Today is
Thursday November 21, 2024
BOSTON (AP) — Boston coach Jim Montgomery, who led the Bruins to the greatest regular season in NHL history but never got them past the second round of the playoffs, was fired Tuesday, a day after the below-.500 team lost to last-place Columbus to extend its losing streak to three games.
“Jim Montgomery is a very good NHL coach and an even better person,” general manager Don Sweeney said in a news release announcing the move. “Our team’s inconsistency and performance in the first 20 games of the 2024-25 season has been concerning and below how the Bruins want to reward our fans.”
Assistant Joe Sacco, who led the Colorado Avalanche to a 130-134-40 record from 2009-2014 and was a finalist for coach of the year in his first season, will lead the Bruins on an interim basis.
“I believe Joe Sacco has the coaching experience to bring the players and the team back to focusing on the consistent effort the NHL requires to have success,” Sweeney said. “We will continue to work to make the necessary adjustments to meet the standard and performance our supportive fans expect.”
Montgomery, 55, was fired 20 games into his third season in Boston and a day after a 5-1 loss to Columbus in which the Bruins allowed two short-handed goals. He leaves with a 8-9-3 record this season and a 180-84-33 mark in his career, which also included one-plus season in Dallas.
The Bruins finished with more than 100 points in each of Montgomery’s first two seasons — including a record-setting debut, when their 65 wins and 135 points were both the most in NHL history. But the team lost in the first round of the playoffs that year and advanced to only the second round last season.
The struggles carried over into the new season, with an opening night loss to Florida in which they fell behind 5-1 and an 8-2 loss to Carolina on Halloween. After the Monday night loss in which the team was booed off the ice at home after falling behind 3-0 in the first period, Montgomery grew philosophical.
“Everyone goes through struggles. Whether in life, or your team,” he said. “That’s what life’s about. How do you pick yourself up? It’s not how hard you fall. It’s how quickly you pick yourself up.”
The Bruins’ best hope is that a coaching change kick-starts a roster with high-end talent that hasn’t been performing.
As a team, the Bruins have given up 21 more goals than they’ve allowed — third-worst in the NHL. All-Star David Pastrnak managed no shots on Monday and his minus-4 is the lowest plus-minus of his career; Brad Marchand is minus-3, the lowest since he became a full-time NHLer.
“Definitely not happy with the way that things are going,” Marchand said Monday night. “We need to be much better in a lot of areas. … It’s not acceptable to continue to have the same mistakes and do the same things over and over that aren’t bringing us success. So, yeah, we need to be a lot better.”
But the biggest problem has been the goaltending.
And that can’t be blamed on the coach.
A year after alternating two No. 1 goalies for the entire regular season — and finishing with more than 100 points for the sixth full season in a row — the Bruins came out of training camp with none. General manager Don Sweeney traded 2023 Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark over the summer — before agreeing to a new contract with Jeremy Swayman.
The timing emboldened Swayman’s holdout, and the 25-year-old from Alaska didn’t agree to a new deal — eight years and $66 million — until the eve of the regular season. His numbers (5-7 record, .884 save percentage, 3.47 goals-against average) may be the hangover from missing training camp; Jonas Korpisalo (3-2, .901, 2.74), who was acquired from Ottawa over the summer, hasn’t been the answer either. “I think I’ve had enough time now to adapt and get back to things,” Swayman said Monday night. “I’m really trying to to engulf just being in a room again and being a leader and I want my play to speak for that. So I need to step up, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
A genial hockey lifer who led Maine to the 1993 NCAA title — scoring a third-period hat trick in the final — Montgomery played in 122 NHL games over six years before he turned to coaching. He won two U.S. junior titles and led Denver to an NCAA championship before he was hired by the Dallas Stars.
In his first season on the bench, Dallas made the playoffs for the first time in three years. In his second, the team would reach the Stanley Cup Final but with a new coach.
Montgomery was fired 32 games into the year for what the team called unprofessional conduct. He has since admitted to binge drinking to the point of blackouts and conceded that he deserved to be fired. After going through rehab, he was hired as an assistant in St. Louis and then for the head coaching job with the Bruins.
In Boston, Montgomery replaced Bruce Cassidy — another likeable Bruins coach whose teams racked up 100-point seasons but flamed out in the postseason. Cassidy was fired three years after leading Boston to the 2019 Stanley Cup Final and hired by Vegas eight days after the Bruins fired him.
The Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in his first season.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama will be sidelined against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night as he recovers from a bruised right knee.
San Antonio guard Devin Vassell is also out for the NBA Cup game with a sore left knee.
Wembanyama and Vassell also sat out Saturday’s loss to Dallas. Both are listed as day to day.
Oklahoma City is without Chet Holmgren, who fractured his right hip on Nov. 10 in a game against Golden State. He is expected to miss up to 10 weeks.
Wembanyama suffered the injury on Friday when he collided with Anthony Davis midway through the fourth quarter of San Antonio’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Wembanyama, who incurred a foul on the play, briefly exited the game but returned as the Spurs fell 120-115.
Wembanyama, last year’s unanimous selection as NBA Rookie of the Year, is averaging 22.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.7 blocks and 2.8 assists in 13 games.
Vassell missed the first nine games of the season following offseason surgery to repair a stress fracture in the third metatarsal of his right foot. After playing four straight, Vassell sat out Saturday’s game with a sore knee not related to his foot surgery.
“Foot is fine,” Spurs acting coach Mitch Johnson said. “It’s just a flare-up in his knee. Being conservative as we’ve been all month.”
San Antonio remains without coach Gregg Popovich, who suffered a mild stroke on Nov. 2 before a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. There is no timetable for the NBA’s longest-tenured coach to return to the sideline.
Johnson is the acting head coach in Popovich’s absence.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
BOSTON (AP) — The defending NBA champions held off the league’s hottest team on Tuesday night, with Jayson Tatum scoring 33 points and adding 12 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 120-117 victory over Cleveland and hand the Cavaliers their first loss after 15 straight wins to open the season.
Cleveland cut a 21-point deficit to two in the third quarter, and Donovan Mitchell hit a rainbow 3-pointer with 24 seconds left to make it a four-point game. Tatum sank one of two free throws, and then clobbered Mitchell at the other end, leaving the Cavaliers guard on the floor in need of medical attention.
Mitchell eventually stepped to the line and sank both free throws, but Boston inbounded the ball without trouble and passed it downcourt for an easy Al Horford dunk to clinch it.
Tatum sank six of Boston’s 22 3-pointers, and added seven assists for Boston’s third straight win.
Mitchell scored 35 points, and Evan Mobley had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who were the fourth team in NBA history to open the season with 15 wins in a row. The 15-game winning streak was longest in Cavaliers franchise history.
Takeaways
Cleveland was an early surprise as the top team in the Eastern Conference, but it knows it will not be easy to get past Boston, should they meet in the playoffs.
Key moment
The Celtics scored 19 of the last 26 points in the second quarter to turn a five-point lead into a 65-48 advantage at the break. Cleveland cut a 21-point deficit to two points in the third.
Key stat
The Celtics were 14 for 22 from 3-point range in the first half. They were up by five points with 5:05 left when they hit four straight 3’s, and six in all down the stretch, opening a 65-48 halftime lead.
Up next
Cavaliers: Host New Orleans on Wednesday.
Celtics: Visit the Washington Wizards on Friday, a day after visiting the White House as a perk of their 18th NBA championship.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic returned to the lineup and scored a game-high 26 points, Klay Thompson added 19 and Kyrie Irving had 18 as the Dallas Mavericks beat the undermanned New Orleans Pelicans 132-91 in an NBA Cup game. Doncic, who missed his first game of the season in Dallas’ win at Oklahoma City on Sunday due to a knee injury, shot 10 of 16 overall and 3 for 8 from 3-point distance. He hit a pair of step-back 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter giving Dallas a 111-75 lead. Trey Murphy III, playing his fourth game this season because of hamstring issues, scored a season-high 19 points to lead the Pelicans.
Story Body
DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic returned to the lineup and scored a game-high 26 points, Klay Thompson added 19 and Kyrie Irving had 18 as the Dallas Mavericks beat the undermanned New Orleans Pelicans 132-91 in an NBA Cup game on Tuesday night.
Doncic, who missed his first game of the season in Dallas’ win at Oklahoma City on Sunday due to a knee injury, shot 10 of 16 overall and 3 for 8 from 3-point distance. He hit a pair of step-back 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter giving Dallas a 111-75 lead.
Trey Murphy III, playing his fourth game this season because of hamstring issues, scored a season-high 19 points to lead the Pelicans. New Orleans was missing five of its rotation players. Two-time All-Star Zion Williamson missed his sixth consecutive game and is out indefinitely.
The Mavericks won their third straight, finishing with their highest point total of the season and largest margin of victory.
The Pelicans have lost 11 of their last 13 games.
Takeaways
Pelicans: Rookie Yves Missi had a game-high nine rebounds, all in the first half.
Mavericks: In the second year of the NBA Cup, the Mavericks used a special tournament court at home for the first time. Their court last year wasn’t used for either home group-play games for what the team called manufacturing issues.
Key moment
The Pelicans cut Dallas’ lead to 81-65 late in the third period before Irving followed a 25-foot 3-pointer with another seconds later, pulling up from 29 feet.
Key stat
The Mavericks outscored the Pelicans 66-34 in the paint, their largest margin this season.
Up next
The Pelicans will complete a road back-to-back on Wednesday, visiting the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had their season-opening 15-game winning streak stopped in Boston on Tuesday. The Mavericks begin a three-game trip on Friday at Denver, where they lost to the Nuggets 122-120 on Nov. 10.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Keldon Johnson scored 22 points, Harrison Barnes added 20 and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 110-104 Tuesday night without Victor Wembanyama for their first victory in the Emirates NBA Cup.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 points and Jalen Williams added 27 points for Oklahoma City.
The Thunder closed the game on a 27-12 run but were unable to score in the final minute.
Spurs rookie Stephon Castle, who had 10 points and eight assists, blocked Gilgeous-Alexander’s layup with 22 seconds remaining and the Spurs leading 110-104.
San Antonio’s Chris Paul added 14 points and 11 assists with the veteran point guard tossing in a 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring to give the Spurs a 107-98 lead with 1:27 remaining.
Wembanyama and Devin Vassell missed their second straight game with leg injuries. Wembanyama is recovering from a bruised knee and Vassell has a sore left knee.
Oklahoma City was without Chet Holmgren, who is expected to miss two months with a fractured hip.
Takeaways
Thunder: After forcing 13 turnovers in the first half, Oklahoma City was only able to add seven more in the second half.
Spurs: Barnes was 3 for 7 on 3-pointers in scoring a season high.
Key moment
Johnson threw down a one-handed dunk with 1:46 remaining in the first half after a crossover sent his defender tumbling to the court. With the arena buzzing in anticipation 30 seconds later, Johnson reset his feet and drained a 3-pointer to give the Spurs a 58-57 lead. It was part of a 25-3 run spanning the seocnd and third quarters that gave the Spurs a 74-58 lead three minutes into the second half.
Key stat
San Antonio had lost its first five games in the NBA Cup.
Up next
Thunder: Host Portland on Wednesday.
Spurs: Host Utah on Thursday in the second of a three-game homestand.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
On Football analyzes the biggest topics in the NFL from week to week. For more On Football analysis, head here.
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Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs are the top three leading rushers in the NFL.
Every team had a chance to add them in the offseason.
Henry, Barkley and Jacobs switched teams in free agency along with several other starting running backs who are leading their teams in rushing. J.K. Dobbins, Tony Pollard, Aaron Jones and De’Andre Swift are on the list. Joe Mixon also changed uniforms but he was traded.
Many running backs felt they were being devalued last year and openly expressed their frustration. They were paid better this season, though nowhere close to the money quarterbacks and wide receivers receive.
The success of Henry, Barkley and others could change the future of the position. Teams may be more inclined to give top backs bigger contracts.
Henry signed a two-year, $16 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens. He has 1,185 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns.
Barkley got a $37.5 million, three-year contract with $26 million guaranteed from the Philadelphia Eagles. He leads the NFL with 1,347 scrimmage yards, including 1,137 on the ground, and has eight rushing TDs and two more receiving.
Mixon received a $25.5 million, three-year deal from Houston after he was traded by Cincinnati. He has 764 yards rushing and 10 TDs, including three Monday night, in eight games.
Christian McCaffrey is the highest-paid running back with an average annual salary of $19 million. Meanwhile, 23 receivers are averaging at least $20 million per season, including six making $30 million.
Henry, Barkley and Mixon have been bargains for likely playoff-bound teams with Super Bowl aspirations.
They could pave the way for other backs to get paid.
Underrated Tomlin
Mike Tomlin is one win away from securing his 18th winning season in 18 years as the head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. This could be Tomlin’s best coaching job yet.
The Steelers (8-2) took control of the AFC North with an 18-16 win over Baltimore (7-4) and have established themselves as surprise Super Bowl contenders. They were an afterthough t coming into the season before starting 4-2 with Justin Fields filling in for Russell Wilson. Tomlin was widely criticized for switching to Wilson when he returned from a calf injury and the Steelers haven’t lost since.
Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy was among the few national analysts who supported Tomlin’s decision to make a QB change.
“So many said Mike Tomlin didn’t know what he was doing and Russell Wilson couldn’t play football any more. I think Coach Tomlin has watched enough football to be able to make intelligent decisions,” Dungy said.
Despite his success, Tomlin has never been the AP Coach of the Year. He’s built a strong case through 11 weeks.
Opposite results
The Saints (4-7) are 2-0 since Dennis Allen was fired and special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi became the interim coach. The Jets (3-8) are 1-5 after Jeff Ulbrich replaced Robert Saleh.
Ulbrich, who was promoted to interim coach from defensive coordinator, has continued to call plays for a unit that has regressed.
Twice in the past four games, the defense has allowed a 70-yard touchdown drive that culminated with the go-ahead score in the final minute. It happened against Jacoby Brissett and the Patriots in Week 8 and against Anthony Richardson and the Colts on Sunday.
Aaron Rodgers now has to lead the Jets to six straight wins to avoid the fourth losing season of his career.
New York’s miserable season cost general manager Joe Douglas his job on Tuesday.
Dallas doom
Just when it seemed things couldn’t get worse for the Cowboys, their stadium fell apart. Well, a piece of the roof at AT&T Stadium fell about 300 feet to the field a few hours before Monday night’s 34-10 loss to Houston.
With Dak Prescott, Dallas was 3-5. Without their star quarterback, the Cowboys have no chance. They’ve been outscored 68-16 in two losses. Even worse, the future looks bleak because the team has too many flaws.
Owner/general manager Jerry Jones has to make important decisions, starting with who will lead the team if coach Mike McCarthy, as expected, doesn’t return.
Unfortunately, a national TV audience will have to watch America’s Team the next two games on Thanksgiving and Monday night Dec. 9.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Dak Prescott isn’t coming back this season, and the Dallas Cowboys finished their latest home loss without three of their five starting offensive linemen or their top tight end.
Talk of a fourth consecutive trip to the playoffs is long gone.
Instead, it’s looking a lot like 1989, the year owner Jerry Jones bought the team and the Cowboys didn’t win a home game. A franchise that started the season with Super Bowl hopes is now in the conversation for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
The reality of a five-game losing streak heading into a fourth consecutive game against a team with a winning record — Sunday at Washington (7-4) — has more than settled in for Dallas (3-7).
“Certainly we have to be realistic about how we’re playing,” Jones said after a 34-10 loss to Houston on Monday night. “We have to be realistic what we’re dealing with in quarterback, and we have to calculate that and look ahead.”
Cooper Rush is 0-2 filling in for Prescott, who had season-ending surgery on his torn hamstring last week.
Rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton injured a shoulder trying to run with a Rush fumble that he caught out of mid-air, only to have the ball knocked out and returned for a touchdown by the Texans.
Later, perennial All-Pro right guard Zack Martin and left guard Tyler Smith injured ankles on the same series. Tight end Jake Ferguson was lost to a concussion in the first quarter.
The Cowboys were already suffering through the growing pains of youth. Those pains are probably only going to get worse.
“We had so much success over the last three years as far as in the regular season, it’s starting to bother us right now,” 2023 All-Pro receiver CeeDee Lamb said. “We’ve got to find ways to gel together, play together and finish this thing out.”
Dallas is 0-5 at home for the first time since losing all eight games at old Texas Stadium and finishing 1-15 in 1989. That was the rookie year for No. 1 overall draft pick Troy Aikman.
The highest the Cowboys have picked because of their record since then is fourth in 2016. Wherever they end up in the draft, it could be the first pick of a new coach with Mike McCarthy on an expiring contract.
“This is it, man. We’ve got to go,” McCarthy said. “We got to fight, scratch and claw. So, those guys, our young guys, they’re getting a lot of experience. We need to do whatever the hell we need to do to win.”
What’s working
Getting the ball in the hands of speedy receiver/return KaVontae Turpin is leading to good things.
His 64-yard touchdown was a career long, and the 22.4 mph he reached while sprinting to the end zone was the fastest in NFL this season, according to the league’s Next Gen Stats. The NFL leader in kickoff returns averaged 28 yards on a pair against the Texans.
What needs help
The punt team isn’t helping McCarthy’s case for a new contract. Twice in the past three losses, the Cowboys have failed on fake punts. Both didn’t come close to fooling the opposition, and left a struggling defense in a difficult spot.
Punter Bryan Anger threw a pass each time, and the second one he actually completed to Juanyeh Thomas. Problem for Dallas was, John Metchie III was right there and tackled Thomas 5 yards short of the first down.
“They won the chess match there,” McCarthy said. “That was a poor call by us.”
Stock up
Luke Schoonmaker had a career-high 56 yards receiving on six catches, which matched his best, after Ferguson’s injury.
Stock down
Situational awareness was a problem again with Guyton’s decision to stay on his feet rather than go down after ending up with the ball when Rush had it knocked out of his hand as he was trying to throw.
Instead of the worse-case scenario of a punt, Guyton had the ball knocked loose, and the second fumble on the same play was returned 28 yards by Derek Barnett for a touchdown, putting Houston up 27-10.
“We’re not teaching offensive linemen to carry the ball. That’s twice now,” McCarthy said. “That was a big play obviously in the game. We need to fall on the ball.”
Injuries
There was no immediate report on the status of Ferguson, Martin and Smith. … The return of CB DaRon Bland and rookie DE Marshawn Kneeland could be near. Bland, who set an NFL record with five interception returns for touchdowns last season but hasn’t played this year because of a stress fracture in his foot, has been on the active roster several weeks now. Kneeland injured a knee in Week 5.
Key number
28.1 — That’s the average of the largest deficit for the Cowboys in each of the six games on a home losing streak that includes the blowout to Green Bay in a wild-card playoff in January. There are many remarkable aspects to this skid at AT&T Stadium. Topping the list is that Dallas had won 16 in a row at home before it.
Next steps
Coming off a Monday night game, the Cowboys are about to play three times in 11 days. After visiting the Commanders, Dallas plays its traditional Thanksgiving home game against the New York Giants.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
First, Robert Saleh. Now, Joe Douglas.
Woody Johnson is cleaning house for his woeful New York Jets in what has been a hugely disappointing season.
Douglas was fired Tuesday as the Jets’ general manager, the latest shakeup for a franchise that had Super Bowl aspirations with a healthy Aaron Rodgers at quarterback but has limped to a 3-8 start and appears likely to miss the playoffs for a 14th consecutive year.
The dismissal of Douglas, who was 30-64 and had no winning seasons in his tenure, came exactly six weeks after Johnson fired Saleh as coach on Oct. 8 after the Jets were 2-3 to open the year.
“Today, I informed Joe Douglas he will no longer serve as the general manager of the New York Jets,” Johnson said in a statement issued by the team. “I want to thank Joe for his commitment to the Jets over the last six years and wish him and his family the best moving forward.”
Johnson also announced that Phil Savage, who has served as a senior football adviser since 2019, will be the Jets’ interim general manager for the rest of the season. Johnson said the team would immediately begin the process of finding a new GM.
Douglas, who was in the final year of his contract after being hired in 2019, was not consulted by Johnson when the owner made the decision to dismiss Saleh and replace him on an interim basis with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. New York is 1-5 under Ulbrich.
Johnson said at the time he thought the Jets had “one of the most talented teams that has ever been assembled” in his 25 years as owner — and Douglas was largely responsible. But the absence of Douglas’ input in the firing of Saleh was a clear indication that the GM’s job could also be in jeopardy.
“I come in here every day and just want to do whatever I can to help this team reach its goals and reach its destination,” Douglas said two weeks ago when asked if he was worried about his job status. “And whatever happens, happens.”
The Jets were 3-6 at that time and Douglas insisted the team could turn things around and make a late run.
“Obviously, it starts with me,” Douglas said. “I can look back and there’s quite a few things that I could have done better. Obviously, when a situation happens like what happened four weeks ago (Saleh’s firing), you have a lot of self-reflective moments on the things that you could have done better to keep that from happening.
“But we’ve got an opportunity here with these last stretch of games to change that narrative.”
The Jets have since dropped two more games, including a humiliating 31-6 loss at Arizona two weeks ago followed by New York blowing a late lead and losing 28-27 to Indianapolis last Sunday.
And Johnson apparently thought it was time during the Jets’ bye-week break to complete what is a major overhaul rather than wait until the end of the season — when it appears likely the franchise will extend the NFL’s longest active postseason drought.
Johnson’s future outside of football could also be a factor in beginning the search now. He served as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term, when Johnson’s brother Christopher was in charge of the team and hired Saleh. Woody Johnson could potentially fill that role again with Trump elected for the second time, and that would cause him to relinquish day-to-day operations of the team at some point next year.
Douglas was widely celebrated when he swung the trade — with Johnson’s urging — to acquire Rodgers from Green Bay. But the four-time NFL MVP tore his left Achilles tendon four snaps into the 2023 season opener and the Jets never recovered, finishing 7-10.
Rodgers entered training camp this summer healthy and with renewed zest for playing — and revived the franchise’s Super Bowl hopes in the process. Instead, the Jets have been arguably the NFL’s most disappointing team — and now the future of Rodgers, who will turn 41 on Dec. 2 and has a year remaining on his contract, is uncertain.
The failure of Rodgers to produce anywhere close to his usual level while with the Packers will be a stain on Douglas’ resume. The GM’s inability to successfully build a consistently solid offensive line will be another, along with the team’s decision to trade quarterback Sam Darnold to Carolina and draft Zach Wilson as his replacement with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft.
But Douglas also made several key moves to establish a young core, including drafting cornerback Sauce Gardner, wide receiver Garrett Wilson, edge rusher Jermaine Johnson and running back Breece Hall in the first two rounds of the 2022 draft.
Savage has extensive NFL experience as an executive, including front-office stints with Cleveland, where he was the GM for four years in his second stint with the Browns, as well as Baltimore and Philadelphia.
He was also the executive director for the Senior Bowl for six years, and served as general manager of the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football in 2018 before joining the Jets.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
LINDALE — According to our news partner KETK, two East Texas lawmakers are requesting an investigation into Undine, an investor-owned water utility, after customers have reported irregular water billing.
State Rep. Cole Hefner and State Sen. Bryan Hughes are urging the Public Utility Commission of Texas to investigate the company after receiving numerous complaints from community members in the Lindale and Hideaway areas.
Customers of Undine have reportedly seen unexplained usage increases on their monthly bill with a 300% increase or in some cases, bills exceeding $1,000. The water company has allegedly sent threats that they would disconnect customers’ water service if they did not pay their bills, “creating a potentially dangerous situation for residents of these communities.” Read the rest of this entry »
TEXARKANA – The Texarkana Texas Police Department is requesting the public’s assistance in locating a missing woman. According to our news partner KETK, Diane Rogers left her home in Texarkana earlier today and has not been seen since. She was last seen wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans and blue shoes. Rogers was driving a maroon Ford SportTrac with Texas license plate BM15112.
Rogers has been diagnosed with a cognitive disorder; everyone is very concerned for her safety.
The Texarkana Texas Police Department urges anyone with information regarding Diane Roger’s location to contact the department immediately at 903-798-3116.
The first, ominous sounds came from deep within the massive stack of logs in the darkest hours of the Texas night. Witnesses described hearing the stack of thousands of logs moan and creak before the crack of the center pole as it snapped, then collapsed.
More than a million pounds (450,000 kilograms) of timber tumbled. In an instant, 12 people were killed, dozens more were injured and a university campus rooted in traditions carried across generations of students was permanently scarred.
Texas A&M University is set to mark 25 years since the log stack collapsed in the early hours of Nov. 18, 1999. It was being built in preparation for the annual bonfire ahead of the Texas A&M-Texas rivalry football game in College Station.
The school will hold a Bonfire Remembrance ceremony at the site of the tragedy on Monday at 2:42 a.m., about the time the stack collapsed.
“Year after year, Texas A&M students have worked to ensure that we never forget those members of the Aggie Family who were taken from us 25 years ago,” school President Mark Welsh III said.
The tradition
The “Fightin’ Texas Aggie Bonfire” ranked among the most revered traditions in college football and symbolized the school’s “burning desire” to beat the University of Texas Longhorns in football. The first bonfire in 1907 was a scrap heap that was set ablaze. By 1909, it was a campus event and the bonfire stack kept growing as railroad lines were used to ship in in carloads of scrap lumber, railroad ties and other flammable materials, according to the school.
It reached a record height of 105 feet (32 meters) in 1969 before administrators, concerned about a fire hazard, imposed a 55-foot (17-meter) limit. Over the years, the stack evolved from a teepee-style mound into the vertical timber formation, a shape similar to a tiered wedding cake, that collapsed in 1999.
The annual bonfire attracted crowds of up to 70,000 and burned every year through 1998. The only exception was in 1963, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
The tragedy
The stack of more than 5,000, 18-foot (5.5-meter) logs toppled a week before it was scheduled to burn. The 12 who were killed included five freshmen, four sophomores, a junior, a senior and a recent graduate. Several were members of the Corps of Cadets, Texas A&M’s student-led, military-style organization that played a large role in its construction.
Rescuers, including members of the Texas A&M football team, raced to remove the logs that had trapped and crushed some of the victims. At rival Texas, Longhorns players organized a blood drive to assist the survivors.
An investigation ordered by the school determined flawed construction led by unqualified student workers led to the collapse.
Campus memorial
In 2003, the school dedicated a memorial on the spot where the stack fell. It includes a “Spirit Ring” with 12 portals representing those who were killed. Each portal contains an engraved portrait and signature of a victim and points toward their hometown. By stepping into the open archway, the visitor symbolically fills the void left by the deceased.
Efforts to rekindle the bonfire tradition
The annual Aggie bonfire was discontinued as an official school event after the deadly collapse.
The school considered reviving the tradition this year to coincide with the renewal of the Texas-Texas A&M football rivalry on Nov. 30. The rivalry split in 2012 when Texas A&M left the Big 12 Conference for the Southeastern Conference, but has resumed this year as Texas joined the SEC.
A special committee recommended resuming the bonfire, but only if the log stack was designed and built by professional engineers and contractors. Some members of the public said it should not come back if it was not organized and built by students, according to tradition.
Welsh ultimately decided the bonfire would not return to campus.
“Bonfire, both a wonderful and tragic part of Aggie history, should remain in our treasured past,” the president said in June when he announced his decision.
Students have continued to organize and build unofficial off-campus bonfires over the years and plan to burn this year’s edition on Nov. 29, the night before the Texas A&M-Texas football game.
TYLER – Four local school district superintendents met in Tyler on Thursday to address issues facing East Texas education like school funding and teacher shortages.
According to our news partner KETK, Tyler ISD Superintendent Dr. Marty Crawford led the panel which included Lindale ISD Superintendent Stan Surratt, Chapel Hill ISD Superintendent Lamond Dean and Carthage ISD Superintendent Jarrod Bitter. The panel discussed state funding, inflation, accountability standards, school vouchers and teacher shortages as a part of the Annual State of the District Address at the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
“It’s hard to sift through all the noise portrayed by some media and quite a bit of social media,” said Crawford. “I believe today conveyed the good things going on in our East Texas Public schools and the challenges on the horizon. Regardless of what the demagogues portray, our East Texas public schools are pragmatic and operated in a morally and fiscally conservative fashion.”
Stan Surratt said he was proud of East Texas schools despite the lack of state funding. Read the rest of this entry »
TEXARKANA — According to our news partner KETK, the Texarkana Police Department is searching for a missing 38-year-old man last seen in late October. According to a release, William Eric May was reported missing last Friday and officials are “very concerned for his safety and well-being.”
Detectives have been on the case all week and found video of him at a Arkansas-side Walmart at around 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 28. He was also spotted riding a purple bicycle in the area of Texas Boulevard and Elizabeth Street after leaving Walmart. In the videos he was seen wearing a black polo, blue jeans and tan shoes. Anyone who knows his whereabouts is asked to contact the police department at 903-798-3116 or after hours at 903-798-3876.
“Your help is vital in bringing William home safely. Thank you for your support and for sharing this post. Together, we can make a difference,” the police department said.
HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas man charged with trying to provide material support to the Islamic State group and planning violent attacks in Houston appeared in federal court Thursday.
Anas Said is accused of offering his home as a safe sanctuary for members of ISIS and saying he wants to take part in a terrorist attack like 9/11, according to court records. Federal prosecutors allege Said had spent time planning and discussing committing attacks in Houston, where he lived, and had used the internet to research how to make explosives and use cellphones as remote detonators.
“He has created videos extolling the ‘virtue’ of ISIS, the violence and death brought by ISIS, and the need for the terror perpetrated by ISIS to continue,” according to court documents. “He is dedicated to his mission to provide material support to ISIS in whatever form that may take.”
Said, 28, was arrested last week and on Thursday pleaded not guilty to one count of attempting to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. Said, who authorities said was born in Houston but spent part of his childhood in Lebanon, will remain in federal custody.
Said has been on the FBI’s radar since 2017, said Douglas Williams Jr., special agent in charge of the FBI’s Houston office.
“To those wannabe terrorists who believe they can hide behind encrypted apps or anonymous social media profiles, please understand that we will find you and we will hold you to account,” said U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani.
Baldemar Zuniga, Said’s attorney, said in a statement that the allegations against his client revolve around providing support to ISIS only through videos and propaganda.
“Despite allegations that my client made statements to government agents regarding proposed terrorist acts, the indictment does not currently allege any planning, or acts of terrorism. This appears to be a lengthy investigation and it will take some time to sift through all of the evidence,” Zuniga said.
If convicted, Said faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astrodome has been in limbo, waiting for its chance at a second life since being shuttered more than 15 years ago.
It was a technological marvel when it opened in 1965. But its heyday has long passed and it hasn’t been home to a sports team since the Astros left in 1999 and it was closed to all events a decade later.
Over the years, ideas for its redevelopment and rebirth have been plentiful, everything from turning it into an indoor water park to flooding its sunken floor in order to reenact naval battle scenes. But none of these plans garnered enough public support or financing.
The latest proposal to refurbish the Astrodome was unveiled on Wednesday by a nonprofit focused on saving the beloved domed stadium. The group, the Astrodome Conservancy, proposes redeveloping the inside of the structure to create new areas for restaurants, retail, office and cultural spaces. But like the others before it, this plan could face a similar fate, with a $1 billion price tag and an initial lack of support from local entities that would need to give their OK for the project to go forward.
Beth Wiedower Jackson, the conservancy’s executive director, said that unlike previous proposals, her organization believes theirs is backed by data and would be economically viable in part because there would be enough private investment to support it.
“This is a big, big, bold vision. And those previous plans, even admitted by Harris County officials, were a first step towards a future Astrodome. And this is the full swing of the bat. And this gives people something to be excited about,” Jackson said.
The plan, Vision: Astrodome, proposes the construction of four state-of-the-art buildings inside the stadium that would offer spaces for restaurants, stores and offices. Similar spaces for shopping and eating would also be located around the Astrodome and connected to other facilities around the stadium. The Astrodome is at NRG Park, a 350-acre complex that includes NRG Stadium, located right next to the Astrodome and home to the NFL’s Houston Texans, as well as an arena and exhibition halls.
“The Astrodome is ready now for its next chapter, redevelopment,” said Phoebe Tudor, the conservancy’s chairman. “It is time for all of us in Houston to come together and do something hard, working together to repurpose the Astrodome.”
Nicknamed “the Eighth Wonder of the World,” the Astrodome ushered in a change in how people attended sporting events. It also hosted various cultural events, including concerts by Elvis and Tejano music star Selena as well as the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King in 1973.
Some people have called for its demolition. But a 2017 designation by the Texas Historical Commission as a state antiquities landmark essentially protects it from wholesale destruction. The stadium also maintains a strong foothold in the memories of many people both in and outside of Houston.
Rafi Kohan, whose 2017 book “The Arena” explores the place sports stadiums hold in American culture, said the Astrodome’s construction came at a time of incredible technological innovation in the United States, and it helped transform Houston from what some saw as a “backwoods cow town” into a leader in technology. Houston became the home of the space program with the opening of Johnson Space Center in 1964.
“There was and continues to be a lot of civic pride around the Astrodome, what it represented, the sort of space age feat, you know, in stadium form,” Kohan said.
Douglas Brinkley, a historian and professor at Houston’s Rice University, said the Astrodome has tremendous historical relevance and is worth saving.
“It’s been our fault that we’ve neglected it or not invested in it. But a turnaround is upon us right now. We’re going to get this done,” Brinkley said.
But whether there continues to be enough support in Houston to refurbish and save the Astrodome remains to be seen. It costs between $100,000 and $200,000 a year to maintain the stadium.
The Astrodome is owned by Harris County and managed by the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation.
The office of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the county’s top elected official, declined to comment on the conservancy’s proposal.
James Dixon, the sports and convention corporation’s chairman, said in a statement that he respects the conservancy’s efforts but “over the last few years, we have seen several concepts that, while thought-provoking, haven’t resulted in viable funding and maintenance solutions.”
Dixon said his organization and the county are working with other stakeholders on a plan for the future of NRG Park and “the solution for the Astrodome must be decided within that context.”
One of those stakeholders, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, which holds its annual event at NRG Park and would have a say on what to do with the Astrodome, was not on board with the conservancy’s proposal.
“The proposed plan by the Astrodome Conservancy does not align with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s strategic vision and operational requirements,” Chris Boleman, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
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Follow Juan A. Lozano on X at https://x.com/juanlozano70