the area, making many roads completely impassable.

The Crockett Fire Department gave the following safety tips for anyone on the road during flooding and heavy rains:
Stay home unless travel is absolutely necessary.
Do not drive through flooded roadways.
Turn around, don’t drown.
Use extreme caution if you must be on the roads.
Monitor local weather and emergency updates.

9 hospitalized after 13-vehicle crash on I20 in Kaufman County

KAUFMAN COUNTY (KETK) – Nine people were sent to local hospitals on Saturday after a 13-vehicle crash happened near FM 2965 on Interstate 20 westbound in Kaufman County.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), a multi-vehicle crash happened in the westbound lanes of Interstate 20 leaving several people injured.

Man shot, woman injured near border

PANOLA COUNTY – One man was shot and a woman injured after she reportedly jumped from a vehicle that was involved in a pursuit near the Texas-Louisiana border in Panola County on Friday, according to a news release and our news partner, KETK.

Panola County Sheriff Cutter Clinton said dispatchers received a 911 call at around 10:30 p.m. on Friday. In the background, they could hear a man and a woman arguing. The woman on the call then reportedly told dispatchers that she had jumped from the moving vehicle and was injured.

Sheriff’s office deputies, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper, the Flatwoods Volunteer Fire Department and UT Health EMS were all sent to where the woman’s phone was pinged on FM 2517 near County Road 4702 and the state border with Louisiana.

The sheriff’s office said Lockett then fled in his vehicle by turning onto FM 3359 and heading towards Louisiana before he reportedly turned onto County Road 455 where his vehicle crashed and rolled over.

Deputies helped remove Lockett from the crashed vehicle and discovered that he had been shot in the abdomen. The deputies arrested him for evading arrest with a vehicle, violation of conditional bond in a family violence incident and an unrelated grand jury indictment for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Lockett was taken to a hospital in Shreveport to be treated for his non-life-threatening gunshot wound and was booked into the Panola County Detention Center after he was discharged from the hospital on Saturday morning.

The woman caller was transported to a hospital in Longview to be treated for her injuries from jumping out of the vehicle. The case is currently under investigation by the Panola County Sheriff’s Office, which has contacted the De Soto Parish Sheriff’s Office since part of the case took place in Louisiana.

The Texas Highway Patrol is investigating the crash and the sheriff’s office said more charges will be filed in this case.