TYLER — The City of Tyler said that street repairs on East Dawson Street will block the west entrance of CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital’s Dawson parking garage this week. According to our news partner KETK, East Dawson Street to Clinic Drive will be closed from Monday, Oct. 14 to Friday, Oct. 18. The city of Tyler said to use South Fleishel Avenue to get to the emergency room entrance or the parking garage.
DETROIT (AP) — Expectations are high for the long-awaited unveiling of Tesla’s robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night. Too high for some analysts and investors.
The company, which began selling software it calls “Full Self-Driving†nine years ago that still can’t drive itself, is expected to show off the so-called “Cybercab†vehicle, which may not have a steering wheel and pedals.
The unveiling comes as CEO Elon Musk tries to persuade investors that his company is more about artificial intelligence and robotics as it struggles to sell its core products, an aging lineup of electric vehicles.
Some analysts are predicting that it will be a historic day for the Austin, Texas, company as it takes a huge step toward a long-awaited robotaxi service powered by AI.
But others who track self-driving vehicles say Musk has yet to demonstrate Tesla’s system can travel safely without a human driver ready to step in to prevent crashes.
“I don’t know why the headlines continue to be ‘What will Tesla announce?’ rather than ‘Why does Tesla think we’re so stupid?’†said Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies autonomous vehicles.
He doesn’t see Tesla having the ability to show off software and hardware that can work without human supervision, even in a limited area that’s well-known to the driving system.
“We just haven’t seen any indication that that is what Tesla is working toward,†Walker Smith said. “If they were, they would be showcasing this not on a closed lot, but in an actual city or on an actual freeway.â€
Without a clear breakthrough in autonomous technology, Tesla will just show off a vehicle with no pedals or steering wheel, which already has been done by numerous other companies, he said.
“The challenge is developing a combination of hardware and software plus the human and digital infrastructure to actually safely drive a vehicle even without a steering wheel on public roads in any conditions,†Walker Smith said. “Tesla has been giving us that demo every year, and it’s not reassuring us.â€
Many industry analysts aren’t expecting much from the event either. While TD Cowen’s Jeff Osborne expects Musk to reveal the Cybercab and perhaps the Model 2, a lower-cost electric vehicle, he said he doesn’t expect much of a change on self-driving technology.
“We expect the event to be light on details and appeal to the true long-term believers in Tesla,†Osborne wrote in a note. Musk’s claims on the readiness of Full Self Driving, though, will be crucial “given past delays and ongoing scrutiny†of the system and of Tesla’s less-sophisticated Autopilot driver-assist software.
Tesla’s model lineup is struggling and isn’t likely to be refreshed until late next year at the earliest, Osborne wrote. Plus, he wrote that in TD Cowen’s view the “politicization of Elon†is tarnishing the Tesla brand among Democrat buyers in the U.S.
Musk has endorsed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and has pushed many conservative causes. Last weekend he joined Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.
Musk has been saying for more than five years that a fleet of robotaxis is near, allowing Tesla owners to make money by having their cars carry passengers while they’re not in use by the owners.
However, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who is bullish on Tesla stock, wrote in an investor note that robotaxi event, dubbed “We, Robot,†by the company, will be a new chapter of growth for Tesla.
Ives expects many updates and details from Tesla on the robotaxi, plus breakthroughs in Full Self Driving and artificial intelligence. He also is looking for a phased-in strategy for rolling out the robotaxis within the next year, as well as a Tesla ride-sharing app, and demonstrations of technology “designed to revolutionize urban transportation.â€
Ives, whose organization will attend the invitation-only event at the Warner Bros. studio, wrote that he also expects updates on Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot, which the company plans to start selling in 2026.
“We believe this is a pivotal time for Tesla as the company prepares to release its years of Robotaxi R&D shadowed behind the curtains, while Musk & Co. lay out the company’s vision for the future,†Ives wrote.
In addition, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration forced Tesla to recall Full Self-Driving in February because it allowed speeding and violated other traffic laws, especially near intersections. Tesla was to fix the problems with an online software update.
Last April in Snohomish County, Washington, near Seattle, a Tesla using Full Self-Driving hit and killed a motorcyclist, authorities said. The Tesla driver told authorities that he was using the system while looking at his phone when the car rear-ended the motorcyclist. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
NHTSA says it’s evaluating information on the fatal crash from Tesla and law enforcement officials.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Immigrants who grew up in the United States after being brought here illegally as children will be among demonstrators outside a federal courthouse in New Orleans on Thursday as three appellate judges hear arguments over the Biden administration’s policy shielding them from deportation.
At stake in the long legal battle playing out at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the future of about 535,000 people who have long-established lives in the U.S., even though they don’t hold citizenship or legal residency status and they live with the possibility of eventual deportation.
“No matter what is said and done, I choose the U.S. and I have the responsibility to make it a better place for all of us,†Greisa Martinez Rosas, said Wednesday. She is a beneficiary of the policy and a leader of the advocacy group United We Dream. She plans to travel from Arizona to attend a rally near the court, where hundreds of the policy’s supporters are expected to gather.
The panel hearing arguments won’t rule immediately. Whatever they decide, the case will almost certainly wind up at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Former President Barack Obama first put the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in place in 2012, citing inaction by Congress on legislation aimed at giving those brought to the U.S. as youngsters a path to legal status and citizenship. Years of litigation followed. President Joe Biden renewed the program in hopes of winning court approval.
But in September 2023, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Houston said the executive branch had overstepped its authority in creating the program. Hanen barred the government from approving any new applications, but left the program intact for existing recipients, known as “Dreamers,†during appeals.
Defenders of the policy argue that Congress has given the executive branch’s Department of Homeland Security authority to set immigration policy, and that the states challenging the program have no basis to sue.
“They cannot identify any harms flowing from DACA,†Nina Perales, vice president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said in a news conference this week.
Texas is leading a group of Republican-dominated states challenging the policy. The Texas Attorney General’s Office did not respond to an emailed interview request. But in briefs, they and other challengers claim the states incur hundreds of millions of dollars in health care, education and other costs when immigrants are allowed to remain in the country illegally. The other states include Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kansas and Mississippi.
Among those states’ allies in court briefs is the Immigration Reform Law Institute. “Congress has repeatedly refused to legalize DACA recipients, and no administration can take that step in its place,” the group’s executive director, Dale L. Wilcox, said in a statement earlier this year.
The panel hearing the case consists of judges Jerry Smith, nominated to the 5th Circuit by former President Ronald Reagan; Edith Brown Clement, nominated by former President George W. Bush; and Stephen Higginson, nominated by Obama.
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 70 million Social Security recipients will learn Thursday how big a cost-of-living increase they’ll get to their benefits next year.
In advance of the announcement, analysts predicted that the increase would be about 2.5% for 2025, smaller than increases the previous two years. Recipients received a 3.2% increase in their benefits in 2024, after a historically large 8.7% benefit increase in 2023, brought on by record 40-year-high inflation.
The lower COLA for next year reflects the moderating inflation.
About 70.6 million people participate in the Social Security program, with an average benefit of about $1,920 a month. The AARP estimates that a 2.5% COLA would increase that by $48 a month.
In advance of the announcement, retirees voiced concern that the increase would not be enough to counter rising costs.
Sherri Myers, an 82-year-old Pensacola City, Florida, retiree, is now hoping to get an hourly job at Walmart to help make ends meet.
“I would like to eat good but I can’t. When I’m at the grocery store, I just walk past the vegetables because they are too expensive. I have to be very selective about what I eat — even McDonald’s is expensive,†she said.
With increased participation and fewer workers contributing, the Social Security program faces a severe financial shortfall in the coming years.
The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report released in May said the program’s trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035. If the trust fund is depleted, the government will be able to pay only 83% of scheduled benefits, the report said.
The program is financed by payroll taxes collected from workers and their employers. The maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes was $168,600 for 2024, up from $160,200 in 2023. Analysts estimate that the maximum amount will go up to $174,900 in 2025.
On the presidential campaign trail, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have presented dueling plans on how they would strengthen Social Security.
Harris, the Democratic nominee, says on her campaign website that she will protect Social Security by “making millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share in taxes.â€
Trump, the Republican nominee, promises that he would not cut the social program or make changes to the retirement age. Trump also pledges tax cuts for older Americans, posting on Truth Social in July that “SENIORS SHOULD NOT PAY TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY!â€
Harris said she would make up for the shortfall by “making billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share in taxes and use that money to protect and strengthen Social Security for the long haul.â€
Trump said, “We’ll protect it with growth. I don’t want to do anything having to do with increasing age. I won’t do that. As you know, I was there for four years and never even thought about doing it. I’m going to do nothing to Social Security.â€
TYLER — Tyler Junior College is hosting a summit with legislators on ways to implement programs to create a smooth transition after graduation. According to our news partner KETK, Tuesday was the reception for all 50 presidents from every community college in Texas to talk with the U.S. representatives who are in the House Education and Workforce Committee. Community college leaders want to see creativity and innovation take place on their behalf in Congress.
“We’re excited about the opportunities and the dialog that we can have between legislative champions and leaders of community colleges,†said Juan Mejia, TJC president .
On Wednesday, the legislative summit will begin with a dialogue on how to bring more money in for programs that will tie directly to jobs in their area. Read the rest of this entry »
CHEROKEE COUNTY — Law enforcement officials are searching for a man who reportedly stole a dump truck Tuesday morning. According to our news partner KETK, Cherokee County Sheriff Brent Dickson says a man in a gray t-shirt stole a dump truck and trailer from a county work site on CR 4211 out of Jacksonville. The man went north to Highway 110 and reportedly forgot to release the vehicle’s air brakes, which led to the tires of the truck smoking and catching fire. He reportedly bailed out of the dump truck in front of the Whitehouse Volunteer Fire Department on Highway 110 and ran away from the scene. TDCJ dogs were unable to find the person and the search was called off, according to Sheriff Brent Dickson.
AUSTIN (AP) — Videos from the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that police originally failed to make public show officers scrambling to treat victims, parents running near the building and dozens of law enforcement agents standing outside Robb Elementary School.
The hours of new video made public Tuesday include body-camera footage similar to what officials had previously released. Taken together, the footage underlines the hesitant police response in the small South Texas city, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers inside a fourth-grade classroom in one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history.
Police have said the additional videos were discovered days after a large collection of audio and video recordings were released in August.
In one chaotic scene, officers can be seen doing chest compressions on one victim outside and others yelling for help. “No pulse! Slow compression,” says a first responder. Streaks of blood line a crowded hallway and pleas for help continue to ring out as victims are carried out.
A Uvalde officer was put on paid leave and subsequently resigned following the discovery of the additional videos in August. Sgt. Donald Page said that his body camera footage was missing after the initial release, which led to officials turning over the unreleased video to the district attorney’s office. The department announced an internal investigation soon after, but it remains unclear how the newly released footage was discovered.
The release of the material by city officials over the summer followed a prolonged legal fight with The Associated Press and other news organizations.
The delayed law enforcement response to the May 24, 2022, shooting has been widely condemned as a massive failure: Nearly 400 officers waited more than 70 minutes before confronting the gunman in a classroom filled with dead and wounded children and teachers in the South Texas city of about 15,000 people, 80 miles west of San Antonio.
While terrified students and teachers called 911 from inside classrooms, dozens of officers stood in the hallway trying to figure out what to do. Desperate parents who had gathered outside the building pleaded with them to go in.
Previously released audio recordings contained 911 calls from terrified instructors and students as gunshots rang out amid pleas for help.
Federal investigations into law enforcement’s response attributed breakdowns in communication and inadequate training for their failure to confront the gunman, with some even questioning whether officers prioritized their own lives over those of children and teachers.
HOUSTON (AP) — A former Houston police officer was sentenced to 60 years in prison on Tuesday for the murder of a married couple during a drug raid that revealed systemic corruption in the department’s narcotics unit and prompted criticism of the law enforcement agency and its tactics.
Gerald Goines was convicted in the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and Rhogena Nicholas, 58. The couple were shot along with their dog after officers burst into their home using a “no-knock†warrant that didn’t require them to announce themselves before entering.
Prosecutors said Goines lied to get the search warrant approved and that his actions were part of a pattern of wrongful drug arrests and convictions of innocent individuals during his 34-year law enforcement career.
“Gerald Goines has been a stain on the reputation of every honest cop in our community, a community that he terrorized through corruption worthy of the movie ‘Training Day,’†said Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
Goines, 60, looked down but had no visible reaction as he heard the sentences for each count of murder, which will run concurrently. The jury, which had deliberated for more than 10 hours over two days on his sentence, also fined him $20,000. Legal experts have said it is rare for a police officer to be charged and convicted for an on-duty killing.
Goines didn’t make eye contact when Ryan Tuttle sat on the witness stand after the sentencing, with a framed photograph of his father and stepmother, and said his family was still waiting for answers from the ex-officer about why he targeted the couple. Goines, who did not testify during the monthlong trial, remained silent.
“My father and my stepmother were not involved in any drug dealing. They were good people. They did not deserve this,†Ryan Tuttle said, and then stared at Goines as he walked away.
During closing arguments in the trial’s punishment phase, prosecutors had asked for a life sentence. Goines’ attorneys had asked for the minimum sentence of five years, saying Goines had dedicated his life to keeping drugs off the streets.
“We still don’t believe legally that he is guilty of the crime of felony murder and we look forward to having the appellate courts review this,†Nicole DeBorde, one of Goines’ attorneys, told reporters after the sentence was read.
Goines had been free on bond since he was charged, but he was taken into custody following his conviction last month by the same jury.
Prosecutors said Goines falsely claimed an informant had bought heroin at the couple’s home from a man with a gun, setting up the violent confrontation in which the couple was killed and four officers, including Goines, were shot and wounded, and a fifth was injured. A Texas Ranger who investigated the raid testified that the officers fired first, killing the dog and likely provoking Tuttle’s gunfire.
His lawyers acknowledged he lied to get the search warrant, but sought to diminish the impact. Two witnesses — a fellow officer and the judge who signed the warrant — said the raid never would have happened if Goines had told the truth.
Investigators later found only small amounts of marijuana and cocaine in the house, and while Houston’s police chief at the time, Art Acevedo, initially praised Goines as being “tough as nails,†he later suspended him when the lies emerged. Goines later retired as the probes continued.
The probe into the drug raid uncovered allegations of much wider corruption. Goines was among a dozen officers tied to the narcotics squad who were later indicted on other charges. A judge dismissed charges against some of them, but a review of thousands of cases involving the unit led prosecutors to dismiss many cases, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned at least 22 convictions linked to Goines.
Ryan Tuttle said he hoped the deaths of his father and stepmother would spur police reform not just in Houston but around the country.
“If it’s happening in Houston, it’s happening everywhere,†Tuttle said. “We have to make sure this stops.â€
Ogg said the police department reviewed various policies after the raid but that a thorough revamping of narcotics enforcement by the agency has yet to happen.
An audit of the narcotics unit done after the raid found officers made hundreds of errors in cases, often weren’t thorough in their investigations and lacked supervision.
In a brief statement after the jury’s sentence, Houston police said, “We respect the jury’s decision in the trial involving Gerald Goines and thank the jurors for their time and service.â€
“This is not an indictment against police officers. There are 99% upstanding police officers. This was also about sending a message to them, that we believe in them, we support them. What we don’t support is corruption,†said prosecutor Tanisha Manning.
Goines also made a drug arrest in 2004 in Houston of George Floyd, whose 2020 death at the hands of a Minnesota police officer sparked a nationwide reckoning on racism in policing. A Texas board in 2022 declined a request that Floyd be granted a posthumous pardon for that drug conviction.
Goines also faces federal criminal charges in connection with the raid, and federal civil rights lawsuits filed by the families of Tuttle and Nicholas against Goines, 12 other officers and the city of Houston are set to be tried in November.
LUFKIN — The Ellen Trout Zoo has announced that their director, Gordon Henley, is retiring after 48 years of service to the Lufkin-based zoo, according to our news partner KETK. “Serving as the director of Ellen Trout Zoo has been a true honor,†Henley said. “I have cherished every moment spent creating a magical experience for our visitors, and I am profoundly grateful for the support of our community.â€
Henley’s journey with the zoo started back in 1976 after moving to Lufkin with his wife Charlotte from Oklahoma where he worked at the Tulsa Zoo.
“After an amazing 48-year journey, Gordon will be seeking new adventures. We want to take a moment to reflect on the cherished memories created at Ellen Trout Zoo,†the zoo said. “Join us in celebrating his remarkable legacy and the magic he’s helped cultivate for generations. Here’s to new adventures, Gordon!†Read the rest of this entry »
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a decision barring emergency abortions that violate the law in Texas, which has one of the country’s strictest abortion bans.
Without detailing their reasoning, the justices kept in place a lower court order that said hospitals cannot be required to provide pregnancy terminations that would violate Texas law.
The Biden administration had asked the justices to throw out the lower court order, arguing that hospitals have to perform abortions in emergency situations under federal law. The administration pointed to the Supreme Court’s action in a similar case from Idaho earlier this year in which the justices narrowly allowed emergency abortions to resume while a lawsuit continues.
The administration also cited a Texas Supreme Court ruling that said doctors do not have to wait until a woman’s life is in immediate danger to provide an abortion legally. The administration said it brings Texas in line with federal law and means the lower court ruling is not necessary.
Texas asked the justices to leave the order in place, saying the state Supreme Court ruling meant Texas law, unlike Idaho’s, does have an exception for the health of a pregnant patient and there’s no conflict between federal and state law.
Doctors have said the law remains dangerously vague after a medical board refused to specify exactly which conditions qualify for the exception.
There has been a spike in complaints that pregnant women in medical distress have been turned away from emergency rooms in Texas and elsewhere as hospitals grapple with whether standard care could violate strict laws against abortion.
Pregnancy terminations have long been part of medical treatment for patients with serious complications, as way to to prevent sepsis, organ failure and other major problems. But in Texas and other states with strict abortion bans, doctors and hospitals have said it is not clear whether those terminations could run afoul of abortion bans that carry the possibility of prison time.
The Texas case started after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, leading to abortion restrictions in many Republican-controlled states. The Biden administration issued guidance saying hospitals still needed to provide abortions in emergency situations under a health care law that requires most hospitals to treat any patients in medical distress.
Texas sued over that guidance, arguing that hospitals cannot be required to provide abortions that would violate its ban. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court Appeals sided with the state, ruling in January that the administration had overstepped its authority.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won’t hear an appeal from a former Texas police officer convicted in the death of a woman who was shot through a window of her home.
Aaron Dean was convicted of manslaughter in Atatiana Jefferson’s fatal shooting, and he was sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison. Dean was originally charged with murder. He argued on appeal that prosecutors should not have been allowed to ask the jury to consider the lesser charge at the end of the trial.
Dean, who is white, shot Jefferson, a 28-year-old Black woman, on Oct. 12, 2019, after a neighbor called a nonemergency police line to report that the front door to Jefferson’s home was open.
It later emerged that Jefferson and her nephew had left the doors open to vent smoke after he had burned hamburgers, and the two were up late playing video games.
Dean’s guilty verdict was a rare conviction of an officer for killing someone who was also armed with a gun.
Body camera footage showed that Dean and a second officer who responded to the call did not identify themselves as police at the house. Dean and the other officer testified that they thought the house might have been burglarized and they quietly moved into the fenced-off backyard looking for signs of forced entry.
There, Dean, whose gun was drawn, fired a single shot through the window a moment after shouting at Jefferson, who was inside, to show her hands.
Jefferson’ nephew testified that she took out her gun because she believed there was an intruder in the backyard.
DETROIT (AP) — Some 45,000 dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports are returning to work after their union reached a deal to suspend a strike that could have caused shortages and higher prices if it had dragged on.
The International Longshoremen’s Association is suspending its three-day strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract. The union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies, said in a joint statement that they have reached a tentative agreement on wages.
A person briefed on the agreement said the ports sweetened their wage offer from about 50% over six years to 62%. The person didn’t want to be identified because the agreement is tentative. Any wage increase would have to be approved by union members as part of the ratification of a final contract.
Talks now turn to the automation of ports, which the unions says will lead to fewer jobs, and other sticking points.
Industry analysts have said that for every day of a port strike it takes four to six days to recover. But they said a short strike of a few days probably wouldn’t gum up the supply chain too badly.
The settlement pushes the strike and any potential shortages past the November presidential election, eliminating a potential liability for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. It’s also a big plus for the Biden-Harris administration, which has billed itself as the most union-friendly in American history. Shortages could have driven up prices and reignited inflation.
The union went on strike early Tuesday after its contract expired in a dispute over pay and the automation of tasks at 36 ports stretching from Maine to Texas. The strike came at the peak of the holiday season at the ports, which handle about half the cargo from ships coming into and out of the United States.
Most retailers had stocked up or shipped items early in anticipation of the strike.
“With the grace of God, and the goodwill of neighbors, it’s gonna hold,†President Joe Biden told reporters Thursday night after the agreement.
In a statement later, Biden applauded both sides “for acting patriotically to reopen our ports and ensure the availability of critical supplies for Hurricane Helene recovery and rebuilding.â€
Biden said that collective bargaining is “critical to building a stronger economy from the middle out and the bottom up.â€
The union’s membership won’t need to vote on the temporary suspension of the strike. Until Jan. 15, the workers will be covered under the old contract, which expired on Sept. 30.
The union had been demanding a 77% raise over six years, plus a complete ban on the use of automation at the ports, which members see as a threat to their jobs. Both sides also have been apart on the issues of pension contributions and the distribution of royalties paid on containers that are moved by workers.
Thomas Kohler, who teaches labor and employment law at Boston College, said the agreement to halt the strike means that the two sides are close to a final deal.
“I’m sure that if they weren’t going anywhere they wouldn’t have suspended (the strike),†he said. “They’ve got wages. They’ll work out the language on automation, and I’m sure that what this really means is it gives the parties time to sit down and get exactly the language they can both live with.â€
Kohler said the surprise end to the strike may catch railroads with cars, engines and crews out of position. But railroads are likely to work quickly to fix that.
Just before the strike had begun, the Maritime Alliance said both sides had moved off their original wage offers, a tentative sign of progress.
Thursday’s deal came after Biden administration officials met with foreign-owned shipping companies before dawn on Zoom, according to a person briefed on the day’s events who asked not to be identified because the talks were private. The White House wanted to increase pressure to settle, emphasizing the responsibility to reopen the ports to help with recovery from Hurricane Helene, the person said.
Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su told them she could get the union to the bargaining table to extend the contract if the carriers made a higher wage offer. Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told the carriers they had to make an offer by the end of the day so a manmade strike wouldn’t worsen a natural disaster, the person said.
By midday the Maritime Alliance members agreed to a large increase, bringing about the agreement, according to the person.
AUSTIN (AP) – Tesla is recalling more than 27,000 Cybertrucks because the rearview camera image may not activate immediately after shifting into reverse, the fifth recall for the vehicle since it went on sale late last year.
Tesla has released a free software upgrade to address the issue and owner notification letters are expected to be mailed Nov. 25.
Cybertruck owners have had to deal with a series of recalls since the vehicle went on sale in November. In June, there was a recall to fix problems with trim pieces that can come loose and front windshield wipers that can fail. Two months before that, some Cybertrucks were recalled because the accelerator pedal could stick.
In the most recent recall, the company notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the display screens in effected trucks may remain blank for up to 8 seconds after a driver shifts to reverse. The U.S. requires those screens to activate with a rearview within 2 seconds of shifting into reverse.
Elon Musk’s Tesla delivered the first dozen or so of its futuristic Cybertruck pickups to customers in November, two years behind the original schedule.
Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752 or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or go to http://www.nhtsa.gov.
WINNSBORO — The Winnsboro Police Department announced the passing of one of their own Thursday morning.According to our news partner KETK, the police department said Assistant Chief David Scott Sewell passed away early Thursday and shared that he was a beloved member of the community. Sewell who joined Winnsboro PD in 2016 also served the Northeast Texas region for 39 years.
“Please keep his family, friends and the department in your prayers as we navigate this difficult time,†the police department said.
ANGELINA COUNTY — A 21-year-old man caught on surveillance camera robbing a convenience store on Wednesday in Angelina County has been arrested. According to Sheriff Tom Selman and our news partner KETK, a convenience store in the Pollok area on U.S. Highway 69 between Lufkin and Wells was robbed at around 9:00 a.m. when a man entered the store and approached the cashier with a handgun. The sheriff’s office said the man took the money and left toward Wells in a green Ford Expedition. The cashier was able to take a picture of the vehicle and partial license plate number which was then shared to local law enforcement.
The Lufkin Police Department was then able to get the full license plate and alerted the sheriff’s deputies that the vehicle was registered off Quarles Road in the county. Read the rest of this entry »
Road repair underway this week in Tyler’s medical district
Posted/updated on:
October 17, 2024 at
3:23 am
TYLER — The City of Tyler said that street repairs on East Dawson Street will block the west entrance of CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital’s Dawson parking garage this week. According to our news partner KETK, East Dawson Street to Clinic Drive will be closed from Monday, Oct. 14 to Friday, Oct. 18. The city of Tyler said to use South Fleishel Avenue to get to the emergency room entrance or the parking garage.
Tesla is unveiling its long-awaited robotaxi amid doubts about the technology it runs on
Posted/updated on:
October 12, 2024 at
6:24 am
DETROIT (AP) — Expectations are high for the long-awaited unveiling of Tesla’s robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night. Too high for some analysts and investors.
The company, which began selling software it calls “Full Self-Driving†nine years ago that still can’t drive itself, is expected to show off the so-called “Cybercab†vehicle, which may not have a steering wheel and pedals.
The unveiling comes as CEO Elon Musk tries to persuade investors that his company is more about artificial intelligence and robotics as it struggles to sell its core products, an aging lineup of electric vehicles.
Some analysts are predicting that it will be a historic day for the Austin, Texas, company as it takes a huge step toward a long-awaited robotaxi service powered by AI.
But others who track self-driving vehicles say Musk has yet to demonstrate Tesla’s system can travel safely without a human driver ready to step in to prevent crashes.
“I don’t know why the headlines continue to be ‘What will Tesla announce?’ rather than ‘Why does Tesla think we’re so stupid?’†said Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies autonomous vehicles.
He doesn’t see Tesla having the ability to show off software and hardware that can work without human supervision, even in a limited area that’s well-known to the driving system.
“We just haven’t seen any indication that that is what Tesla is working toward,†Walker Smith said. “If they were, they would be showcasing this not on a closed lot, but in an actual city or on an actual freeway.â€
Without a clear breakthrough in autonomous technology, Tesla will just show off a vehicle with no pedals or steering wheel, which already has been done by numerous other companies, he said.
“The challenge is developing a combination of hardware and software plus the human and digital infrastructure to actually safely drive a vehicle even without a steering wheel on public roads in any conditions,†Walker Smith said. “Tesla has been giving us that demo every year, and it’s not reassuring us.â€
Many industry analysts aren’t expecting much from the event either. While TD Cowen’s Jeff Osborne expects Musk to reveal the Cybercab and perhaps the Model 2, a lower-cost electric vehicle, he said he doesn’t expect much of a change on self-driving technology.
“We expect the event to be light on details and appeal to the true long-term believers in Tesla,†Osborne wrote in a note. Musk’s claims on the readiness of Full Self Driving, though, will be crucial “given past delays and ongoing scrutiny†of the system and of Tesla’s less-sophisticated Autopilot driver-assist software.
Tesla’s model lineup is struggling and isn’t likely to be refreshed until late next year at the earliest, Osborne wrote. Plus, he wrote that in TD Cowen’s view the “politicization of Elon†is tarnishing the Tesla brand among Democrat buyers in the U.S.
Musk has endorsed Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and has pushed many conservative causes. Last weekend he joined Trump at a Pennsylvania rally.
Musk has been saying for more than five years that a fleet of robotaxis is near, allowing Tesla owners to make money by having their cars carry passengers while they’re not in use by the owners.
However, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who is bullish on Tesla stock, wrote in an investor note that robotaxi event, dubbed “We, Robot,†by the company, will be a new chapter of growth for Tesla.
Ives expects many updates and details from Tesla on the robotaxi, plus breakthroughs in Full Self Driving and artificial intelligence. He also is looking for a phased-in strategy for rolling out the robotaxis within the next year, as well as a Tesla ride-sharing app, and demonstrations of technology “designed to revolutionize urban transportation.â€
Ives, whose organization will attend the invitation-only event at the Warner Bros. studio, wrote that he also expects updates on Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot, which the company plans to start selling in 2026.
“We believe this is a pivotal time for Tesla as the company prepares to release its years of Robotaxi R&D shadowed behind the curtains, while Musk & Co. lay out the company’s vision for the future,†Ives wrote.
In addition, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration forced Tesla to recall Full Self-Driving in February because it allowed speeding and violated other traffic laws, especially near intersections. Tesla was to fix the problems with an online software update.
Last April in Snohomish County, Washington, near Seattle, a Tesla using Full Self-Driving hit and killed a motorcyclist, authorities said. The Tesla driver told authorities that he was using the system while looking at his phone when the car rear-ended the motorcyclist. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
NHTSA says it’s evaluating information on the fatal crash from Tesla and law enforcement officials.
Immigrants brought to U.S. as children are asking judges to uphold protections against deportation
Posted/updated on:
October 12, 2024 at
6:19 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Immigrants who grew up in the United States after being brought here illegally as children will be among demonstrators outside a federal courthouse in New Orleans on Thursday as three appellate judges hear arguments over the Biden administration’s policy shielding them from deportation.
At stake in the long legal battle playing out at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the future of about 535,000 people who have long-established lives in the U.S., even though they don’t hold citizenship or legal residency status and they live with the possibility of eventual deportation.
“No matter what is said and done, I choose the U.S. and I have the responsibility to make it a better place for all of us,†Greisa Martinez Rosas, said Wednesday. She is a beneficiary of the policy and a leader of the advocacy group United We Dream. She plans to travel from Arizona to attend a rally near the court, where hundreds of the policy’s supporters are expected to gather.
The panel hearing arguments won’t rule immediately. Whatever they decide, the case will almost certainly wind up at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Former President Barack Obama first put the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in place in 2012, citing inaction by Congress on legislation aimed at giving those brought to the U.S. as youngsters a path to legal status and citizenship. Years of litigation followed. President Joe Biden renewed the program in hopes of winning court approval.
But in September 2023, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Houston said the executive branch had overstepped its authority in creating the program. Hanen barred the government from approving any new applications, but left the program intact for existing recipients, known as “Dreamers,†during appeals.
Defenders of the policy argue that Congress has given the executive branch’s Department of Homeland Security authority to set immigration policy, and that the states challenging the program have no basis to sue.
“They cannot identify any harms flowing from DACA,†Nina Perales, vice president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said in a news conference this week.
Texas is leading a group of Republican-dominated states challenging the policy. The Texas Attorney General’s Office did not respond to an emailed interview request. But in briefs, they and other challengers claim the states incur hundreds of millions of dollars in health care, education and other costs when immigrants are allowed to remain in the country illegally. The other states include Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kansas and Mississippi.
Among those states’ allies in court briefs is the Immigration Reform Law Institute. “Congress has repeatedly refused to legalize DACA recipients, and no administration can take that step in its place,” the group’s executive director, Dale L. Wilcox, said in a statement earlier this year.
The panel hearing the case consists of judges Jerry Smith, nominated to the 5th Circuit by former President Ronald Reagan; Edith Brown Clement, nominated by former President George W. Bush; and Stephen Higginson, nominated by Obama.
Social Security cost-of-living benefits increase, announcement coming Thursday
Posted/updated on:
October 10, 2024 at
8:01 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 70 million Social Security recipients will learn Thursday how big a cost-of-living increase they’ll get to their benefits next year.
In advance of the announcement, analysts predicted that the increase would be about 2.5% for 2025, smaller than increases the previous two years. Recipients received a 3.2% increase in their benefits in 2024, after a historically large 8.7% benefit increase in 2023, brought on by record 40-year-high inflation.
The lower COLA for next year reflects the moderating inflation.
About 70.6 million people participate in the Social Security program, with an average benefit of about $1,920 a month. The AARP estimates that a 2.5% COLA would increase that by $48 a month.
In advance of the announcement, retirees voiced concern that the increase would not be enough to counter rising costs.
Sherri Myers, an 82-year-old Pensacola City, Florida, retiree, is now hoping to get an hourly job at Walmart to help make ends meet.
“I would like to eat good but I can’t. When I’m at the grocery store, I just walk past the vegetables because they are too expensive. I have to be very selective about what I eat — even McDonald’s is expensive,†she said.
With increased participation and fewer workers contributing, the Social Security program faces a severe financial shortfall in the coming years.
The annual Social Security and Medicare trustees report released in May said the program’s trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2035. If the trust fund is depleted, the government will be able to pay only 83% of scheduled benefits, the report said.
The program is financed by payroll taxes collected from workers and their employers. The maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security payroll taxes was $168,600 for 2024, up from $160,200 in 2023. Analysts estimate that the maximum amount will go up to $174,900 in 2025.
On the presidential campaign trail, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have presented dueling plans on how they would strengthen Social Security.
Harris, the Democratic nominee, says on her campaign website that she will protect Social Security by “making millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share in taxes.â€
Trump, the Republican nominee, promises that he would not cut the social program or make changes to the retirement age. Trump also pledges tax cuts for older Americans, posting on Truth Social in July that “SENIORS SHOULD NOT PAY TAX ON SOCIAL SECURITY!â€
Harris said she would make up for the shortfall by “making billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share in taxes and use that money to protect and strengthen Social Security for the long haul.â€
Trump said, “We’ll protect it with growth. I don’t want to do anything having to do with increasing age. I won’t do that. As you know, I was there for four years and never even thought about doing it. I’m going to do nothing to Social Security.â€
TJC hosts summit with community college leaders and congressmen
Posted/updated on:
October 11, 2024 at
2:25 am
TYLER — Tyler Junior College is hosting a summit with legislators on ways to implement programs to create a smooth transition after graduation. According to our news partner KETK, Tuesday was the reception for all 50 presidents from every community college in Texas to talk with the U.S. representatives who are in the House Education and Workforce Committee. Community college leaders want to see creativity and innovation take place on their behalf in Congress.
“We’re excited about the opportunities and the dialog that we can have between legislative champions and leaders of community colleges,†said Juan Mejia, TJC president .
On Wednesday, the legislative summit will begin with a dialogue on how to bring more money in for programs that will tie directly to jobs in their area. (more…)
Search called off for suspect who stole Cherokee County dump truck
Posted/updated on:
October 10, 2024 at
3:11 am
CHEROKEE COUNTY — Law enforcement officials are searching for a man who reportedly stole a dump truck Tuesday morning. According to our news partner KETK, Cherokee County Sheriff Brent Dickson says a man in a gray t-shirt stole a dump truck and trailer from a county work site on CR 4211 out of Jacksonville. The man went north to Highway 110 and reportedly forgot to release the vehicle’s air brakes, which led to the tires of the truck smoking and catching fire. He reportedly bailed out of the dump truck in front of the Whitehouse Volunteer Fire Department on Highway 110 and ran away from the scene. TDCJ dogs were unable to find the person and the search was called off, according to Sheriff Brent Dickson.
Officials release more videos of hesitant police response to Uvalde school shooting
Posted/updated on:
October 11, 2024 at
4:27 am
AUSTIN (AP) — Videos from the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that police originally failed to make public show officers scrambling to treat victims, parents running near the building and dozens of law enforcement agents standing outside Robb Elementary School.
The hours of new video made public Tuesday include body-camera footage similar to what officials had previously released. Taken together, the footage underlines the hesitant police response in the small South Texas city, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers inside a fourth-grade classroom in one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history.
Police have said the additional videos were discovered days after a large collection of audio and video recordings were released in August.
In one chaotic scene, officers can be seen doing chest compressions on one victim outside and others yelling for help. “No pulse! Slow compression,” says a first responder. Streaks of blood line a crowded hallway and pleas for help continue to ring out as victims are carried out.
A Uvalde officer was put on paid leave and subsequently resigned following the discovery of the additional videos in August. Sgt. Donald Page said that his body camera footage was missing after the initial release, which led to officials turning over the unreleased video to the district attorney’s office. The department announced an internal investigation soon after, but it remains unclear how the newly released footage was discovered.
The release of the material by city officials over the summer followed a prolonged legal fight with The Associated Press and other news organizations.
The delayed law enforcement response to the May 24, 2022, shooting has been widely condemned as a massive failure: Nearly 400 officers waited more than 70 minutes before confronting the gunman in a classroom filled with dead and wounded children and teachers in the South Texas city of about 15,000 people, 80 miles west of San Antonio.
While terrified students and teachers called 911 from inside classrooms, dozens of officers stood in the hallway trying to figure out what to do. Desperate parents who had gathered outside the building pleaded with them to go in.
Previously released audio recordings contained 911 calls from terrified instructors and students as gunshots rang out amid pleas for help.
Federal investigations into law enforcement’s response attributed breakdowns in communication and inadequate training for their failure to confront the gunman, with some even questioning whether officers prioritized their own lives over those of children and teachers.
Retired Houston officer gets 60 years in a couple’s drug raid deaths
Posted/updated on:
October 10, 2024 at
4:51 am
HOUSTON (AP) — A former Houston police officer was sentenced to 60 years in prison on Tuesday for the murder of a married couple during a drug raid that revealed systemic corruption in the department’s narcotics unit and prompted criticism of the law enforcement agency and its tactics.
Gerald Goines was convicted in the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and Rhogena Nicholas, 58. The couple were shot along with their dog after officers burst into their home using a “no-knock†warrant that didn’t require them to announce themselves before entering.
Prosecutors said Goines lied to get the search warrant approved and that his actions were part of a pattern of wrongful drug arrests and convictions of innocent individuals during his 34-year law enforcement career.
“Gerald Goines has been a stain on the reputation of every honest cop in our community, a community that he terrorized through corruption worthy of the movie ‘Training Day,’†said Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
Goines, 60, looked down but had no visible reaction as he heard the sentences for each count of murder, which will run concurrently. The jury, which had deliberated for more than 10 hours over two days on his sentence, also fined him $20,000. Legal experts have said it is rare for a police officer to be charged and convicted for an on-duty killing.
Goines didn’t make eye contact when Ryan Tuttle sat on the witness stand after the sentencing, with a framed photograph of his father and stepmother, and said his family was still waiting for answers from the ex-officer about why he targeted the couple. Goines, who did not testify during the monthlong trial, remained silent.
“My father and my stepmother were not involved in any drug dealing. They were good people. They did not deserve this,†Ryan Tuttle said, and then stared at Goines as he walked away.
During closing arguments in the trial’s punishment phase, prosecutors had asked for a life sentence. Goines’ attorneys had asked for the minimum sentence of five years, saying Goines had dedicated his life to keeping drugs off the streets.
“We still don’t believe legally that he is guilty of the crime of felony murder and we look forward to having the appellate courts review this,†Nicole DeBorde, one of Goines’ attorneys, told reporters after the sentence was read.
Goines had been free on bond since he was charged, but he was taken into custody following his conviction last month by the same jury.
Prosecutors said Goines falsely claimed an informant had bought heroin at the couple’s home from a man with a gun, setting up the violent confrontation in which the couple was killed and four officers, including Goines, were shot and wounded, and a fifth was injured. A Texas Ranger who investigated the raid testified that the officers fired first, killing the dog and likely provoking Tuttle’s gunfire.
His lawyers acknowledged he lied to get the search warrant, but sought to diminish the impact. Two witnesses — a fellow officer and the judge who signed the warrant — said the raid never would have happened if Goines had told the truth.
Investigators later found only small amounts of marijuana and cocaine in the house, and while Houston’s police chief at the time, Art Acevedo, initially praised Goines as being “tough as nails,†he later suspended him when the lies emerged. Goines later retired as the probes continued.
The probe into the drug raid uncovered allegations of much wider corruption. Goines was among a dozen officers tied to the narcotics squad who were later indicted on other charges. A judge dismissed charges against some of them, but a review of thousands of cases involving the unit led prosecutors to dismiss many cases, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned at least 22 convictions linked to Goines.
Ryan Tuttle said he hoped the deaths of his father and stepmother would spur police reform not just in Houston but around the country.
“If it’s happening in Houston, it’s happening everywhere,†Tuttle said. “We have to make sure this stops.â€
Ogg said the police department reviewed various policies after the raid but that a thorough revamping of narcotics enforcement by the agency has yet to happen.
An audit of the narcotics unit done after the raid found officers made hundreds of errors in cases, often weren’t thorough in their investigations and lacked supervision.
In a brief statement after the jury’s sentence, Houston police said, “We respect the jury’s decision in the trial involving Gerald Goines and thank the jurors for their time and service.â€
“This is not an indictment against police officers. There are 99% upstanding police officers. This was also about sending a message to them, that we believe in them, we support them. What we don’t support is corruption,†said prosecutor Tanisha Manning.
Goines also made a drug arrest in 2004 in Houston of George Floyd, whose 2020 death at the hands of a Minnesota police officer sparked a nationwide reckoning on racism in policing. A Texas board in 2022 declined a request that Floyd be granted a posthumous pardon for that drug conviction.
Goines also faces federal criminal charges in connection with the raid, and federal civil rights lawsuits filed by the families of Tuttle and Nicholas against Goines, 12 other officers and the city of Houston are set to be tried in November.
Ellen Trout Zoo director retiring after 48 years of service
Posted/updated on:
October 10, 2024 at
3:11 am
LUFKIN — The Ellen Trout Zoo has announced that their director, Gordon Henley, is retiring after 48 years of service to the Lufkin-based zoo, according to our news partner KETK. “Serving as the director of Ellen Trout Zoo has been a true honor,†Henley said. “I have cherished every moment spent creating a magical experience for our visitors, and I am profoundly grateful for the support of our community.â€
Henley’s journey with the zoo started back in 1976 after moving to Lufkin with his wife Charlotte from Oklahoma where he worked at the Tulsa Zoo.
“After an amazing 48-year journey, Gordon will be seeking new adventures. We want to take a moment to reflect on the cherished memories created at Ellen Trout Zoo,†the zoo said. “Join us in celebrating his remarkable legacy and the magic he’s helped cultivate for generations. Here’s to new adventures, Gordon!†(more…)
Supreme Court lets stand a decision barring emergency abortions that violate Texas ban
Posted/updated on:
October 7, 2024 at
4:17 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a decision barring emergency abortions that violate the law in Texas, which has one of the country’s strictest abortion bans.
Without detailing their reasoning, the justices kept in place a lower court order that said hospitals cannot be required to provide pregnancy terminations that would violate Texas law.
The Biden administration had asked the justices to throw out the lower court order, arguing that hospitals have to perform abortions in emergency situations under federal law. The administration pointed to the Supreme Court’s action in a similar case from Idaho earlier this year in which the justices narrowly allowed emergency abortions to resume while a lawsuit continues.
The administration also cited a Texas Supreme Court ruling that said doctors do not have to wait until a woman’s life is in immediate danger to provide an abortion legally. The administration said it brings Texas in line with federal law and means the lower court ruling is not necessary.
Texas asked the justices to leave the order in place, saying the state Supreme Court ruling meant Texas law, unlike Idaho’s, does have an exception for the health of a pregnant patient and there’s no conflict between federal and state law.
Doctors have said the law remains dangerously vague after a medical board refused to specify exactly which conditions qualify for the exception.
There has been a spike in complaints that pregnant women in medical distress have been turned away from emergency rooms in Texas and elsewhere as hospitals grapple with whether standard care could violate strict laws against abortion.
Pregnancy terminations have long been part of medical treatment for patients with serious complications, as way to to prevent sepsis, organ failure and other major problems. But in Texas and other states with strict abortion bans, doctors and hospitals have said it is not clear whether those terminations could run afoul of abortion bans that carry the possibility of prison time.
The Texas case started after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, leading to abortion restrictions in many Republican-controlled states. The Biden administration issued guidance saying hospitals still needed to provide abortions in emergency situations under a health care law that requires most hospitals to treat any patients in medical distress.
Texas sued over that guidance, arguing that hospitals cannot be required to provide abortions that would violate its ban. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court Appeals sided with the state, ruling in January that the administration had overstepped its authority.
Supreme Court rejects appeal from Texas officer convicted of manslaughter
Posted/updated on:
October 7, 2024 at
4:18 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court won’t hear an appeal from a former Texas police officer convicted in the death of a woman who was shot through a window of her home.
Aaron Dean was convicted of manslaughter in Atatiana Jefferson’s fatal shooting, and he was sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison. Dean was originally charged with murder. He argued on appeal that prosecutors should not have been allowed to ask the jury to consider the lesser charge at the end of the trial.
Dean, who is white, shot Jefferson, a 28-year-old Black woman, on Oct. 12, 2019, after a neighbor called a nonemergency police line to report that the front door to Jefferson’s home was open.
It later emerged that Jefferson and her nephew had left the doors open to vent smoke after he had burned hamburgers, and the two were up late playing video games.
Dean’s guilty verdict was a rare conviction of an officer for killing someone who was also armed with a gun.
Body camera footage showed that Dean and a second officer who responded to the call did not identify themselves as police at the house. Dean and the other officer testified that they thought the house might have been burglarized and they quietly moved into the fenced-off backyard looking for signs of forced entry.
There, Dean, whose gun was drawn, fired a single shot through the window a moment after shouting at Jefferson, who was inside, to show her hands.
Jefferson’ nephew testified that she took out her gun because she believed there was an intruder in the backyard.
Dockworkers’ union suspends strike until Jan. 15
Posted/updated on:
October 5, 2024 at
10:39 pm
DETROIT (AP) — Some 45,000 dockworkers at East and Gulf coast ports are returning to work after their union reached a deal to suspend a strike that could have caused shortages and higher prices if it had dragged on.
The International Longshoremen’s Association is suspending its three-day strike until Jan. 15 to provide time to negotiate a new contract. The union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents ports and shipping companies, said in a joint statement that they have reached a tentative agreement on wages.
A person briefed on the agreement said the ports sweetened their wage offer from about 50% over six years to 62%. The person didn’t want to be identified because the agreement is tentative. Any wage increase would have to be approved by union members as part of the ratification of a final contract.
Talks now turn to the automation of ports, which the unions says will lead to fewer jobs, and other sticking points.
Industry analysts have said that for every day of a port strike it takes four to six days to recover. But they said a short strike of a few days probably wouldn’t gum up the supply chain too badly.
The settlement pushes the strike and any potential shortages past the November presidential election, eliminating a potential liability for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee. It’s also a big plus for the Biden-Harris administration, which has billed itself as the most union-friendly in American history. Shortages could have driven up prices and reignited inflation.
The union went on strike early Tuesday after its contract expired in a dispute over pay and the automation of tasks at 36 ports stretching from Maine to Texas. The strike came at the peak of the holiday season at the ports, which handle about half the cargo from ships coming into and out of the United States.
Most retailers had stocked up or shipped items early in anticipation of the strike.
“With the grace of God, and the goodwill of neighbors, it’s gonna hold,†President Joe Biden told reporters Thursday night after the agreement.
In a statement later, Biden applauded both sides “for acting patriotically to reopen our ports and ensure the availability of critical supplies for Hurricane Helene recovery and rebuilding.â€
Biden said that collective bargaining is “critical to building a stronger economy from the middle out and the bottom up.â€
The union’s membership won’t need to vote on the temporary suspension of the strike. Until Jan. 15, the workers will be covered under the old contract, which expired on Sept. 30.
The union had been demanding a 77% raise over six years, plus a complete ban on the use of automation at the ports, which members see as a threat to their jobs. Both sides also have been apart on the issues of pension contributions and the distribution of royalties paid on containers that are moved by workers.
Thomas Kohler, who teaches labor and employment law at Boston College, said the agreement to halt the strike means that the two sides are close to a final deal.
“I’m sure that if they weren’t going anywhere they wouldn’t have suspended (the strike),†he said. “They’ve got wages. They’ll work out the language on automation, and I’m sure that what this really means is it gives the parties time to sit down and get exactly the language they can both live with.â€
Kohler said the surprise end to the strike may catch railroads with cars, engines and crews out of position. But railroads are likely to work quickly to fix that.
Just before the strike had begun, the Maritime Alliance said both sides had moved off their original wage offers, a tentative sign of progress.
Thursday’s deal came after Biden administration officials met with foreign-owned shipping companies before dawn on Zoom, according to a person briefed on the day’s events who asked not to be identified because the talks were private. The White House wanted to increase pressure to settle, emphasizing the responsibility to reopen the ports to help with recovery from Hurricane Helene, the person said.
Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su told them she could get the union to the bargaining table to extend the contract if the carriers made a higher wage offer. Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told the carriers they had to make an offer by the end of the day so a manmade strike wouldn’t worsen a natural disaster, the person said.
By midday the Maritime Alliance members agreed to a large increase, bringing about the agreement, according to the person.
Tesla issues 5th recall for the new Cybertruck within a year
Posted/updated on:
October 4, 2024 at
8:25 am
AUSTIN (AP) – Tesla is recalling more than 27,000 Cybertrucks because the rearview camera image may not activate immediately after shifting into reverse, the fifth recall for the vehicle since it went on sale late last year.
Tesla has released a free software upgrade to address the issue and owner notification letters are expected to be mailed Nov. 25.
Cybertruck owners have had to deal with a series of recalls since the vehicle went on sale in November. In June, there was a recall to fix problems with trim pieces that can come loose and front windshield wipers that can fail. Two months before that, some Cybertrucks were recalled because the accelerator pedal could stick.
In the most recent recall, the company notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that the display screens in effected trucks may remain blank for up to 8 seconds after a driver shifts to reverse. The U.S. requires those screens to activate with a rearview within 2 seconds of shifting into reverse.
Elon Musk’s Tesla delivered the first dozen or so of its futuristic Cybertruck pickups to customers in November, two years behind the original schedule.
Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752 or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 or go to http://www.nhtsa.gov.
Winnsboro PD mourns death of assistant chief
Posted/updated on:
October 5, 2024 at
10:38 pm
WINNSBORO — The Winnsboro Police Department announced the passing of one of their own Thursday morning.According to our news partner KETK, the police department said Assistant Chief David Scott Sewell passed away early Thursday and shared that he was a beloved member of the community. Sewell who joined Winnsboro PD in 2016 also served the Northeast Texas region for 39 years.
“Please keep his family, friends and the department in your prayers as we navigate this difficult time,†the police department said.
East Texas armed robbery suspect arrested
Posted/updated on:
October 5, 2024 at
10:38 pm
ANGELINA COUNTY — A 21-year-old man caught on surveillance camera robbing a convenience store on Wednesday in Angelina County has been arrested. According to Sheriff Tom Selman and our news partner KETK, a convenience store in the Pollok area on U.S. Highway 69 between Lufkin and Wells was robbed at around 9:00 a.m. when a man entered the store and approached the cashier with a handgun. The sheriff’s office said the man took the money and left toward Wells in a green Ford Expedition. The cashier was able to take a picture of the vehicle and partial license plate number which was then shared to local law enforcement.
The Lufkin Police Department was then able to get the full license plate and alerted the sheriff’s deputies that the vehicle was registered off Quarles Road in the county. (more…)
TYLER — The City of Tyler said that street repairs on East Dawson Street will block the west entrance of CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital’s Dawson parking garage this week. According to our news partner KETK, East Dawson Street to Clinic Drive will be closed from Monday, Oct. 14 to Friday, Oct. 18. The city of Tyler said to use South Fleishel Avenue to get to the emergency room entrance or the parking garage.
TYLER — Tyler Junior College is hosting a summit with legislators on ways to implement programs to create a smooth transition after graduation. According to our news partner KETK, Tuesday was the reception for all 50 presidents from every community college in Texas to talk with the U.S. representatives who are in the House Education and Workforce Committee. Community college leaders want to see creativity and innovation take place on their behalf in Congress.
CHEROKEE COUNTY — Law enforcement officials are searching for a man who reportedly stole a dump truck Tuesday morning. According to our news partner KETK, Cherokee County Sheriff Brent Dickson says a man in a gray t-shirt stole a dump truck and trailer from a county work site on CR 4211 out of Jacksonville. The man went north to Highway 110 and reportedly forgot to release the vehicle’s air brakes, which led to the tires of the truck smoking and catching fire. He reportedly bailed out of the dump truck in front of the Whitehouse Volunteer Fire Department on Highway 110 and ran away from the scene. TDCJ dogs were unable to find the person and the search was called off, according to Sheriff Brent Dickson.
LUFKIN — The Ellen Trout Zoo has announced that their director, Gordon Henley, is retiring after 48 years of service to the Lufkin-based zoo, according to our news partner KETK. “Serving as the director of Ellen Trout Zoo has been a true honor,†Henley said. “I have cherished every moment spent creating a magical experience for our visitors, and I am profoundly grateful for the support of our community.â€
WINNSBORO — The Winnsboro Police Department announced the passing of one of their own Thursday morning.According to our news partner KETK, the police department said Assistant Chief David Scott Sewell passed away early Thursday and shared that he was a beloved member of the community. Sewell who joined Winnsboro PD in 2016 also served the Northeast Texas region for 39 years.
ANGELINA COUNTY — A 21-year-old man caught on surveillance camera robbing a convenience store on Wednesday in Angelina County has been arrested. According to Sheriff Tom Selman and our news partner KETK, a convenience store in the Pollok area on U.S. Highway 69 between Lufkin and Wells was robbed at around 9:00 a.m. when a man entered the store and approached the cashier with a handgun. The sheriff’s office said the man took the money and left toward Wells in a green Ford Expedition. The cashier was able to take a picture of the vehicle and partial license plate number which was then shared to local law enforcement.