LONGVIEW — The Longview Independent School District said their Education Support Center will be closed Friday due to damage from a fire just after midnight. According to our news partner KETK, a press release from the district stated the fire caused “significant damage” to the building’s northwest wing. No injuries have been reported from the fire and the Longview Fire Department is investigating the cause.
“We are incredibly grateful to the firefighters and first responders who acted so quickly to contain the fire and prevent further damage,” Longview ISD superintendent Dr. Marla Sheppard said. “Their dedication and skill ensured that no one was harmed and that the impact was minimized as much as possible.” Read the rest of this entry »
AUSTIN (AP) – Two decades ago, state Rep. Tom Craddick could ask a room of his West Texas constituents what illness they feared the most and the answer, unfailingly, was always cancer.
A few weeks ago, about the time Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick contacted him about a new blockbuster medical research fund idea, Craddick asked a group of his constituents the question again and no one mentioned cancer.
“It was unanimous in the room,” Craddick said. “Alzheimer’s and dementia.”
Craddick, R-Midland, told that story to a room full of rapt researchers gathered at the University of Texas at Austin this week, a day after Patrick made a stunning announcement that he wants lawmakers to approve a dementia research fund modeled after Texas’ successful $6 billion Cancer Prevention and Research Institute, known as CPRIT.
A Texas-funded dementia research fund in the mold of its now successful 15-year-old cancer fund has the potential to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into a field still looking for better ways to slow symptoms as well as a cure. Since CPRIT began in 2007, it has become the country’s second largest funder of cancer research, and if as successful, the dementia counterpart could have global impacts on how to prevent and care for individuals with the disease.
“Like CPRIT, this investment will draw leading researchers and companies to Texas and require them to be based in Texas, leading to their further investment in our state,” Patrick said in a Monday statement.
Patrick added that Craddick along with Senate Finance Committee Chair Joan Huffman, R-Houston, will be working with him to get a bill through the Texas Legislature this year and then present the proposal before voters.
“I don’t think there’s a family in Texas who hasn’t been personally touched by these diseases or doesn’t have a close friend,” Huffman said, noting that roughly 30% of those on Medicaid in Texas who are in nursing homes have dementia-related issues and dementia patients are more likely readmitted to hospitals. “We’re paying a lot on the back end for these diseases.”
Few details have surfaced since Patrick announced he was making a Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas a priority this session, which begins Jan. 14. It’s not clear how much money such a fund would have or how it would be funded, either through bonds as CPRIT was, or whether the state’s enviable Economic Stabilization Fund, also known more commonly as its rainy day fund, would be tapped to get it started. Calls to Patrick’s office for more details were not immediately returned to The Texas Tribune.
But Craddick’s anecdote underscored what Patrick and other lawmakers are finding out in their own districts. Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are a real concern because of its devastating toll and cost.
Patrick’s campaign for dementia research
Patrick’s announcement picks up from 2023, when a similar bill failed. That year state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, together with Craddick and others authored House Bill 15, which would have created a Mental Health and Brain Institute of Texas that would have received $300 million in state grants each year. The House passed the measure but it died in the Senate.
“I think it was too broad,” Craddick said of the 2023 attempt.
Then a few months ago, Patrick began reaching out to Huffman and Craddick about making a fund based on the CPRIT model.
“We sort of had some ideas kind of floating around for several sessions,” Huffman told the Tribune, adding that Patrick had been interested in dementia research for some time. “He wanted to make that one of his priorities.”
By highlighting the proposal this early, Craddick, the former Texas House speaker, doesn’t anticipate any roadblocks.
“I think the chances are excellent,” he said of the proposal’s probability of passing. It already has the support, he said, of House Speaker Dade Phelan.
What is the CPRIT model
Texas voters approved the creation of CPRIT in 2007, financing $3 billion for it through the issue of bonds.
Voters approved another $3 billion for it five years ago, even after it came under scrutiny in 2012 for awarding $56 million in grants to research that wasn’t properly vetted. CPRIT’s director resigned and after a change in leadership, CPRIT has continued to thrive as a medical research engine, awarding more than $3.7 billion in grants so far.
It is now the largest cancer research investment effort, second to the federal government. It has helped recruit 324 researchers to Texas and assisted in either the establishment, expansion or relocation of 74 companies to the state.
“The legislative decision to create this agency via constitutional amendment, and the overwhelming support of the people of Texas, provides CPRIT with the long-term stability needed to take on a task as big as conquering cancer,” said CPRIT CEO Kristen Doyle this week, recognizing the organization’s 15th anniversary.
Growing Alzheimer risk in Texas
Alzheimer’s, a degenerative brain disease, is the most common form of dementia, accounting for about 80% of cases, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Alzheimer’s symptoms — memory loss and the inability to perform simple tasks — tend to develop in the mid-to-late 60s and occur when clumps of abnormal proteins block the communication of brain cells. Symptoms can be mild at first and worsen over time.
While a 2023 study shows that the eastern and southeastern United States have the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s, Texas is one of three states that has the highest estimated number of older residents who are at risk of Alzheimer’s. The Texas Department of State Health Services reports that 459,000 Texans have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, about 12% of the state’s population over the age of 65.
In Texas, the Rio Grande Valley, where residents are almost as twice as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, has become a dementia research center.
Paying for a “bold vision”
News of a fund for dementia being made possible next year has been praised by health advocates.
Andy Keller, president and CEO of the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, called it a “bold vision” for treating and ultimately curing dementia and related neurological disorders.
“Upon passage, the state that put a man on the moon and is leading the charge against cancer will hold the incredible potential to prevent, treat, and cure the neurological diseases that affect so many Texans,” Keller said.
The Alzheimer’s Association, which advocates for more research, also voiced their support of Patrick’s efforts.
“Our shared goal is to enhance the quality of life for those currently affected by Alzheimer’s while working toward a future with better treatment options and, ultimately, a cure,” said Melissa Sanchez, Texas senior director of public policy for the association.
At the University of Texas Systemwide Brain Research Summit on Tuesday, Dr. John Zerwas, the vice chancellor for health affairs for the UT System, interviewed Huffman, Craddick and neurosurgeon and state Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, about Patrick’s proposal, hitting on how research efforts like CPRIT have helped make Texas a better magnet for bioscience research. This has happened even while the state falls near the bottom in the amount of per-capita funding it receives for research from the National Institutes of Health.
“Because Texas is an exceptionally large state, well populated, we rank only 30th across the nation,” said Zerwas, a former state lawmaker.
Huffman replied that lawmakers are always looking for a way to draw down more federal dollars and if spending more state funds brings more federal cash to Texas, that’s an opportunity worth considering.
“They always say Texas is a donor state, which means we, you know, we pay more federal income tax than what we get from the federal government,” Huffman said. “That’s just the truth. And so when we see opportunities to make good investments that are sound investments that support Texas’s values and our goals, then we take that opportunity.”
As for how it will be funded, none of the three lawmakers committed to one method.
“There’s more than one way to do it,” Bonnen said. “Almost anything is going to move the ball forward.”
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oil company Phillips 66 has been federally indicted in connection with alleged violations of the Clean Water Act in California, authorities said Thursday.
The Texas-based company is accused of discharging hundreds of thousands of gallons of industrial wastewater containing excessive amounts of oil and grease, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
The company allegedly dumped the wastewater from its Carson oil refinery into the Los Angeles County sewer system in 2020 and 2021 and did not report the violations, prosecutors said.
Phillips is charged with two counts of negligently violating the Clean Water Act and four counts of knowingly violating the Clean Water Act. The company faces up to five years of probation on each count and a maximum of $2.4 million in fines.
An arraignment date has not been set.
“Phillips 66 will continue its cooperation with the U.S. Attorney’s office and is prepared to present its case in these matters in court,” a spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. “The company remains committed to operating safely and protecting the health and safety of our employees and the communities where we operate.”
Last month, Phillips announced it would close its Southern California refinery by the end of 2025, citing market concerns. That refinery accounts for about 8% of California’s refining capacity, according to the state’s Energy Commission.
The company also operates a refinery near San Francisco that accounts for about 5% of California’s refining capacity, according to the state Energy Commission.
NEW YORK (AP) — Sneaking a little ahead of line to get on that plane faster? American Airlines might stop you.
In an apparent effort to reduce the headaches caused by airport line cutting, American has rolled out boarding technology that alerts gate agents with an audible sound if a passenger tries to scan a ticket ahead of their assigned group. This new software won’t accept a boarding pass before the group it’s assigned to is called, so customers who get to the gate prematurely will be asked to go back and wait their turn.
As of Wednesday, the airline announced, the technology is now being used in more than 100 U.S. airports that American flies out of. The official expansion arrives after successful tests in three of these locations — Albuquerque International Sunport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Tucson International Airport.
The initial response from customers and American employees “has exceeded our expectations,” Julie Rath, American’s senior vice president of airport operations, reservations and service recovery, said in a statement. She added that the airline is “thrilled” to have the technology up and running ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
American got lots of attention when it unveiled its gate-control testing last month. Analysts say that isn’t surprising.
It’s no secret that line cutting in airports hits a nerve. Whether intentional or not, just about every air traveler has witnessed it, noted Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group. It can add to frustrations in what can already be a tense environment, with particular anxiety around passengers wanting to sit together or rushing for some overhead bin space.
Harteveldt doesn’t see American’s recent move as “shaming” customers who cut the line. “What it is intended to do is bring order out of chaos,” he said. “And I hope it will defuse any potential flare ups of anger (from) people who simply think they’re entitled to board out of turn …. It’s just not fair.”
Harteveldt added that he thinks this change will enhance the experiences of both customers and gate agents. Others say more time will tell.
Seth Miller, editor and founder of air travel experience analysis site PaxEx.aero, said he can see the benefits of more orderly and universal gate-control enforcement, particularly for airlines. But he said he isn’t “100% convinced this is perfect for passengers” just yet.
Families, for example, might be booked on several different reservations across more than one group, he said. Airlines typically have workarounds for that, and American noted Wednesday that customers traveling with a companion in an earlier group can simply have a gate agent “override the alert” to continue boarding. Still, Miller said, “you have to go through the extra hoops.”
And a difficult customer still might choose to hold up the line and argue when they’re not allowed to board, he added.
Another question is whether customers who encounter a beep will walk away feeling embarrassed. But Harteveldt said he was happy to learn that American’s alert is “not a bellowing sound that can be heard throughout the terminal,” or accompanied by your name read over a loudspeaker, noting that this is important to avoid feelings of shame.
Expanding this technology just a week before peak Thanksgiving travel could be “both good and bad,” Harteveldt adds. On one hand, the tech could help significantly improve the boarding process during such a busy time, he said, but airport employees might also have appreciated more time to prepare.
Both Miller and Harteveldt said they wouldn’t be surprised if other carriers soon follow American’s lead. Headaches over airport line cutting are far from new. While maybe not to the extent of American’s new tech, Miller noted he’s seen gate agents from other airlines ask people to leave a line and wait for their group. Harteveldt added that he’s been to some airports in Asia and Europe with “sliding doors” that ensure passengers are in the right group before boarding a plane.
The more than 100 airports that American is now using its gate-control technology in are all spoke, or non-hub, locations — including Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The airline says it expects to further expand to its hubs and other airports in the coming months.
AUSTIN (AP) — Texas would allow Bible-infused lessons in elementary schools under changes that were set for a final vote Friday and could test boundaries between religion and public education in the U.S.
The proposed curriculum narrowly cleared a preliminary vote this week at the Texas State Board of Education, whose elected members heard hours of sometimes impassioned pleas from both supporters and critics over the material that schools could begin using next year.
If adopted, the new Texas curriculum would follow Republican-led efforts in neighboring states to give religion more of a presence in public schools. In Oklahoma, the state’s education chief has ordered a copy of the Bible in every classroom, while Louisiana wants to make all of the state’s public school classrooms post the Ten Commandments beginning next year.
In Texas, it would be optional for schools to adopt the materials, but they’d receive additional funding if they do so.
If the board advances the curriculum, Texas would be the first state to introduce Bible lessons in schools in this manner, according to Matthew Patrick Shaw, an assistant professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt University.
Creating Bible-infused lessons
The Texas Education Agency, which oversees public education for more than 5 million students statewide, created its own instruction materials after a law passed in 2023 by the GOP-controlled Legislature required the agency to do so. The lesson plans were publicly released this spring.
The material draws on lessons from Christianity more than any other religion in the proposed reading and language arts modules for kindergarten through fifth grade, which critics say would alienate students from different faith backgrounds and potentially violate the First Amendment.
“This curriculum is not age-appropriate or subject matter appropriate in the way that it presents these Bible stories,” said Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
Children who would read the material, she said, “are simply too young to tell the difference between what is a faith claim and what is a matter of fact.”
More than 100 people testified at a board meeting this week that rung with emotion from parents, teachers and advocates. Supporters of the curriculum argued that the Bible is a core feature of American history and teaching it will enrich students’ learning.
“It is said that there are close to 300 common-day phrases that actually come from the Bible,” said Mary Castle, director of government relations for Texas Values, a right-leaning advocacy group. “So students will benefit from being able to understand a lot of these references that are in literature and have a way to be able to comprehend them.”
A narrow early vote
The 15-member board consists of 11 Republicans and four Democrats. It signaled support for the materials in a 8-7 preliminary vote on Wednesday.
One of the board members is a Republican who was appointed to the board just weeks ago by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to temporarily fill a vacant seat. Days after that appointment, a Democrat who ran unopposed was elected to fill that same board seat starting next year.
Abbott has publicly supported the instruction materials.
Whether the lesson plans will be considered constitutional is up in the air if the curriculum passes, Shaw said.
“The question is how is Texas going to frame what is done here to avoid the establishment question or tackle it head-on,” he said.
Bringing religion into schools
Texas’ plans to implement Biblical teachings in public school lesson plans is the latest effort by Republican-controlled states to bring religion into the classroom.
In Louisiana, a law to place the Ten Commandments in all public classrooms was blocked by a federal judge earlier this month. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill into law in June, prompting a group of Louisiana public school parents of different faiths to sue.
In Oklahoma, the state’s top education official has tried to incorporate the Bible into lesson plans for children in fifth through 12th grades. A group of teachers and parents recently filed a lawsuit to stop the Republican state superintendent’s plan and his efforts to spend $3 million to purchase Bibles for public schools.
HERNANDO, Miss. (AP) — A man arrested in August after a 15-hour police standoff at a restaurant a few blocks from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago is being returned to Mississippi, where he had escaped from a county jail.
Joshua Zimmerman is being extradited, Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesperson Bailey Martin confirmed Wednesday to The Associated Press. She would not say when he is being moved, and it was not immediately clear whether Zimmerman is represented by an attorney.
“Due to this being an open and ongoing investigation, no further comment will be made at this time,” Martin said.
Zimmerman was arrested Aug. 21 at a seafood restaurant a few blocks from the United Center in Chicago, where the Democratic National Convention was taking place. The Marshals Service said there was “no connection or threat to the event or those attending.” Investigators said they believed Zimmerman was working at the restaurant.
Zimmerman was wearing street clothes and was not handcuffed when he fled from the DeSoto County Courthouse in Hernando, Mississippi, on June 14.
At the time of the escape, Zimmerman was set to make a court appearance on Mississippi charges of attempted murder and armed robbery. He was also awaiting extradition to Texas, where he is charged with murder, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
According to court records in Harris County, Texas, Zimmerman is accused of fatally shooting a woman, Keyanna Mercer, at a Houston motel on Sept. 2, 2023. The two were asked to leave the motel after multiple complaints of fighting, and when staff members checked the room to see if they had left, they found Mercer’s body with a gunshot wound to the head, police said.
Court records also show Zimmerman was arrested in Connecticut in 2022 on a felony sexual assault charge. He pleaded not guilty and was freed on a $200,000 bond, but a warrant was later issued for his re-arrest.
Days after Zimmerman’s arrest in Chicago, the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department in north Mississippi said it had set new security procedures. A former deputy jailer was fired from his job and charged with conveying articles useful for the escape of a prisoner.
NEW YORK (AP) — With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, Walmart, Target, Aldi and other grocers are competing for a place on holiday tables with turkey dinner deals and other promotions to tempt Americans who haven’t recovered from recent food price inflation.
Walmart, the nation’s largest food retailer, first bundled the makings of a traditional turkey feast into a meal deal three years ago. This year, the 29-item offer, which includes a frozen turkey and ingredients for side dishes, costs less than $55 and is intended to serve eight. That calculates to less than $7 per person.
Target’s version for four people costs $20, $5 less than the company’s 2023 Thanksgiving meal, and includes a frozen turkey, stuffing mix and canned green beans and canned jellied cranberry sauce. Aldi’s offers a frozen Butterball turkey with gravy mix as well as pumpkin ingredients for pumpkin pie and ingredients for side dishes like sweet potato casserole. The German-owned supermarket chain priced it for $47 and said that was less than it charged for the same items in 2019.
Meijer, with more than 500 supercenters in the Midwest, jumped into the fray last week by offering a frozen turkey for 49 cents per pound or lower and a $37 Thanksgiving family meal for a group of four to six.
Comparing the respective menus to determine which represents the best value is difficult since recommended serving sizes and contents vary. But the promotions, introduced earlier than ever and at a time when many households remain put off by higher prices, underscore the importance of Thanksgiving to grocers, analysts said.
THANKSGIVING IS A SALES FEAST FOR GROCERS
While consumer perceptions of grocery prices is based on the cost of staples like eggs and milk, “the Thanksgiving meal has become essentially a new benchmark,” Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer at Publicis Groupe, a global marketing and communications company.
It’s the occasion for the second-largest holiday meal for retailers behind the feasts that accompany the winter holidays. Compared with an average, Thanksgiving meal shopping delivered a $2.4 billion sales lift during the week before and after the holiday last year, market research firm Circana said. Shopping for Christmas, Hanukah and New Year’s Day meals gave stores a $5.3 billion sales uplift compared with an average week, Circana said.
Walmart launched its offer on Oct. 14, two weeks earlier than last year and plans to make it available through Dec. 24. The two bundles the retailer offered last year contained different items, but Walmart said this year’s selected products cost 3.5% less.
Joan Driggs, a Circana vice president, expects shoppers to buy items on sale for half of what they need to prepare Thanksgiving dinner meal. That’s double the amount from 2022, when retailers pulled back on promotions due to limited supplies left over from the coronavirus pandemic.
Consumers still aren’t seeing discounts as deep as the ones grocers trotted out in pre-pandemic 2019, Driggs said. To attract customers, retailers therefore are creating strategies like meal bundles, which may “lessen the stress” for shoppers since they show the cost per person, she said.
Angel Rosario-Sanchez, 24, a New Jersey resident who was at a Walmart store in Secaucus on Wednesday, said he planned to have Thanksgiving with his friends but had not shopped for groceries yet. Seeing the big displays of Thanksgiving products in the store made him want to return to buy some.
“I always count on Walmart for deals,” said Rosario-Sanchez, who usually selects food from Walmart’s lower-end, Great Value brand. “Inflation is too much, and it needs to go back to where it originally was.”
GRABBING BARGAINS WITH STORE LABELS AND NATIONAL BRANDS
For the past two years, Walmart, Target and others have seen price-conscious shoppers shift more of their purchases to store label brands. In response, retailers have improved their selections or created new food lines brands.
Walmart in April launched Bettergoods, its biggest store-label food brand in 20 years in terms of the breadth of items, to appeal to younger customers who aren’t loyal to national brands and want chef-inspired foods that are more affordably priced.
But store brands aren’t necessarily cheaper.
Wells Fargo’s Agri-Food Institute, a team of national industry advisors that provides economic insights and research, compared the costs of store brands and national name brands for a typical Thanksgiving dinner. The name-brand versions of cranberry sauce were less expensive than the store brands the team inventoried, while the name brand pumpkin pies versus store brand versions were the same price.
Robin Wenzel, the head of the Wells Fargo institute, thinks the makers of some familiar brands realized they “overshot” with some of their post-pandemic price increases and are retrenching.
The Agri-Food Institute’s 10-person Thanksgiving menu includes turkey, stuffing, salad, cranberries, dinner rolls and pumpkin pie. Using all name-brand would cost $90 this year, 0.5% less than last year. Preparing the same meal with store-branded food would cost $73, or 2.7% more than a year ago.
That gives shoppers the option to mix and match, Wenzel said.
A TURKEY DINNER COSTS LESS, BUT CONSUMERS MAY NOT NOTICE
The latest government snapshot on inflation showed grocery prices rose just 0.1% from September to October and are up just 1.1% over the past year. That’s providing some relief to consumers after food costs surged roughly 23% over the past three years.
For main Thanksgiving entrées and beverages, prices are easing, but given the spike in food prices in recent years, consumers may or may not feel it.
A 15-item Thanksgiving meal costs an average of $65.51 this year, down nearly 3% from last year but 42% higher overall than in 2019, retail intelligence provider Datasembly said. For example, a 12-ounce can of jellied cranberry sauce averaged $2.89, which is 1% lower than a year ago but still 90% higher compared with 2019.
A 10-pound frozen turkey averages $10.40 this year, a 19% decrease from 2023 but still 6% higher than in 2019, the data firm said. Prices for some Thanksgiving products are still going up: A 30-ounce box of pumpkin pie mix now costs an average of $5.56, up 6% compared with a year ago and nearly 70% more than five years ago, according to Datasembly.
Like many food retailers, Walmart put a mix of store and name-brand products into its Thanksgiving bundle. The meal deal includes Ocean Spray canned jellied cranberry sauce, and green beans and dinner rolls from the in-house Great Value line. The bundle also includes a white whole frozen turkey from the national brand Shady Brook Farms, and fresh items like a 5-pound pound bag of russet potatoes.
Still, plenty will bypass the bundles at Walmart and elsewhere.
While visiting the Walmart in Secaucus, New Jersey, Nadia Rivest, 70, said she already had shopped at the discounter to buy turkey, fish and chicken for her Thanksgiving meal. But she was only interested in buying fresh items, not canned goods.
“I like red pepper, red tomatoes, something fresh,” she said.
TYLER — The University of Texas at Tyler received a $2.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to fund initiatives designed to bolster retention and graduation rates. According to a news release from the university, the grant is part of a federal initiative aimed at strengthening the academic quality and management of institutions that educate under-served students.
“This grant will significantly enhance our ability to support students from the moment they arrive on campus to the day they walk across the stage at graduation,” said UT Tyler President Julie V. Philley, MD. “By offering more tailored academic support, we are committed to fostering an environment where every student can achieve their full potential.” Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — The arrest documents of a convicted murder who was charged on Monday in connection to a fatal house fire, allege that he threw gasoline on who he claimed to be his girlfriend, the day he was supposed to be evicted and less than 20 minutes later drove himself to the Smith County Jail. According to our news partner KETK, the Tyler Fire Department and police responded to the Shady Trail around 3:40 after someone in the neighborhood called about the fire.
Gregory Bargaineer, 67, went to the Smith County Jail around 3:55 a.m. “to turn himself in for throwing gasoline on his girlfriend.” Bargaineer’s alleged girlfriend was later identified as Marilyn Mceachin and her body was found on the floor near the remnants of a bed after the fire department put out the flames, the affidavit said.
Tyler PD detained Bargaineer and took him in for questioning where he made several claims. Later, investigators found discrepancies with his statements such as the victim threw gas on him. Read the rest of this entry »
WASHINGTON (AP) — For two weeks, Donald Trump has welcomed Elon Musk into his world. On Tuesday, it was Musk’s turn to play host to the president-elect.
Trump flew to South Texas to watch as Musk’s SpaceX launched a Starship rocket near the Mexican border. Trump listened intently as the world’s richest man explained how the test would work and demonstrated with a model. And then Trump squinted into the bright sky to watch liftoff.
It didn’t go perfectly -– the reusable booster did not return to the launch pad as it had done on a previous test last month. Instead, the booster was directed to a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
But Trump’s presence at the launch was a remarkable display of intimacy between the two men, one with implications for American politics, the government, foreign policy and even the possibility of humans reaching Mars.
Musk spent around $200 million to help Trump beat Democrat Kamala Harris in the presidential race, and he’s been given unparalleled access. He’s counseled Trump on nominees for the new administration, joined the president-elect’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and been tapped to co-chair an advisory panel on cutting the size of the federal bureaucracy.
In addition to political influence, Musk could benefit personally as well. SpaceX, his rocket company, has billions of dollars in government contracts and the goal of eventually starting a colony on Mars. He’s also CEO of Tesla, which manufactures electric vehicles, and has battled with regulators over safety concerns involving autonomous driving.
AUSTIN (AP) — Texas’ education board on Tuesday advanced a new Bible-infused curriculum that would be optional for schools to incorporate in kindergarten through fifth grades, one of the latest Republican-led efforts in the U.S. to incorporate more religious teaching into classrooms.
The vote moves the Texas State Board of Education one step closer to signing off on what is known as the “Bluebonnet” textbook, which drew hours of often emotional testimony from school teachers and parents earlier this week.
The board is expected to hold a final vote on the measure Friday.
The curriculum — designed by the state’s public education agency — would allow teachings from the Bible such as the Golden Rule and lessons from books such as Genesis into classrooms. Under the plan, it would be optional for schools to adopt the curriculum though they would receive additional funding if they did so.
Educators, parents and advocates weighed in Monday at the State Board of Education’s final meeting of the year, where many opponents argued that the proposal’s emphasis on Christian teachings would alienate students of other faith backgrounds. Those in favor testified that it’ll give students a more holistic educational foundation.
Educator Megan Tessler testified Monday that the plan contradicts the public school mission.
“This curriculum fails to meet the standard of an honest, secular one,” Tessler said. “Public schools are meant to educate, not indoctrinate.”
Others strongly backed the idea.
“Parents and teachers want a return to excellence,” said Cindy Asmussen, testifying Monday. “Stories and concepts in the Bible have been common for hundreds of years,” and that, she said, is a core part of classical learning.
Religious experts and the Texas Freedom Network, a left-leaning watchdog group that monitors the state’s education board, said the curriculum proposal focuses too much on Christianity and also dances around the history of slavery.
The program was designed by the Texas Education Agency earlier this year after passage of a law giving it a mandate to create its own free textbook. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has publicly supported the new materials.
Republican lawmakers in Texas have also proposed displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms and are likely to revisit the issue next year.
The proposal to incorporate religious teaching in Texas public schools mirrors similar efforts around the country, which are also drawing court challenges.
In Oklahoma, state officials are seeking to include the Bible in public school lesson plans. But a group of students’ parents, teachers and others recently filed suit, seeking to stop Oklahoma’s top education official from carrying out the plan intended for students in grades 5 through 12. The lawsuit before the Oklahoma Supreme Court also asks the court to stop the Republican state superintendent from spending $3 million to purchase Bibles in support of the plan.
In Louisiana, a new state law sought to have the Ten Commandments displayed in all public classrooms, but a federal judge recently quashed that requirement. U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles in Baton Rouge said last week that the Louisiana law had an “overtly religious” purpose, and rejected state officials’ claims that the government can mandate the posting of the Ten Commandments because they hold historical significance to the foundation of U.S. law. His opinion noted that no other foundational documents — including the Constitution or the Bill of Rights — must be posted.
TROUP — The City of Troup gathered together for ‘Holiday in the Country’ and to watch the second annual Christmas Tree lighting on Monday, according to our news partner KETK. The 30-foot-tall Christmas tree is now officially lit, kicking off the Christmas season in downtown Troup. It was a special night because the honorary tree lighter is Troup native, Cooper Reid. The family was asked to be the honorary Christmas tree lighters last year, but couldn’t make it due to Cooper’s condition. Now, it’s one year later and he is greatly improving. In 2022, he was injured during a homecoming football game and since then, he has been on a journey to recovery since surviving a brain injury.
“We were very honored and happy that we would be here this time, this year. Last year, I don’t know that Cooper would have been able to even light the Christmas tree on his own, so I think that God worked it out just the right way, so that he was ready to do it on his time,” said Susanne Reid, Cooper’s mother. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER (AP) — Country singer Sundance Head, a winner on “The Voice,” is recovering at home after he was accidentally shot in the stomach while handling a firearm on a hunting trip at his East Texas ranch, his agent said Sunday.
Head, winner of the 11th season of NBC’s “The Voice” in 2016, was leaning into his vehicle to grab his .22 caliber pistol when it fell out of its holster and onto the exterior of the vehicle and fired off a shot that hit Head in the stomach, his agent, Trey Newman said in an email. Newman said Head was airlifted to a hospital in Tyler. He said no vital organs were hit and no surgery was needed. Head was released later Friday, he said.
Before his win on “The Voice,” Head competed in “American Idol” on Fox in 2007, making it to the top 16 before being eliminated. Head, who has upcoming performances scheduled in Texas and Illinois, is from the community of Porter, located north of Houston.
COLLEGE STATION (AP) – Texas A&M University is set to mark the anniversary of the campus bonfire tragedy that killed 12 people and injured dozens more 25 years ago. The giant log stack collapsed Nov. 18, 1999, permanently scarring a campus rooted in traditions carried across generations of students. Eleven students and a graduate were killed when the massive log pile collapsed during preparations for the annual bonfire ahead of the Texas A&M-Texas football game. The annual Aggie bonfire has since been discontinued as an official school event.
“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 investigative report cited multiple causes for the collapse, from flawed construction techniques to a lack of supervision by the university over the students building the bonfire stack. The lowest level of the pile did not have proper support wiring, and excessive stress on the bottom level was compounded by wedging logs into gaps.
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.
“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.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An official with Texas A&M University has been picked to lead the University of Arkansas system.
The UA Board of Trustees on Monday unanimously approved the selection of retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Jay B. Silveria as president of Arkansas’ largest university system.
Silveria, the associate vice president and executive director of Texas A&M University and the Bush School of Government & Public Service in Washington, D.C., is expected to start Jan. 15, contingent upon the successful negotiation of an employment agreement as directed by the UA board.
Silveria, a command pilot with more than 3,900 hours in elite military aircraft, retired from the Air Force in November 2020 after a 35-year career, UA said in a statement. He spent the last three years of his service as superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy.
“I am humbled by this opportunity to lead the UA System and feel that there is tremendous potential to build on its outstanding reputation and high-quality programming,” he said.
Silveria will succeed President Donald Bobbitt, who announced his retirement earlier this year after leading the system for nearly 13 years.
The board conducted a national search and held special meetings in recent weeks to consider candidates.
“The Board is very proud of this selection, and we are looking forward to welcoming General Silveria and his family to Arkansas, and helping him familiarize himself with our unique System and our dedicated students, faculty and staff across the state,” Board Chair Kelly Eichler said.
Longview ISD Education Support Center closed due to fire damage
Posted/updated on:
November 23, 2024 at
5:55 pm
LONGVIEW — The Longview Independent School District said their Education Support Center will be closed Friday due to damage from a fire just after midnight. According to our news partner KETK, a press release from the district stated the fire caused “significant damage” to the building’s northwest wing. No injuries have been reported from the fire and the Longview Fire Department is investigating the cause.
“We are incredibly grateful to the firefighters and first responders who acted so quickly to contain the fire and prevent further damage,” Longview ISD superintendent Dr. Marla Sheppard said. “Their dedication and skill ensured that no one was harmed and that the impact was minimized as much as possible.” (more…)
Could Texas do for Alzheimer’s research what it did for cancer?
Posted/updated on:
November 23, 2024 at
5:56 pm
AUSTIN (AP) – Two decades ago, state Rep. Tom Craddick could ask a room of his West Texas constituents what illness they feared the most and the answer, unfailingly, was always cancer.
A few weeks ago, about the time Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick contacted him about a new blockbuster medical research fund idea, Craddick asked a group of his constituents the question again and no one mentioned cancer.
“It was unanimous in the room,” Craddick said. “Alzheimer’s and dementia.”
Craddick, R-Midland, told that story to a room full of rapt researchers gathered at the University of Texas at Austin this week, a day after Patrick made a stunning announcement that he wants lawmakers to approve a dementia research fund modeled after Texas’ successful $6 billion Cancer Prevention and Research Institute, known as CPRIT.
A Texas-funded dementia research fund in the mold of its now successful 15-year-old cancer fund has the potential to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into a field still looking for better ways to slow symptoms as well as a cure. Since CPRIT began in 2007, it has become the country’s second largest funder of cancer research, and if as successful, the dementia counterpart could have global impacts on how to prevent and care for individuals with the disease.
“Like CPRIT, this investment will draw leading researchers and companies to Texas and require them to be based in Texas, leading to their further investment in our state,” Patrick said in a Monday statement.
Patrick added that Craddick along with Senate Finance Committee Chair Joan Huffman, R-Houston, will be working with him to get a bill through the Texas Legislature this year and then present the proposal before voters.
“I don’t think there’s a family in Texas who hasn’t been personally touched by these diseases or doesn’t have a close friend,” Huffman said, noting that roughly 30% of those on Medicaid in Texas who are in nursing homes have dementia-related issues and dementia patients are more likely readmitted to hospitals. “We’re paying a lot on the back end for these diseases.”
Few details have surfaced since Patrick announced he was making a Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas a priority this session, which begins Jan. 14. It’s not clear how much money such a fund would have or how it would be funded, either through bonds as CPRIT was, or whether the state’s enviable Economic Stabilization Fund, also known more commonly as its rainy day fund, would be tapped to get it started. Calls to Patrick’s office for more details were not immediately returned to The Texas Tribune.
But Craddick’s anecdote underscored what Patrick and other lawmakers are finding out in their own districts. Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are a real concern because of its devastating toll and cost.
Patrick’s campaign for dementia research
Patrick’s announcement picks up from 2023, when a similar bill failed. That year state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, together with Craddick and others authored House Bill 15, which would have created a Mental Health and Brain Institute of Texas that would have received $300 million in state grants each year. The House passed the measure but it died in the Senate.
“I think it was too broad,” Craddick said of the 2023 attempt.
Then a few months ago, Patrick began reaching out to Huffman and Craddick about making a fund based on the CPRIT model.
“We sort of had some ideas kind of floating around for several sessions,” Huffman told the Tribune, adding that Patrick had been interested in dementia research for some time. “He wanted to make that one of his priorities.”
By highlighting the proposal this early, Craddick, the former Texas House speaker, doesn’t anticipate any roadblocks.
“I think the chances are excellent,” he said of the proposal’s probability of passing. It already has the support, he said, of House Speaker Dade Phelan.
What is the CPRIT model
Texas voters approved the creation of CPRIT in 2007, financing $3 billion for it through the issue of bonds.
Voters approved another $3 billion for it five years ago, even after it came under scrutiny in 2012 for awarding $56 million in grants to research that wasn’t properly vetted. CPRIT’s director resigned and after a change in leadership, CPRIT has continued to thrive as a medical research engine, awarding more than $3.7 billion in grants so far.
It is now the largest cancer research investment effort, second to the federal government. It has helped recruit 324 researchers to Texas and assisted in either the establishment, expansion or relocation of 74 companies to the state.
“The legislative decision to create this agency via constitutional amendment, and the overwhelming support of the people of Texas, provides CPRIT with the long-term stability needed to take on a task as big as conquering cancer,” said CPRIT CEO Kristen Doyle this week, recognizing the organization’s 15th anniversary.
Growing Alzheimer risk in Texas
Alzheimer’s, a degenerative brain disease, is the most common form of dementia, accounting for about 80% of cases, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Alzheimer’s symptoms — memory loss and the inability to perform simple tasks — tend to develop in the mid-to-late 60s and occur when clumps of abnormal proteins block the communication of brain cells. Symptoms can be mild at first and worsen over time.
While a 2023 study shows that the eastern and southeastern United States have the highest prevalence of Alzheimer’s, Texas is one of three states that has the highest estimated number of older residents who are at risk of Alzheimer’s. The Texas Department of State Health Services reports that 459,000 Texans have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, about 12% of the state’s population over the age of 65.
In Texas, the Rio Grande Valley, where residents are almost as twice as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, has become a dementia research center.
Paying for a “bold vision”
News of a fund for dementia being made possible next year has been praised by health advocates.
Andy Keller, president and CEO of the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, called it a “bold vision” for treating and ultimately curing dementia and related neurological disorders.
“Upon passage, the state that put a man on the moon and is leading the charge against cancer will hold the incredible potential to prevent, treat, and cure the neurological diseases that affect so many Texans,” Keller said.
The Alzheimer’s Association, which advocates for more research, also voiced their support of Patrick’s efforts.
“Our shared goal is to enhance the quality of life for those currently affected by Alzheimer’s while working toward a future with better treatment options and, ultimately, a cure,” said Melissa Sanchez, Texas senior director of public policy for the association.
At the University of Texas Systemwide Brain Research Summit on Tuesday, Dr. John Zerwas, the vice chancellor for health affairs for the UT System, interviewed Huffman, Craddick and neurosurgeon and state Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, about Patrick’s proposal, hitting on how research efforts like CPRIT have helped make Texas a better magnet for bioscience research. This has happened even while the state falls near the bottom in the amount of per-capita funding it receives for research from the National Institutes of Health.
“Because Texas is an exceptionally large state, well populated, we rank only 30th across the nation,” said Zerwas, a former state lawmaker.
Huffman replied that lawmakers are always looking for a way to draw down more federal dollars and if spending more state funds brings more federal cash to Texas, that’s an opportunity worth considering.
“They always say Texas is a donor state, which means we, you know, we pay more federal income tax than what we get from the federal government,” Huffman said. “That’s just the truth. And so when we see opportunities to make good investments that are sound investments that support Texas’s values and our goals, then we take that opportunity.”
As for how it will be funded, none of the three lawmakers committed to one method.
“There’s more than one way to do it,” Bonnen said. “Almost anything is going to move the ball forward.”
Oil company faces federal charges related to alleged Clean Water Act violations
Posted/updated on:
November 23, 2024 at
5:56 pm
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oil company Phillips 66 has been federally indicted in connection with alleged violations of the Clean Water Act in California, authorities said Thursday.
The Texas-based company is accused of discharging hundreds of thousands of gallons of industrial wastewater containing excessive amounts of oil and grease, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
The company allegedly dumped the wastewater from its Carson oil refinery into the Los Angeles County sewer system in 2020 and 2021 and did not report the violations, prosecutors said.
Phillips is charged with two counts of negligently violating the Clean Water Act and four counts of knowingly violating the Clean Water Act. The company faces up to five years of probation on each count and a maximum of $2.4 million in fines.
An arraignment date has not been set.
“Phillips 66 will continue its cooperation with the U.S. Attorney’s office and is prepared to present its case in these matters in court,” a spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. “The company remains committed to operating safely and protecting the health and safety of our employees and the communities where we operate.”
Last month, Phillips announced it would close its Southern California refinery by the end of 2025, citing market concerns. That refinery accounts for about 8% of California’s refining capacity, according to the state’s Energy Commission.
The company also operates a refinery near San Francisco that accounts for about 5% of California’s refining capacity, according to the state Energy Commission.
American Airlines’ new boarding tech might stop you at now over 100 airports
Posted/updated on:
November 23, 2024 at
5:56 pm
NEW YORK (AP) — Sneaking a little ahead of line to get on that plane faster? American Airlines might stop you.
In an apparent effort to reduce the headaches caused by airport line cutting, American has rolled out boarding technology that alerts gate agents with an audible sound if a passenger tries to scan a ticket ahead of their assigned group. This new software won’t accept a boarding pass before the group it’s assigned to is called, so customers who get to the gate prematurely will be asked to go back and wait their turn.
As of Wednesday, the airline announced, the technology is now being used in more than 100 U.S. airports that American flies out of. The official expansion arrives after successful tests in three of these locations — Albuquerque International Sunport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Tucson International Airport.
The initial response from customers and American employees “has exceeded our expectations,” Julie Rath, American’s senior vice president of airport operations, reservations and service recovery, said in a statement. She added that the airline is “thrilled” to have the technology up and running ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
American got lots of attention when it unveiled its gate-control testing last month. Analysts say that isn’t surprising.
It’s no secret that line cutting in airports hits a nerve. Whether intentional or not, just about every air traveler has witnessed it, noted Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group. It can add to frustrations in what can already be a tense environment, with particular anxiety around passengers wanting to sit together or rushing for some overhead bin space.
Harteveldt doesn’t see American’s recent move as “shaming” customers who cut the line. “What it is intended to do is bring order out of chaos,” he said. “And I hope it will defuse any potential flare ups of anger (from) people who simply think they’re entitled to board out of turn …. It’s just not fair.”
Harteveldt added that he thinks this change will enhance the experiences of both customers and gate agents. Others say more time will tell.
Seth Miller, editor and founder of air travel experience analysis site PaxEx.aero, said he can see the benefits of more orderly and universal gate-control enforcement, particularly for airlines. But he said he isn’t “100% convinced this is perfect for passengers” just yet.
Families, for example, might be booked on several different reservations across more than one group, he said. Airlines typically have workarounds for that, and American noted Wednesday that customers traveling with a companion in an earlier group can simply have a gate agent “override the alert” to continue boarding. Still, Miller said, “you have to go through the extra hoops.”
And a difficult customer still might choose to hold up the line and argue when they’re not allowed to board, he added.
Another question is whether customers who encounter a beep will walk away feeling embarrassed. But Harteveldt said he was happy to learn that American’s alert is “not a bellowing sound that can be heard throughout the terminal,” or accompanied by your name read over a loudspeaker, noting that this is important to avoid feelings of shame.
Expanding this technology just a week before peak Thanksgiving travel could be “both good and bad,” Harteveldt adds. On one hand, the tech could help significantly improve the boarding process during such a busy time, he said, but airport employees might also have appreciated more time to prepare.
Both Miller and Harteveldt said they wouldn’t be surprised if other carriers soon follow American’s lead. Headaches over airport line cutting are far from new. While maybe not to the extent of American’s new tech, Miller noted he’s seen gate agents from other airlines ask people to leave a line and wait for their group. Harteveldt added that he’s been to some airports in Asia and Europe with “sliding doors” that ensure passengers are in the right group before boarding a plane.
The more than 100 airports that American is now using its gate-control technology in are all spoke, or non-hub, locations — including Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The airline says it expects to further expand to its hubs and other airports in the coming months.
Texas is taking a final vote on allowing Bible-infused lessons in public schools
Posted/updated on:
November 22, 2024 at
4:03 pm
AUSTIN (AP) — Texas would allow Bible-infused lessons in elementary schools under changes that were set for a final vote Friday and could test boundaries between religion and public education in the U.S.
The proposed curriculum narrowly cleared a preliminary vote this week at the Texas State Board of Education, whose elected members heard hours of sometimes impassioned pleas from both supporters and critics over the material that schools could begin using next year.
If adopted, the new Texas curriculum would follow Republican-led efforts in neighboring states to give religion more of a presence in public schools. In Oklahoma, the state’s education chief has ordered a copy of the Bible in every classroom, while Louisiana wants to make all of the state’s public school classrooms post the Ten Commandments beginning next year.
In Texas, it would be optional for schools to adopt the materials, but they’d receive additional funding if they do so.
If the board advances the curriculum, Texas would be the first state to introduce Bible lessons in schools in this manner, according to Matthew Patrick Shaw, an assistant professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt University.
Creating Bible-infused lessons
The Texas Education Agency, which oversees public education for more than 5 million students statewide, created its own instruction materials after a law passed in 2023 by the GOP-controlled Legislature required the agency to do so. The lesson plans were publicly released this spring.
The material draws on lessons from Christianity more than any other religion in the proposed reading and language arts modules for kindergarten through fifth grade, which critics say would alienate students from different faith backgrounds and potentially violate the First Amendment.
“This curriculum is not age-appropriate or subject matter appropriate in the way that it presents these Bible stories,” said Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
Children who would read the material, she said, “are simply too young to tell the difference between what is a faith claim and what is a matter of fact.”
More than 100 people testified at a board meeting this week that rung with emotion from parents, teachers and advocates. Supporters of the curriculum argued that the Bible is a core feature of American history and teaching it will enrich students’ learning.
“It is said that there are close to 300 common-day phrases that actually come from the Bible,” said Mary Castle, director of government relations for Texas Values, a right-leaning advocacy group. “So students will benefit from being able to understand a lot of these references that are in literature and have a way to be able to comprehend them.”
A narrow early vote
The 15-member board consists of 11 Republicans and four Democrats. It signaled support for the materials in a 8-7 preliminary vote on Wednesday.
One of the board members is a Republican who was appointed to the board just weeks ago by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to temporarily fill a vacant seat. Days after that appointment, a Democrat who ran unopposed was elected to fill that same board seat starting next year.
Abbott has publicly supported the instruction materials.
Whether the lesson plans will be considered constitutional is up in the air if the curriculum passes, Shaw said.
“The question is how is Texas going to frame what is done here to avoid the establishment question or tackle it head-on,” he said.
Bringing religion into schools
Texas’ plans to implement Biblical teachings in public school lesson plans is the latest effort by Republican-controlled states to bring religion into the classroom.
In Louisiana, a law to place the Ten Commandments in all public classrooms was blocked by a federal judge earlier this month. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill into law in June, prompting a group of Louisiana public school parents of different faiths to sue.
In Oklahoma, the state’s top education official has tried to incorporate the Bible into lesson plans for children in fifth through 12th grades. A group of teachers and parents recently filed a lawsuit to stop the Republican state superintendent’s plan and his efforts to spend $3 million to purchase Bibles for public schools.
Fugitive arrested after a standoff in Chicago
Posted/updated on:
November 23, 2024 at
12:40 pm
HERNANDO, Miss. (AP) — A man arrested in August after a 15-hour police standoff at a restaurant a few blocks from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago is being returned to Mississippi, where he had escaped from a county jail.
Joshua Zimmerman is being extradited, Mississippi Department of Public Safety spokesperson Bailey Martin confirmed Wednesday to The Associated Press. She would not say when he is being moved, and it was not immediately clear whether Zimmerman is represented by an attorney.
“Due to this being an open and ongoing investigation, no further comment will be made at this time,” Martin said.
Zimmerman was arrested Aug. 21 at a seafood restaurant a few blocks from the United Center in Chicago, where the Democratic National Convention was taking place. The Marshals Service said there was “no connection or threat to the event or those attending.” Investigators said they believed Zimmerman was working at the restaurant.
Zimmerman was wearing street clothes and was not handcuffed when he fled from the DeSoto County Courthouse in Hernando, Mississippi, on June 14.
At the time of the escape, Zimmerman was set to make a court appearance on Mississippi charges of attempted murder and armed robbery. He was also awaiting extradition to Texas, where he is charged with murder, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
According to court records in Harris County, Texas, Zimmerman is accused of fatally shooting a woman, Keyanna Mercer, at a Houston motel on Sept. 2, 2023. The two were asked to leave the motel after multiple complaints of fighting, and when staff members checked the room to see if they had left, they found Mercer’s body with a gunshot wound to the head, police said.
Court records also show Zimmerman was arrested in Connecticut in 2022 on a felony sexual assault charge. He pleaded not guilty and was freed on a $200,000 bond, but a warrant was later issued for his re-arrest.
Days after Zimmerman’s arrest in Chicago, the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department in north Mississippi said it had set new security procedures. A former deputy jailer was fired from his job and charged with conveying articles useful for the escape of a prisoner.
Grocery chains vie for a place on Thanksgiving tables with dinner deals
Posted/updated on:
November 21, 2024 at
4:36 am
NEW YORK (AP) — With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, Walmart, Target, Aldi and other grocers are competing for a place on holiday tables with turkey dinner deals and other promotions to tempt Americans who haven’t recovered from recent food price inflation.
Walmart, the nation’s largest food retailer, first bundled the makings of a traditional turkey feast into a meal deal three years ago. This year, the 29-item offer, which includes a frozen turkey and ingredients for side dishes, costs less than $55 and is intended to serve eight. That calculates to less than $7 per person.
Target’s version for four people costs $20, $5 less than the company’s 2023 Thanksgiving meal, and includes a frozen turkey, stuffing mix and canned green beans and canned jellied cranberry sauce. Aldi’s offers a frozen Butterball turkey with gravy mix as well as pumpkin ingredients for pumpkin pie and ingredients for side dishes like sweet potato casserole. The German-owned supermarket chain priced it for $47 and said that was less than it charged for the same items in 2019.
Meijer, with more than 500 supercenters in the Midwest, jumped into the fray last week by offering a frozen turkey for 49 cents per pound or lower and a $37 Thanksgiving family meal for a group of four to six.
Comparing the respective menus to determine which represents the best value is difficult since recommended serving sizes and contents vary. But the promotions, introduced earlier than ever and at a time when many households remain put off by higher prices, underscore the importance of Thanksgiving to grocers, analysts said.
THANKSGIVING IS A SALES FEAST FOR GROCERS
While consumer perceptions of grocery prices is based on the cost of staples like eggs and milk, “the Thanksgiving meal has become essentially a new benchmark,” Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer at Publicis Groupe, a global marketing and communications company.
It’s the occasion for the second-largest holiday meal for retailers behind the feasts that accompany the winter holidays. Compared with an average, Thanksgiving meal shopping delivered a $2.4 billion sales lift during the week before and after the holiday last year, market research firm Circana said. Shopping for Christmas, Hanukah and New Year’s Day meals gave stores a $5.3 billion sales uplift compared with an average week, Circana said.
Walmart launched its offer on Oct. 14, two weeks earlier than last year and plans to make it available through Dec. 24. The two bundles the retailer offered last year contained different items, but Walmart said this year’s selected products cost 3.5% less.
Joan Driggs, a Circana vice president, expects shoppers to buy items on sale for half of what they need to prepare Thanksgiving dinner meal. That’s double the amount from 2022, when retailers pulled back on promotions due to limited supplies left over from the coronavirus pandemic.
Consumers still aren’t seeing discounts as deep as the ones grocers trotted out in pre-pandemic 2019, Driggs said. To attract customers, retailers therefore are creating strategies like meal bundles, which may “lessen the stress” for shoppers since they show the cost per person, she said.
Angel Rosario-Sanchez, 24, a New Jersey resident who was at a Walmart store in Secaucus on Wednesday, said he planned to have Thanksgiving with his friends but had not shopped for groceries yet. Seeing the big displays of Thanksgiving products in the store made him want to return to buy some.
“I always count on Walmart for deals,” said Rosario-Sanchez, who usually selects food from Walmart’s lower-end, Great Value brand. “Inflation is too much, and it needs to go back to where it originally was.”
GRABBING BARGAINS WITH STORE LABELS AND NATIONAL BRANDS
For the past two years, Walmart, Target and others have seen price-conscious shoppers shift more of their purchases to store label brands. In response, retailers have improved their selections or created new food lines brands.
Walmart in April launched Bettergoods, its biggest store-label food brand in 20 years in terms of the breadth of items, to appeal to younger customers who aren’t loyal to national brands and want chef-inspired foods that are more affordably priced.
But store brands aren’t necessarily cheaper.
Wells Fargo’s Agri-Food Institute, a team of national industry advisors that provides economic insights and research, compared the costs of store brands and national name brands for a typical Thanksgiving dinner. The name-brand versions of cranberry sauce were less expensive than the store brands the team inventoried, while the name brand pumpkin pies versus store brand versions were the same price.
Robin Wenzel, the head of the Wells Fargo institute, thinks the makers of some familiar brands realized they “overshot” with some of their post-pandemic price increases and are retrenching.
The Agri-Food Institute’s 10-person Thanksgiving menu includes turkey, stuffing, salad, cranberries, dinner rolls and pumpkin pie. Using all name-brand would cost $90 this year, 0.5% less than last year. Preparing the same meal with store-branded food would cost $73, or 2.7% more than a year ago.
That gives shoppers the option to mix and match, Wenzel said.
A TURKEY DINNER COSTS LESS, BUT CONSUMERS MAY NOT NOTICE
The latest government snapshot on inflation showed grocery prices rose just 0.1% from September to October and are up just 1.1% over the past year. That’s providing some relief to consumers after food costs surged roughly 23% over the past three years.
For main Thanksgiving entrées and beverages, prices are easing, but given the spike in food prices in recent years, consumers may or may not feel it.
A 15-item Thanksgiving meal costs an average of $65.51 this year, down nearly 3% from last year but 42% higher overall than in 2019, retail intelligence provider Datasembly said. For example, a 12-ounce can of jellied cranberry sauce averaged $2.89, which is 1% lower than a year ago but still 90% higher compared with 2019.
A 10-pound frozen turkey averages $10.40 this year, a 19% decrease from 2023 but still 6% higher than in 2019, the data firm said. Prices for some Thanksgiving products are still going up: A 30-ounce box of pumpkin pie mix now costs an average of $5.56, up 6% compared with a year ago and nearly 70% more than five years ago, according to Datasembly.
Like many food retailers, Walmart put a mix of store and name-brand products into its Thanksgiving bundle. The meal deal includes Ocean Spray canned jellied cranberry sauce, and green beans and dinner rolls from the in-house Great Value line. The bundle also includes a white whole frozen turkey from the national brand Shady Brook Farms, and fresh items like a 5-pound pound bag of russet potatoes.
Still, plenty will bypass the bundles at Walmart and elsewhere.
While visiting the Walmart in Secaucus, New Jersey, Nadia Rivest, 70, said she already had shopped at the discounter to buy turkey, fish and chicken for her Thanksgiving meal. But she was only interested in buying fresh items, not canned goods.
“I like red pepper, red tomatoes, something fresh,” she said.
UT Tyler receives $2.25 million grant from Department of Education
Posted/updated on:
November 21, 2024 at
11:00 pm
TYLER — The University of Texas at Tyler received a $2.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to fund initiatives designed to bolster retention and graduation rates. According to a news release from the university, the grant is part of a federal initiative aimed at strengthening the academic quality and management of institutions that educate under-served students.
“This grant will significantly enhance our ability to support students from the moment they arrive on campus to the day they walk across the stage at graduation,” said UT Tyler President Julie V. Philley, MD. “By offering more tailored academic support, we are committed to fostering an environment where every student can achieve their full potential.” (more…)
New details following fatal house fire Monday
Posted/updated on:
November 21, 2024 at
11:00 pm
TYLER — The arrest documents of a convicted murder who was charged on Monday in connection to a fatal house fire, allege that he threw gasoline on who he claimed to be his girlfriend, the day he was supposed to be evicted and less than 20 minutes later drove himself to the Smith County Jail. According to our news partner KETK, the Tyler Fire Department and police responded to the Shady Trail around 3:40 after someone in the neighborhood called about the fire.
Gregory Bargaineer, 67, went to the Smith County Jail around 3:55 a.m. “to turn himself in for throwing gasoline on his girlfriend.” Bargaineer’s alleged girlfriend was later identified as Marilyn Mceachin and her body was found on the floor near the remnants of a bed after the fire department put out the flames, the affidavit said.
Tyler PD detained Bargaineer and took him in for questioning where he made several claims. Later, investigators found discrepancies with his statements such as the victim threw gas on him. (more…)
Trump and Musk solidify their bond with Texas trip for rocket launch
Posted/updated on:
November 21, 2024 at
4:36 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — For two weeks, Donald Trump has welcomed Elon Musk into his world. On Tuesday, it was Musk’s turn to play host to the president-elect.
Trump flew to South Texas to watch as Musk’s SpaceX launched a Starship rocket near the Mexican border. Trump listened intently as the world’s richest man explained how the test would work and demonstrated with a model. And then Trump squinted into the bright sky to watch liftoff.
It didn’t go perfectly -– the reusable booster did not return to the launch pad as it had done on a previous test last month. Instead, the booster was directed to a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico.
But Trump’s presence at the launch was a remarkable display of intimacy between the two men, one with implications for American politics, the government, foreign policy and even the possibility of humans reaching Mars.
Musk spent around $200 million to help Trump beat Democrat Kamala Harris in the presidential race, and he’s been given unparalleled access. He’s counseled Trump on nominees for the new administration, joined the president-elect’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and been tapped to co-chair an advisory panel on cutting the size of the federal bureaucracy.
In addition to political influence, Musk could benefit personally as well. SpaceX, his rocket company, has billions of dollars in government contracts and the goal of eventually starting a colony on Mars. He’s also CEO of Tesla, which manufactures electric vehicles, and has battled with regulators over safety concerns involving autonomous driving.
Texas board advances plan to allow Bible material in elementary school lessons
Posted/updated on:
November 21, 2024 at
4:36 am
AUSTIN (AP) — Texas’ education board on Tuesday advanced a new Bible-infused curriculum that would be optional for schools to incorporate in kindergarten through fifth grades, one of the latest Republican-led efforts in the U.S. to incorporate more religious teaching into classrooms.
The vote moves the Texas State Board of Education one step closer to signing off on what is known as the “Bluebonnet” textbook, which drew hours of often emotional testimony from school teachers and parents earlier this week.
The board is expected to hold a final vote on the measure Friday.
The curriculum — designed by the state’s public education agency — would allow teachings from the Bible such as the Golden Rule and lessons from books such as Genesis into classrooms. Under the plan, it would be optional for schools to adopt the curriculum though they would receive additional funding if they did so.
Educators, parents and advocates weighed in Monday at the State Board of Education’s final meeting of the year, where many opponents argued that the proposal’s emphasis on Christian teachings would alienate students of other faith backgrounds. Those in favor testified that it’ll give students a more holistic educational foundation.
Educator Megan Tessler testified Monday that the plan contradicts the public school mission.
“This curriculum fails to meet the standard of an honest, secular one,” Tessler said. “Public schools are meant to educate, not indoctrinate.”
Others strongly backed the idea.
“Parents and teachers want a return to excellence,” said Cindy Asmussen, testifying Monday. “Stories and concepts in the Bible have been common for hundreds of years,” and that, she said, is a core part of classical learning.
Religious experts and the Texas Freedom Network, a left-leaning watchdog group that monitors the state’s education board, said the curriculum proposal focuses too much on Christianity and also dances around the history of slavery.
The program was designed by the Texas Education Agency earlier this year after passage of a law giving it a mandate to create its own free textbook. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has publicly supported the new materials.
Republican lawmakers in Texas have also proposed displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms and are likely to revisit the issue next year.
The proposal to incorporate religious teaching in Texas public schools mirrors similar efforts around the country, which are also drawing court challenges.
In Oklahoma, state officials are seeking to include the Bible in public school lesson plans. But a group of students’ parents, teachers and others recently filed suit, seeking to stop Oklahoma’s top education official from carrying out the plan intended for students in grades 5 through 12. The lawsuit before the Oklahoma Supreme Court also asks the court to stop the Republican state superintendent from spending $3 million to purchase Bibles in support of the plan.
In Louisiana, a new state law sought to have the Ten Commandments displayed in all public classrooms, but a federal judge recently quashed that requirement. U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles in Baton Rouge said last week that the Louisiana law had an “overtly religious” purpose, and rejected state officials’ claims that the government can mandate the posting of the Ten Commandments because they hold historical significance to the foundation of U.S. law. His opinion noted that no other foundational documents — including the Constitution or the Bill of Rights — must be posted.
Troup native, Cooper Reid lights city Christmas tree
Posted/updated on:
November 19, 2024 at
11:12 pm
TROUP — The City of Troup gathered together for ‘Holiday in the Country’ and to watch the second annual Christmas Tree lighting on Monday, according to our news partner KETK. The 30-foot-tall Christmas tree is now officially lit, kicking off the Christmas season in downtown Troup. It was a special night because the honorary tree lighter is Troup native, Cooper Reid. The family was asked to be the honorary Christmas tree lighters last year, but couldn’t make it due to Cooper’s condition. Now, it’s one year later and he is greatly improving. In 2022, he was injured during a homecoming football game and since then, he has been on a journey to recovery since surviving a brain injury.
“We were very honored and happy that we would be here this time, this year. Last year, I don’t know that Cooper would have been able to even light the Christmas tree on his own, so I think that God worked it out just the right way, so that he was ready to do it on his time,” said Susanne Reid, Cooper’s mother. (more…)
‘The Voice’ winner recovers at home after accidental shooting
Posted/updated on:
November 19, 2024 at
11:11 pm
TYLER (AP) — Country singer Sundance Head, a winner on “The Voice,” is recovering at home after he was accidentally shot in the stomach while handling a firearm on a hunting trip at his East Texas ranch, his agent said Sunday.
Head, winner of the 11th season of NBC’s “The Voice” in 2016, was leaning into his vehicle to grab his .22 caliber pistol when it fell out of its holster and onto the exterior of the vehicle and fired off a shot that hit Head in the stomach, his agent, Trey Newman said in an email. Newman said Head was airlifted to a hospital in Tyler. He said no vital organs were hit and no surgery was needed. Head was released later Friday, he said.
Before his win on “The Voice,” Head competed in “American Idol” on Fox in 2007, making it to the top 16 before being eliminated. Head, who has upcoming performances scheduled in Texas and Illinois, is from the community of Porter, located north of Houston.
Texas A&M marks 25th anniversary of fatal campus bonfire collapse
Posted/updated on:
November 20, 2024 at
4:25 am
COLLEGE STATION (AP) – Texas A&M University is set to mark the anniversary of the campus bonfire tragedy that killed 12 people and injured dozens more 25 years ago. The giant log stack collapsed Nov. 18, 1999, permanently scarring a campus rooted in traditions carried across generations of students. Eleven students and a graduate were killed when the massive log pile collapsed during preparations for the annual bonfire ahead of the Texas A&M-Texas football game. The annual Aggie bonfire has since been discontinued as an official school event.
“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 investigative report cited multiple causes for the collapse, from flawed construction techniques to a lack of supervision by the university over the students building the bonfire stack. The lowest level of the pile did not have proper support wiring, and excessive stress on the bottom level was compounded by wedging logs into gaps.
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.
“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.
Texas A&M official picked to lead University of Arkansas system
Posted/updated on:
November 20, 2024 at
4:34 am
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An official with Texas A&M University has been picked to lead the University of Arkansas system.
The UA Board of Trustees on Monday unanimously approved the selection of retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Jay B. Silveria as president of Arkansas’ largest university system.
Silveria, the associate vice president and executive director of Texas A&M University and the Bush School of Government & Public Service in Washington, D.C., is expected to start Jan. 15, contingent upon the successful negotiation of an employment agreement as directed by the UA board.
Silveria, a command pilot with more than 3,900 hours in elite military aircraft, retired from the Air Force in November 2020 after a 35-year career, UA said in a statement. He spent the last three years of his service as superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy.
“I am humbled by this opportunity to lead the UA System and feel that there is tremendous potential to build on its outstanding reputation and high-quality programming,” he said.
Silveria will succeed President Donald Bobbitt, who announced his retirement earlier this year after leading the system for nearly 13 years.
The board conducted a national search and held special meetings in recent weeks to consider candidates.
“The Board is very proud of this selection, and we are looking forward to welcoming General Silveria and his family to Arkansas, and helping him familiarize himself with our unique System and our dedicated students, faculty and staff across the state,” Board Chair Kelly Eichler said.
LONGVIEW — The Longview Independent School District said their Education Support Center will be closed Friday due to damage from a fire just after midnight. According to our news partner KETK, a press release from the district stated the fire caused “significant damage” to the building’s northwest wing. No injuries have been reported from the fire and the Longview Fire Department is investigating the cause.
TYLER — The University of Texas at Tyler received a $2.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to fund initiatives designed to bolster retention and graduation rates. According to a news release from the university, the grant is part of a federal initiative aimed at strengthening the academic quality and management of institutions that educate under-served students.
TYLER — The arrest documents of a convicted murder who was charged on Monday in connection to a fatal house fire, allege that he threw gasoline on who he claimed to be his girlfriend, the day he was supposed to be evicted and less than 20 minutes later drove himself to the Smith County Jail. According to our news partner KETK, the Tyler Fire Department and police responded to the Shady Trail around 3:40 after someone in the neighborhood called about the fire.
TROUP — The City of Troup gathered together for ‘Holiday in the Country’ and to watch the second annual Christmas Tree lighting on Monday, according to our news partner KETK. The 30-foot-tall Christmas tree is now officially lit, kicking off the Christmas season in downtown Troup. It was a special night because the honorary tree lighter is Troup native, Cooper Reid. The family was asked to be the honorary Christmas tree lighters last year, but couldn’t make it due to Cooper’s condition. Now, it’s one year later and he is greatly improving. In 2022, he was injured during a homecoming football game and since then, he has been on a journey to recovery since surviving a brain injury.
TYLER (AP) — Country singer Sundance Head, a winner on “The Voice,” is recovering at home after he was accidentally shot in the stomach while handling a firearm on a hunting trip at his East Texas ranch, his agent said Sunday.