Today is
Monday July 20, 2026
McALLEN (THE TEXAS TRIBUNE) — As the New World screwworm continues to infiltrate livestock and other animals in Texas, many have been asking how the parasitic fly landed here to begin with.
Last week, the Texas Animal Health Commission identified a potential cause: small wildlife and rodents like armadillos, opossums and rabbits.
MAP: Where have New World screwworm cases been reported in Texas?
Until now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has pointed to multiple factors, including border policies under President Joe Biden to the illicit movement of cattle at the hands of drug cartels.
The new finding is based on conversations with entomologists, Lewis R. “Bud” Dinges, executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission, told the Texas House Committee on Agriculture and Livestock.
However, the source of the first case of New World Screwworm remains under investigation, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Other health experts say it’s still undetermined what allowed the invasive pest to finally breach the Texas-Mexico border.
Tracing the source
During last week’s committee hearing, Dinges said epidemiological investigators have found no evidence so far linking Texas cases to the illicit movement of cattle from Mexico.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said it is still investigating to determine how screwworm spread.
“That’s very much an unknown, still, at this time. But wildlife is susceptible to New World Screwworm in the same manner that livestock and other warm-blooded animals are,” said a spokesperson for Texas Parks and Wildlife.
However, the spokesperson added that small mammals don’t travel long distances such as the distance between the last known detection in Mexico at the time to the location of the first case in Texas, which was detected in LaPryor on June 3.
Moving north
The USDA has repeatedly mentioned that models predicted that screwworm would inevitably arrive in the U.S. after the parasitic fly began moving north from South America in 2023.
The pest began trickling up through Panama after it broke through the Darien Gap, which had served as a barrier for screwworm for decades.
It then slowly moved through Costa Rica until it reached Nicaragua where it traveled quickly, said Jeremy Radachowsky, Mesoamerica and the Caribbean regional director for the Wildlife Conservation Society.
“Not only was it moving very quickly, but it was moving exactly along these paths of cattle trafficking and cattle contraband that we’ve been able to identify earlier,” Radachowsky said.
Screwworm detections followed those cattle-trafficking paths into Honduras and Guatemala. A few weeks later, Mexican officials detected their first case in November 2024.
Screwworm was predicted to have arrived in the U.S. last summer, USDA officials said, but efforts to stop it delayed it for a year.
“We’ve been actively and vocally warning that in order to stop screwworm, you have to stop this illegal and unregulated movement of cattle from south to north,” Radachowsky said. “That is definitely the driver.”
But how it crossed from Mexico into the U.S. remains unclear, he said.
The USDA closed all southern ports of entry to livestock imports from Mexico in May 2025 and have kept them closed since then, preventing cattle from legally crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.
The Wildlife Conservation Society does not have clear information on how screwworm crossed into Texas, Radachowsky said, but noted that it can infest and travel with other warm-blooded animals like pets and wildlife.
Governor Abbott launches New World Screwworm tracker website
“At the Texas-Mexico border, you’ve got feral pigs, white tailed deer, other wildlife, basically moving back and forth as well,” he said.
The unknown
There are 13 active cases of New World Screwworm in Texas as of Tuesday. An average of 15 suspected cases are reported to the Texas Animal Health Commission every day, Dinges said during the committee hearing last week.
State Rep. Ryan Guillen, a Republican from Rio Grande City who chairs the committee, asked whether it would be logical to assume there are more cases between the Texas-Mexico border and the location of the confirmed infestations that just haven’t been reported.
Dinges replied that testing for screwworm has been ongoing for over a year and cases had not been detected until now.“We’ve been submitting anywhere from two to six larvae samples a week since last May and we have not detected any New World Screwworm larvae until June 3,” Dinges said.
Despite those assurances, farmers and ranchers throughout Texas are operating under the assumption that screwworm is present in their area.
“There’s just so much country that’s unsurveilled,” said John Sewell, a rancher from Kinney and Uvalde County said during the hearing. “I’m in between two — one south of me and one north of me. Do I think I don’t have it? I would be a fool to think I didn’t have it.”
Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
MARSHALL — A Waco-based real-estate company has secured a contract to start landscape and renovation work at the former Marshall High School to transform it into a new lofts, they announced on Tuesday. After working with the city and visiting the site to take bids, Versatile Real Estate Company will begin its extensive work on the property’s landscape and renovations to the building on July 6, the company said.
According to our news partner KETK, the building will be restored and given a new purpose through Versatile’s contract by creating modern loft residences and community gathering areas. According to the company, the soon-to-be Marshall Lofts “celebrate the character of the past while creating a vibrant, connected community for the future.”
We are excited to share this wonderful rendering of what the old Marshall High School will look like once our project is complete,” Versatile said. “Thank you to the City of Marshall and most of all the people who live in the community for your extreme patience, and enduring the experience of seeing the Historic site in its current state.” Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – The Tyler Parks and Rec Department held a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday to celebrate Stewart Park, which will be the newest park to open in Tyler in more than 20 years.
The park is located on Frankston Highway and is named after the Stewarts family, who previously sold their land to the city and made an important impact on the city’s education in the community.
Additionally, the park will serve as the starting point for the Legacy Trail Extension, a 12-foot-wide multipurpose trail that runs through W.E. Winters Park and connects to Peete Elementary School.
The park will also include playground equipment, a pavilion, and picnic areas as well as new bathrooms. The city said the goal is to complete the park by the end of this year.
AUSTIN, Texas (KETK) — As Texas continues to attract major technology investments, state lawmakers are raising concerns about how the rapid growth of data centers could affect water supplies, particularly in rural parts of East Texas.
The Texas House Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing Tuesday to examine the industry’s water demands as state officials work on the next Texas State Water Plan ahead of the 2027 legislative session.
Much of the discussion centered on whether the state has enough information to accurately predict future water needs as more data centers move into Texas.
Temple McKinnon, director of Water Supply Planning Divisions for the Texas Water Development Board, testified that the agency surveyed industrial facilities, including 341 data centers, earlier this year to better understand water usage in 2025. However, only about 17% of facilities responded.
That response rate drew criticism from lawmakers.
McKinnon acknowledged the low participation and said the agency relies on historical data and estimates when survey responses are unavailable.
“Many facilities, there’s low response rates across the board, there can be, and when we don’t get a response, we do whatever we can to estimate around it. We might roll that over depending on past use,” McKinnon said.
Lawmakers questioned whether those estimates are sufficient given the pace at which data centers are being developed across the state.
State Rep. Trent Ashby, R-Lufkin, shifted the conversation toward East Texas, where he said some counties lack groundwater conservation districts that monitor and regulate groundwater use.
Ashby asked McKinnon whether a data center located in a county without a groundwater conservation district would face any restrictions on groundwater pumping:
“So if you’re in a county with a data center or proposed data center and there is no GCD (groundwater conservation district), there is no requirement or obstacle if you’re a data center to overcome to pump as much groundwater as you want, am I correct?” Ashby asked.
“There would be no entity in place to regulate that use, yes,” McKinnon responded.
The exchange highlighted concerns from some East Texas residents who worry that growing industrial water demands could strain local groundwater supplies in areas with limited oversight.
Ashby said he has heard from constituents concerned that future data center development could impact water availability for rural communities that depend on wells and aquifers.
Google announces $10M Texas water impact fund; makes data center water use pledges
Lawmakers emphasized that additional studies and more accurate reporting will be necessary to understand the long-term impact that data centers could have on Texas water resources and to determine whether current planning efforts adequately account for future growth.
Texans remain wary of the rapid growth of data centers, citing concerns like noise, water use, energy demand, and land impact. A UT Austin Texas Politics Project poll reflects that sentiment, showing 56% oppose local data?center construction while 29% support it. Still, lawmakers noted a competing pressure: the national?security risk of falling behind China in the race for advanced artificial intelligence.
Throughout the hearing, multiple county?level officials urged the Legislature to give local governments more authority to block or regulate data?center projects. They argued that communities should have a stronger voice in deciding whether these facilities fit their long?term development goals.
The hearing remained underway Tuesday afternoon. Committee Chairman State Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, said discussions could continue into the evening as lawmakers gather information to help shape future water policy and planning efforts across Texas.
SMITH COUNTY — Amid a surge in cryptocurrency scams sweeping East Texas, Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith convened regional lawmakers Monday in an urgent bid to confront what he warned is becoming a rapidly escalating threat. According to our news partner KETK, the meeting was attended by several lawmakers, including Sen. Bryan Hughes, State Representatives Cole Hefner and Daniel Alders, and the Captain of the Texas Federal Crimes Intelligence Center, Jeff Roberts.
Driven by a spike in cases, Smith convened the meeting after a growing number of East Texas seniors were coerced into depositing thousands of dollars into Bitcoin ATMs, funds that vanish instantly and are rarely recoverable.
Unfortunately many East Texans have failed to realize they were being scammed before being left in financial ruin. In early May, a Georgia inmate orchestrated a crypto kiosk scam by directing an elderly Smith County woman to a local crypto kiosk after claiming they were a sheriff’s office employee. The scam resulted in the woman losing $13,000 and the scammer was charged with theft from the elderly. Read the rest of this entry »
CAMP COUNTY — A crash that happened on U.S. Highway 271 Sunday afternoon left two siblings dead, after a vehicle collided head-on with an 18-wheeler in Camp County, officials say. According to Texas Department of Public Safety Sgt. Adam Albritton, troopers responded to the two-vehicle crash just south of the Titus County line at approximately 2:32 p.m. According to our news partner KETK, preliminary investigation found that a white Nissan Altima, driven by 16-year-old Gavin Brooks of Mt. Pleasant, was traveling northbound on Hwy 271 when the Nissan crossed over into the southbound lane and collided with a semi-trailer.
Brooks and the passenger of the Nissan, 21-year-old Morgan Brooks were both pronounced deceased on the scene, DPS said. The driver of the semi-trailer was transported to a local hospital for their injuries.
Mount Pleasant ISD, where both Morgan and Gavin attended, released a statement on Monday following the tragic crash.
“Our hearts are broken at the loss of our students, Morgan Brooks, who graduated in 2023, and her brother Gavin Brooks-Thompson, a Class of 2027 senior,” the district said. “MPISD extends our deepest condolences to their family, friends, teachers, and classmates and the entire community of Mount Pleasant.” Read the rest of this entry »
KILGORE – As the new Kilgore ISD High School nears completion, the district was awarded nearly $50k from Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO) on Monday for energy-saving initiatives recently installed on campus. According to our news partner KETK, the incentive donation follows the district’s installation of energy-efficient systems, including LED lighting and an advanced HVAC system. SWEPCO stated that the energy saved by these initiatives can power 30 East Texas homes for one year.
“We are grateful for the partnership with SWEPCO and the Compass for Schools team throughout the construction of our new Kilgore High School,” assistant superintendent of administrative services for Kilgore ISD April Cox said. “These incentives will provide long-term operational savings while supporting an exceptional learning environment for our students and staff for years to come.”
SWEPCO stated that the $49,502.62 awarded to the district will go directly towards benefiting students entering the new high school. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW – A man was arrested in Longview on Monday after he was involved in a crash on Mobberly Avenue that left a 44-year-old woman dead. According to the Longview Police Department, officers responded to a report of suspicious activity when they found a vehicle that was allegedly in a crash at around 12:30 a.m. When officers tried to make contact with the driver, he fled in the vehicle. Longview PD said he was later stopped and arrested for evading arrest with a vehicle.
According to our news partner KETK, the officers continued to investigate the crash and later found the body of 44-year-old Taneka Shepard near the intersection of Mobberly Avenue and Level Street. The driver, identified by Longview PD as Danny Bozarth Jr. of Longview, was then also charged with collision involving death.
Longview Police Department is currently investigating the crash and anyone with information is urged to contact them immediately at 903-237-1188.
KATY (AP) – A driver in a Tesla vehicle that was allegedly in driver-assist mode crashed into a Texas house Friday night, killing a woman who was inside the home, investigators said.
Michael Butler was traveling in his Tesla Model 3 around 8 p.m. local time in Katy, Texas, and was operating the vehicle “with an automated driving assistance system,” the Harris County Sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Butler allegedly failed to drive in a single lane, left the roadway and struck the residence, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Butler’s Tesla entered through the brick residence, at a high rate of speed, and struck M. Avila who was inside the residence,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Avila was airlifted to a hospital where she was later pronounced dead, the sheriff’s office said.
Investigators said Butler, who was injured, showed no signs of intoxication and he was cooperating with officers. Attorney information for the driver wasn’t immediately available.
The investigation is ongoing and as of Saturday afternoon there were no charges.
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.
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.
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. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
ATLANTA (AP) — Bina Ramroop broke down in tears when she realized she wasn’t going to get the World Cup tickets she had bought for her grandson’s 13th birthday.
As thousands poured into Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Monday to see Spain face Cape Verde in what turned out to be a remarkable scoreless draw, Ramroop stood outside, increasingly stressed as she went back and forth for hours between StubHub representatives on the phone and FIFA representatives in the ticket booth. Each blamed the other.
No one could figure out why the tickets Ramroop bought months ago on StubHub for $485 apiece couldn’t be transferred from the original seller to the FIFA ticketing app. StubHub offered her a refund and, as Ramroop heard the crowd roar for the start of the match, she knew she had no choice but to give up and take the offer.
“I didn’t want a refund, I didn’t want my money back,” Ramroop said. “I wanted to go to the game.”
The World Cup has delivered thrills on the pitch, but fans have flooded social media with complaints about tickets that never arrived, orders that were canceled at the last minute and hours they spent trying to sort out problems between FIFA’s ticketing system and outside resale platforms. The vast majority seem to be about industry titan StubHub, but people who bought through competitors such as SeatGeek and Vivid Seats have also reported issues. Interviews with fans and industry experts show that some cases stem from technical glitches in the transfer process, while others could involve sellers who never had tickets to deliver in the first place, though StubHub denies such sales happen on its platform.
A grandmother’s disappointment
FIFA has urged fans to buy resale tickets through its own marketplace, where it slaps a 30% surcharge on every resold ticket — 15% each from the buyer and seller. But many fans bought through other resale sites, either out of habit or because those sites have lower prices or are easier to navigate.
Ramroop didn’t realize she was taking a risk when she bought through StubHub, which she had used in the past without issues.
As she and her grandson Elijah Gomes took the long, lonely train ride back to the Atlanta suburbs, Elijah followed the score on his phone. The match had ended scoreless, and he tried to cheer up his devastated grandmother by telling her they hadn’t missed much after all (Cape Verdeans would beg to differ ).
“He’s telling me, ‘Grandma, it’s OK, Grandma.’ And he’s trying to console me,” Ramroop said the next day.
She was hardly alone. An Associated Press journalist witnessed more than a dozen frustrated fans at the match who said they were stuck in similar situations.
StubHub blamed FIFA for the transfer problems that buyers like Ramroop have experienced. In a statement, it said FIFA has “poor technology infrastructure,” enacted last-minute transfer restrictions and didn’t launch its new ticketing app until a few weeks before the tournament. The company also called out organizers that “take anti-competitive actions” that limit where fans can buy and sell tickets.
Asked about the technical issues, FIFA on Wednesday reiterated that sales through its official site are guaranteed to go through.
An industry’s longstanding problem
Industry observers say the problems appear to stem from more than one cause. For some, it may indeed be technical glitches — an issue that StubHub says is “very, very rare” and one that it is hard at work to solve. For others, they say it’s likely a more longstanding scourge: speculative sellers.
Scott Friedman, an industry veteran and co-founder of a consultancy called the Ticket Talk Network, said some sellers list tickets before they actually have them, betting that prices will fall closer to the event so they can buy the tickets at a better price later. But because World Cup ticket prices have surged since the tournament began, those sellers have been forced to either buy expensive tickets to fulfill their orders or cancel and accept penalties from resale platforms. StubHub’s penalties are typically 200% of the ticket price, Friedman said.
“This is not new at all,” said Friedman, pointing to other high-profile events where frustrated fans were left empty-handed, including Taylor Swift’s Eras tour. “This has been going on, but it’s making global news because it’s the World Cup.”
StubHub says it requires sellers to prove they have tickets before they list them.
But regardless of the reason for the canceled sales, Friedman said “StubHub should fill every single order to make sure fans get in the biggest global sporting event that happens every four years.”
That’s what many fans say they expected when they purchased through StubHub.
StubHub’s FanProtect Guarantee promises replacement tickets or a refund if tickets fail to arrive. But the policy repeatedly says those remedies are provided at StubHub’s “sole discretion,” meaning the company can choose a refund instead of securing replacement seats.
“That is pretty explicit language,” said Michael McCann, a sports law expert at the University of New Hampshire. McCann noted that a buyer could try to challenge the language under state consumer protection laws, but it would be an uphill battle.
A father’s regrets
Pape Ndaw is crestfallen that the high school graduation gift he got for his son — tickets for them to see the Netherlands and Japan near their home city of Dallas — never arrived.
He bought the tickets for about $550 apiece in December. Then, two days before the June 14 match, he received an email from StubHub telling him, “The seller can’t deliver your original tickets.”
Ndaw accepted store credit rather than a refund, thinking he would use the funds to quickly get replacements, only to then realize that the cheapest last-minute tickets were going for more than $1,500 each. Not only were they not going to get to go to the game, but Ndaw said StubHub rejected his belated request for a refund instead of store credit.
Breaking the news to his soccer-obsessed son was brutal, Ndaw said.
“It was a disastrous thing,” he said. “He had told all his friends that he was going to that game. He literally cried. I mean, he is a 17-year-old kid, but he cried.”
A family’s attempt to make the best of it
Others fared somewhat better.
Patrick O’Neil of Pittsboro, North Carolina, traveled to Atlanta with his wife, son and relatives after purchasing five tickets through StubHub for the Spain-Cape Verde match. Two tickets transferred successfully, but three never arrived.
O’Neil’s 15-year-old son and his uncle ended up using the two tickets, while O’Neil, his wife and another relative watched from a nearby bar.
After local media caught wind of their ordeal, O’Neil said StubHub contacted the family and offered tickets to another game. Since the family had already bought tickets to one, though, he and his wife asked the company to instead give the seats to local nonprofit Soccer in the Streets so they could go to people who otherwise might not be able to attend a match.
“StubHub is not evil, but they’re part of the whole system that makes it really hard for just normal kids and people who might want to see a match get to go,” O’Neil said.
On Thursday, a StubHub representative confirmed to the AP that the company would honor the O’Neils’ request and send tickets to the nonprofit.
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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
The man who died when a small jet crashed on a Texas highway was an entrepreneur well-known in the state for being at the center of Austin’s turbocharged evolution as a technology hub.
Joshua Baer, 50, described himself as an “Austinpreneur,” a reference to the state capital and his enthusiasm for getting people into business. He founded Capital Factory, which has grown into an important Austin-based venture capital firm supporting a range of technology startup companies, from robots to autonomous ships.
Baer’s LinkedIn page shows him wearing a black T-shirt and pointing at the message: “I help people quit jobs.” His email had a similar handle. Capital Factory’s downtown headquarters is among the offices of tech giants like Google.
“Whether you’re in technology or not, there’s a hole in the heart of Austin today,” Thom Singer, CEO of the Austin Technology Council, which promotes the local tech industry, said of Baer’s death.
Baer listed his life strategy as, “Plant lots of seeds. Water everyone’s. Repeat.” And people noticed: The Austin mayor in 2023 gave him a key to the city, a symbol of civic honor.
Bryan Chambers, co-founder and president of Capital Factory, said his business partner was a “true super connector.”
Baer was aboard a business jet that crashed Tuesday on a highway in Laredo, Texas, after the pilots reported mechanical problems and requested to make an emergency landing at an airport. His LinkedIn profile said he had a wife and three children. It wasn’t known whether three young people who survived the crash were family members.
After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he created an email marketing business, Baer moved to Austin in 1996 to work as a software developer at Trilogy Inc. He started Capital Factory in 2009 and regularly held business chats with people at a coffee shop.
“My hobby is startups,” Baer told the Austin American-Statesman in 2012. “I don’t watch sports or anything like that. So this is what I do. … I want to be an investor in every great tech company that comes out of Austin. That’s probably unrealistic, but I’m going to try anyway.”
Baer often spoke to high school students and had the title of “entrepreneur in residence” at the University of Texas.
“He was passionate that technology could change the world and make people’s lives efficient and better,” Singer said. “And if entrepreneurs did it right, they could make money and help their communities. He believed in those two things.”
Texas U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn said they were saddened by Baer’s death. Cornyn wrote on X that Baer was an “innovative & creative leader in Austin’s entrepreneurial culture.”
COVINGTON, La. (AP) — Tropical Storm Arthur was downgraded to a low pressure area along the upper Texas coast Wednesday night but forecasters expected its remnants to bring life-threatening flooding and days of heavy rains to parts of the southeastern United States, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Arthur was the first tropical storm of the season in the Atlantic basin and it’s expected to keep weakening as it moves inland over southeastern Texas and western Louisiana, then cross the southeast Thursday through Friday. Maximum sustained winds were around 35 mph (55 kph).
All coastal watches and warnings were discontinued Wednesday night, but flooding was likely through Friday over parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle, the hurricane center said.
In Louisiana and Mississippi, some communities had set up locations for residents to collect sandbags and cleared debris from drainage systems.
“The main threat from Arthur is going to be a prolonged, multiday, heavy rainfall event that could produce dangerous to life-threatening flash flooding,” National Hurricane Center director Michael Brennan said.
The storm spun off the Texas coast on the same day a World Cup match took place in Houston but did not disrupt the contest, which was played indoors. Heavy storms in the Houston area earlier in the week had canceled outdoor watch parties and fan events.
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno said police were preparing boats and setting up barricades in known flood areas. Collection points for residents to fill sandbags also sprung up around the state.
“We both decided we got so much rain yesterday at our house that it was probably a good idea just to pick up a few bags,” said Luke Barwick, who filled sandbags at a collection center in Covington, Louisiana.
After being inundated with heavy rain earlier this week, parts of central and south Mississippi braced for a second wave of potential flooding.
Officials in Picayune, Mississippi, located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of New Orleans, declared a state of emergency Tuesday after downpours brought nearly 7 inches of rain in six hours. On Wednesday, city officials gave out thousands of sandbags and put emergency responders on standby.
Arthur is expected to produce rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters), with isolated higher totals near 20 inches (50 centimeters).
Swells generated by Arthur are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip-current conditions along the northwestern Gulf Coast for the next couple of days, forecasters said. Tornadoes were possible through Thursday.
Arthur formed as some areas along the Texas coast had already been drenched by bands of heavy storms that caused flooding and high waters. Near Houston, a 15-year-old drowned Tuesday after entering the water of a retention pond while playing near a construction zone, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. ___ Fischer reported from Miami. Associated Press writer Sophia Bates in Jackson, Mississippi, contributed to this report.
The business jet barreled cockeyed down the dark highway, knocking down one light pole after another, an orange glow of sparks trailing it.
From a distance, Ivan Franco thought it must be a car. But as he approached in his tow truck, he saw it was a plane — broken in half, its fuselage resting on its side, bright fire beginning to rise above. He stopped and rifled through the rescue kit his company keeps in the truck, grabbing a sledgehammer as well as three fire extinguishers, which he handed off to police officers.
“At that moment, you don’t think much about what to do, because I knew the plane could explode since it was on fire,” Franco told The Associated Press in Spanish. “My idea was to try to break the windows because the pilots hadn’t come out yet.”
Franco was one of several motorists who happened across the crash in Laredo, Texas, late Tuesday night and rushed to help — putting their own lives in danger to help those on board escape as smoke filled the cabin.
Passersby helped save lives
Police were also on the scene quickly, and their teamwork with the good Samaritans undoubtedly saved lives, officials said.
“The officers and the good Samaritans that went to the scene, our firefighters that responded — I do also want to commend each and every one of them,” Laredo Police Chief Mike Rodriguez said during a news conference Wednesday. He said he asked his staff to track down all the civilians who helped.
The Cessna Citation Latitude twin jet departed Tuesday evening from the Mexican resort city of San José del Cabo and was bound for Austin, Texas, the FAA said in a statement. The plane was operated by NetJets, a company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway that lets people buy part ownership in private jets. NetJets said in a statement that it was cooperating with authorities.
The crash occurred after its pilots reported mechanical problems while requesting an emergency landing at a nearby airport. The fuselage came to rest across a concrete barrier, while its tail broke off and fell to a lower section of roadway.
One person was killed: Joshua Baer, a leader in Texas’ technology and startup sectors. Three teenage passengers and two pilots survived, as did a person in a truck struck by the plane as it crashed. Authorities have not released more detail about the passengers’ connections to one another.
Investigators combed through wreckage Wednesday for clues to the cause.
It was the third significant aviation accident in as many days in the U.S. A B-52 crashed Monday during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California and killed all eight people aboard, while on Sunday, 12 people were killed when a plane on a skydiving outing in Missouri crashed.
‘It looked like part of a movie’
Among the motorists who stopped in Laredo was Zayra Garza, an esthetician who was driving her co-workers home when she saw the wreckage. She recorded video as her husband ran to help.
“It looked like part of a movie. I was in shock,” Garza said. Most worrisome was the fire: “I was concerned that it could have just exploded at any time.”
Garza saw people leave their cars to try to smash the cockpit glass. Her video shows the aircraft’s door popping open slightly from inside as a voice cries “Help! Help! Help!” The rescuers strain to lift the door farther open as the three teenagers dart out, followed quickly by one pilot and then by another.
Franco, a 23-year-old from Laredo, frantically swung the sledgehammer through heavy smoke. Others struck at the window with a shovel and tools from their own vehicles.
Cockpit windows are designed not to shatter
They accomplished little more than spiderwebbing the cockpit window with small cracks: Airplane windshields have multiple layers of glass and are designed to remain structurally sound even if the outer layer shatters. The windows must be able to withstand a bird strike at cruising speed and hold up to extreme pressure differences at high altitudes.
“They are basically bulletproof,” said retired airline pilot John Cox, who is CEO of Safety Operating Systems.
Police officers tried to remove the final person inside — Baer — as the smoke grew thicker. Officers doubled over coughing after turning away from the smoke.
Eventually firefighters with oxygen masks were able to get inside.
Firefighters also removed a dog from the plane that was suffering from smoke inhalation. The dog was turned over to animal control and was expected to survive, said Jose Baeza, an investigator with the Laredo Police Department.
Five officers were treated for smoke inhalation; the five people who survived the crash were also released from a hospital.
As the plane crashed on the northbound lanes of the highway, its wing hit a truck traveling southbound. The driver of that vehicle also survived, Baeza said.
There has been an outpouring of support on social media for those who stopped to help, heralding their bravery and selflessness.
Laredo Mayor Victor Treviño called it “nothing short of a miracle that this tragedy did not become a mass fatality event,” thanks in part to the late hour when the crash occurred and the quick action of first responders.
Franco said that as he tried to help, all he could think of was getting people out of the plane. But to do it, he had to conquer another feeling.
“You’re in constant fear,” he said. “You don’t know what situation you’re in.”
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Johnson and Golden reported from Seattle. Taxin reported from Santa Ana, California. AP journalists Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed.
TYLER — The Caldwell Zoo announced the birth of two healthy ocelot kittens Monday. The kittens and their mom, Maya, are slowly warming up to this new world in a secluded den where zoo keepers are tending to them quietly to avoid disturbing the new litter.
“Ocelots are endangered because their habitat (the thick brush where they live) has been cleared for farming and growth of cities,” Texas Parks and Wildlife said. “Only about 30 to 35 Ocelots live in the shrublands remaining at or near the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge near Brownsville, Texas. In 1995 it was estimated that 80 to 120 individuals lived in Texas.”
According to our news partner KETK, the species was deemed endangered in 1972 and has remained in that category ever since.
Landowners local to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and into Mexico play a crucial part in these animals’ survival as a species. Across Texas, hundreds of generational farm/ranch properties are trying to rewrite history by saving brush habitats on private land. Read the rest of this entry »
CHANDLER — As more controversy surrounds the City of Chandler, two city officials have submitted their letters of resignation, causing further turmoil for the city. The resignations were submitted by Utilities Director Justin Bolton and City Engineer Brian Capps, according to our news partner KETK. In a letter, it was announced that Capp’s tenure with the city will conclude on Wednesday, while it is uncertain when Bolton’s last day will be.
Capps and Bolton’s decision to resign comes less than two weeks after city administrator Kalon Rollins issued his resignation, claiming it was in his best interest to remove himself from a “toxic atmosphere” in the city’s government.
Rollins’ resignation comes after a Thursday city council meeting where Chandler city council members considered taking action against Rollins and the current Chandler Police Chief Johnny Foster for improper spending, bond issues, social media policy and hiring policies. Read the rest of this entry »
RUSK COUNTY — Following a fatal crash in Rusk County on Saturday afternoon, one man was arrested after it was discovered he had allegedly caused the crash while driving intoxicated. According to an affidavit from the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office and our news partner KETK, a trooper was dispatched to a multi-vehicle crash at the intersection of FM 3053 and FM 1639 in Gregg County.
Once on the scene, the trooper observed a Nissan Versa that had become disabled following the crash. The driver of the Nissan was identified as Tanner Templeton and two pickup trucks that were involved in the incident were found disabled behind Templeton’s car. Authorities believe that the crash was caused when Templeton was driving westbound on FM 1639 and while he was approaching the intersection, he drove past a stop sign without stopping and was struck by a pickup truck traveling northbound on FM 3053.
After striking Templeton’s car, one of the trucks driven by Tracey Fears was pushed into oncoming southbound traffic and struck head-on by another truck. After being hit by the truck, Fears was pronounced dead on the scene and his two passengers were taken by helicopter to a local hospital after suffering serious injury. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER – Residents of Tyler gathered for a community meeting on Monday to voice concerns about a planned Bitcoin mining data center. The Bitcoin mining facility is currently proposed for 1105 W. Erwin Street in Tyler. On Monday, Mark Buntsev, a community liaison for Vulcan Core LLC, hosted a community meeting with residents living near the W. Erwin Street site, where his company proposes to build a Bitcoin facility.
The facility would use specially designed computers to “mine” Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, a currency that is created and stored only digitally. Developers met with Tyler residents at The Meeting Place banquet hall, located just blocks from the proposed site of the Bitcoin facility, according to out news partner KETK.
“Some of their concerns were the usage of water, the usage of electricity and the usage of noise, all of which I’d like to think that we were able to address through resources such as a further understanding of the technology itself, understanding that we don’t have any kind of power draw or water draw from the city. We utilize distilled water mixed with glycol,” Buntsev said on Monday. Read the rest of this entry »
WOOD COUNTY – One man died on Sunday after an 18-wheeler hydroplaned and crashed into his vehicle on Highway 80 near Mineola. The Texas Department of Public Safety told our news partner KETK that 45-year-old David Earl Johnson of Grand Saline was driving his Ford Fusion west on Highway 80 about half a mile west of Mineola at around 10:47 a.m. on Sunday, as an 18-wheeler was heading east.
Johnson’s Ford was hit when the 18-wheeler hydroplaned on the wet roadway and crossed into the westbound lane of Highway 80. Johnson was fatally injured in the crash and was later pronounced dead at the scene, according to DPS.
The condition of the 18-wheeler driver is currently unknown and DPS is currently investigating the crash.
Update: KTBB talked to the City of Nacodoches Wednesday night. They felt comfortable of the main being patched up by Thursday evening.
NACOGDOCHES – A major roadway is currently closed down following a sewer main collapse on Monday afternoon.
According to the City of Nacogdoches and our news partner KETK, the sewer main on West Spradley Street collapsed after excessive rainfall in the area. Crews are expected to begin working to repair the sewer main once conditions allow, and the street will remain closed to traffic until further notice.
Due to the closure, residents are asked to enter and exit the neighborhood at the intersection of South Loop 224 and Old Lufkin Road. An entrance can also be made to the street at the intersection of Old Lufkin Road and U.S. 59 South.
KTBB talked to the City of Nacodoches Wednesday night. They felt comfortable of the main being patched up by Thursday evening.
TATUM, Texas (KETK) – One man has been arrested after an alleged aggravated assault happened at an apartment complex in Tatum on Saturday morning. According to the Tatum Police Department and our news partner KETK, a Tatum PD patrol officer and deputies from the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office responded to a reported aggravated assault at an apartment complex in Tatum at around 12:54 a.m. on Saturday.
The Tatum PD officer arrested one man in connection to the aggravated assault. The man was booked into the Rusk County Jail on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Tatum PD did not identify the man but they did note that no one was injured during the assault.
SABINE COUNTY (KETK) – Former Sabine County Sheriff Thomas Raymond Philips was buried in Beaumont on Saturday, after he died at the age of 81 earlier this month.
Philips was born in Beaumont but moved to the Toledo Bend Lake area with his wife in 1977. They operated a mom-and-pop store there before he started his career with the Sabine County Sheriff’s Office in 1989.
Before he was elected as sheriff in Jan. 1997, Philips served with the sheriff’s office as a dispatcher, jailer, chief jailer, deputy sheriff and with K-9 Chico as the county’s first K-9 officer.
Former Sabine County Sheriff Thomas Raymond Philips. Photo courtesy of the Sabine County Sheriff’s Office.
Philips served as sheriff of Sabine County from Jan. 1997 and Dec. 2000. Philips continued working for another 16 years until he retired as a court security officer at the Jack Brooks Federal Building in Beaumont in 2016.
He passed away at 81-years-old at the Parkview on Hollybrook senior community in Longview on June 4. Current Sabine County Sheriff George Griffith and many other law enforcement members helped escort Philips’ coffin to Forest Lawn Cemetery on Saturday.
ATHENS – The City of Athens has announced that several roads around the city have been closed by flooding as heavy storms move across East Texas. The flooding comes as the National Weather Service has extended a flash flood warning across much of western Henderson County until 10 p.m. The warning includes all of Athens, Log Cabin, Malakoff, Cross Roads and Cayuga.
“Please stay off the roads unless travel is necessary. Never drive around barricades or attempt to cross a flooded roadway. Water may be deeper or moving faster than it appears,” the City of Athens said. “Turn around, don’t drown. Please slow down, use caution and give emergency crews room to work.”
MARSHALL – Heavy rains Monday in Marshall have created flash flooding, and have made Highways 80 and 59 dangerous to travel. Reports say the high water on Highway 80 between Longview and Marshall, have had some drivers turning around when encountering these conditions. Many drivers have attempted in driving through. Read the rest of this entry »
(UVALDE, Texas) — Former Uvalde school police chief Pete Arredondo is set to return to a Texas courtroom on Friday, as the judge overseeing his criminal trial weighs moving the case out of Uvalde and whether the whole thing might have to wait because US Customs and Border Protection has refused to cooperate.
Arredondo in 2024 was charged with 10 counts of endangering students by failing to quickly respond to the 2022 mass shooting. The criminal case has stalled due to two ongoing civil lawsuits that seek to force agents with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Border Patrol Tactical Unit — involved in taking down the gunman — to testify in the case.
Nineteen students and two of their teachers were killed when Robb Elementary School was attacked by a former student on the last day of school, May 24, 2022.
Arredondo led the response to the 2022 shooting rampage, and prosecutors allege that he ignored his training by waiting some 77 minutes before agents stormed a classroom and killed the gunman. Earlier this year, a jury acquitted former school police officer Adrian Gonzales on similar charges after a three-week trial.
Families of the victims responded to that verdict with outrage and some are looking to Arredondo’s trial as another opportunity for justice.
“We had a little hope, but it wasn’t enough,” Jacinto Cazares, whose 9-year-old daughter Jackie died in the shooting, said after Gonzales’ acquittal in January. “Again, we are failed. I don’t even know what to say.”
Arredondo has pleaded not guilty, arguing he followed his training and saying he did not consider himself as the incident commander that day, though investigators said he was just that. Arredondo’s attorney Paul Looney told ABC News that he believes the case against Arredondo is weaker than the failed prosecution of Gonzales.
“They tried the one they thought that they had the best shot at, but now they’re going to put everything they’ve got into doing this one, because they do want to win at least something,” Looney said.
Friday’s status conference comes as Judge Sid Harle weighs the future of the case. The judge has said he wants to determine how the trial against Arredondo can proceed amid the ongoing litigation with CBP and whether — as in the case of Gonzales — the trial ought to be moved out of Uvalde.
Both Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell and Arredondo filed federal lawsuits to compel the federal agents to cooperate with investigators and potentially testify at trial.
“The three border patrol agents whose cooperation is now being sought by District Attorney Mitchell — two of whom participated in the actual killing of the gunman and the third who was present in the hallway during most of the incident — are essential to the pending Texas criminal prosecution,” Mitchell wrote in her lawsuit.
CBP attorneys have argued that the request for testimony is unreasonable, unnecessary and “negatively impacts CBP operations and national security” by taking up resources and potentially disclosing sensitive information.
Attorneys have argued that CBP revealed enough information through the investigative summaries prepared by the Texas Rangers and a report released by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility.
“It is unclear from your request how testimony from the identified CBP employees is genuinely necessary to the proceedings,” an attorney for CBP said in a court filing.
Earlier this year, a new judge was assigned to the lawsuit filed by Mitchell, and this week she filed a motion to schedule a status conference in that case. Looney, who filed a separate lawsuit largely mirroring the District Attorney’s, said he anticipates the litigation will take another eight months to a year.
Friday’s hearing will be held in Uvalde, though the trial of Gonzales was held in Corpus Christi to find an impartial jury, due to the widespread impact of the shooting on the Uvalde community.
Arredondo’s lawyer said he expects Harle to grant his motion for a venue change, though he claimed there is “no sense of urgency” to resolve the venue issue while the case remains stalled by the ongoing civil litigation.
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CHEROKEE COUNTRY – Officials Tuesday have identified the man who was found dead and recovered from Lake Palestine last Thursday evening as 24-year-old Donavan Townsend. According to Cherokee County Precinct 4 Justice of Peace Rodney Wallace, the incident occurred near the Brookshire’s Recreation Center.
POLK COUNTY, Texas (KETK) — The discovery of an indoor marijuana farm in Polk County has led to the arrest of a man, and several others to follow, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday.
While conducting a search warrant at a Livingston residence off of FM 943 on Wednesday, investigators located a “sophisticated indoor marijuana grow operation” on the property. Investigators were able to recover over 50 but less than 2,000 pounds of marijuana from the farm, amounting to an estimated worth of $100,000.
At the home, one resident was identified as Alexander Vega, who admitted to growing the marijuana. He was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana, a second-degree felony, the sheriff’s office said. Currently at the Polk County Jail, his bond has been set at $100,000.
Several other names connected to the farm were discovered during the investigation, and more suspects may be charged in the future.
“Due to the potential risks associated with chemicals and materials commonly used in indoor marijuana grow operations, members of the State’s Methamphetamine Initiative Group (MIG), a Houston HIDTA initiative, responded to assist with the removal of the marijuana plants and to help identify chemicals located on the property,” the sheriff’s office said.
As for the land, residences and two vehicles, the sheriff’s office looks to seek seizure through forfeiture proceedings.
“This investigation is another example of the dedication and persistence of our Narcotics Division and our law enforcement partners. Indoor grow operations are not simple marijuana cases,” Sheriff Byron Lyons said. “These operations can involve large amounts of drugs, dangerous chemicals, electrical hazards, and organized criminal activity. Our office will continue to aggressively investigate narcotics trafficking in Polk County and hold those responsible accountable.”
(NEW YORK) — The detection of New World screwworm in cattle does not pose a risk to beef consumers, and humans are unlikely to become infected by the parasite themselves, experts told ABC News.
There have been a total of six cases of New World screwworm (NWS) detected among animals in the U.S. since the beginning of the month — in four cattle, one goat and a dog, according to the latest update from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The goat was newly confirmed as the latest case to be infested with New World screwworm, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a press conference Monday.
The screwworm likely migrated from Mexico and Central America, Ben Weinheimer, president and CEO of the Texas Cattle Feeders Association, told ABC News. The U.S. closed the border to Mexican cattle coming into the country in 2024 as a result of the screwworm outbreak in the region, Derrell Peele, a livestock marketing specialist at Oklahoma State University, told ABC News.
Officials continue to investigate the case of the dog that they believe likely may have been infected in Mexico, Rollins said. The screwworm typically spreads by transport of either livestock or pets, Peele said.
The screwworm does not currently present a food safety issue, Rollins said, adding that there is “no need to panic.” A screwworm infection does not affect the meat, Peele said.
“These developments obviously represent a serious threat to our livestock and wildlife, but they haven’t caught us off guard,” Rollins said. “We have been tracking this pest for a long time, and we have fought before, and we will do so again.”
Americans can continue to feel confident about consuming beef safely, Dustin Pendell, a professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University and director of the Collaborating Center for the Economics of Animal Health, told ABC News.
The outbreak marks the first time the screwworm has been detected in the U.S. in decades. The USDA officially declared the screwworm eradicated from the U.S. in 1966 and successfully eliminated a small outbreak in the Florida Keys in 2017, which occurred primarily among endangered Key deer.
Screwworms infestations begin when a female fly lays eggs on open wounds or other parts of the body in live-warm-blooded animals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The screwworm is “very treatable” if caught early, which allows the animals to be minimally impacted, Weinheimer said.
The USDA uses the sterile insect technique to treat for screwworm. The highly effective treatment involves sterilizing screwworm pupae — the immobile stage of the screwworm before metamorphosis — by exposing them to gamma radiation and then releasing them into the wild to mate with fertile females. The females then lay unfertilized eggs that never hatch, ending the reproductive cycle.
Millions of sterile flies have already been released in the affected area, USDA officials said.
State officials also apply containment protocols, including establishing quarantine zones, in order to contain infestations, Weinheimer said.
“You’ve seen this huge surge in response by the federal and state officials to stay on top of it as much as possible,” Weinheimer said.
Construction of a new sterile fly production facility is underway at Moore Air Base in Texas and is expected to be completed by November 2027, Rollins said. Once completed, along with other facilities, an estimated 500 million sterile flies will be released on a weekly basis.
Screwworms are actually a fly larva that burrows into and eats living flesh, unlike regular maggots that only feed on dead and decaying matter, according to the CDC.
Symptoms in animals could include a wound that has not healed or a wound that smells foul, Ann Hohenhaus, senior veterinarian and director of pet health information at Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, told ABC News last week. White larva may also be visible within the skin lesions, Hohenhaus said.
Infected cattle may not feel well and may stop producing milk and gaining weight, Hohenhaus said. The parasite can also infect a herd quickly if treatment does not begin early enough, she added.
Infection in humans is not common, Hohenhaus said.
People who have open wounds or small breaks in the skin — such as a scratch, insect bite or recent surgery scar — could be at increased risk of screwworm infection if they are in areas where the flies are present, according to the CDC.
Those who have open or unhealed wounds should see a physician should they believe they were exposed to the parasite, Hohenhaus said.
The outbreak is not expected to cause beef prices — which are already at an all-time high — to increase, the experts said.
The current drought conditions in the U.S. is making it difficult to expand herds because there isn’t enough grass available to feed on, Pendell said, adding that hay and other supplemental feeds increase costs even more.
In addition, geopolitical issues, such as the war in Iran, are causing fertilizer and fuel costs to increase, William Secor, a livestock economist at the University of Georgia, told ABC News.
“Cattle prices are going to continue to be high for quite a while because of these issues,” Pendell said.
However, the costs from the screwworm will be absorbed by producers, and consumers will likely not see any further price increases from the outbreak alone, Secor said.
ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.
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