Today is
Thursday June 04, 2026
NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk’s space exploration company has filed preliminary paperwork to sell shares to the public, according to two sources familiar with the filing, a blockbuster offering that would likely rank as the biggest ever and could make its founder the world’s first trillionaire.
A SpaceX IPO promises to be one of the biggest Wall Street events of the year, with several investment banks lining up to help raise tens of billions to fund Musk’s ambitions to set up a base on the moon, put datacenters the size of several football fields in orbit and possibly one day send a man to Mars.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about the confidential registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SpaceX did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Exactly how much SpaceX plans to raise has not been disclosed but the figure is reportedly as much as $75 billion. At that level, the offering would easily eclipse the $29 billion that Saudi Aramco raised in its IPO in 2019.
The offering, coming possibly in June, could value all the shares of SpaceX at $1.5 trillion, nearly double what the company was valued in December when some minority owners sold their stakes, according to research firm Pitchbook, before an acquisition that increased its size.
Musk owns 42% of the SpaceX now, according to Pitchbook, though that figure will change with the IPO when new owners are issued shares. In any case, he is likely to pierce the trillion dollar mark because he is already close. Forbes magazine estimates Musk’s net worth at roughly $823 billion.
In addition to making reusable rockets to hurl astronauts and hardware into orbit, SpaceX owns Starlink, the world’s largest satellite communications company. The company also recently brought under its roof two other Musk businesses, social media platform X, formerly Twitter, and artificial intelligence business, xAI, in a controversial transaction because both the seller and the buyer were controlled by him.
SpaceX has become the biggest commercial launch company in its industry, responsible for sending payloads into orbit for customers across the globe, but has also benefited from big taxpayer spending. That has raised conflicts of interest issues given that Musk was the biggest donor to President Donald Trump’s campaign and is still a big backer.
In the past five years, SpaceX won $6 billion in contracts from NASA, the Defense Department and other U.S. government agencies, according to USAspending.gov.
Among current SpaceX owners is Donald Trump Jr, the president’s oldest son. He owns a shares through 1789 Capital. That venture capital firm made him a partner shortly after his father won the presidency for a second time and has been buying up federal contractors seeking to win taxpayer money ever since.
The White House and Trump himself have repeatedly denied there are any conflicts of interest between his role as president and his family’s businesses.
TYLER (AP) – A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on Tuesday that sought to allow churches to endorse political candidates without losing their tax-exempt status, dealing a blow to the Trump administration and other conservatives who have worked to eliminate the decades-old law barring nonprofits from supporting political office seekers.
Several Texas churches and national Christian groups brought the lawsuit challenging the Johnson Amendment, as it’s commonly known, arguing that their religious beliefs compelled them to speak to their congregations about all aspects of life, including electoral politics. Prohibiting electioneering from the pulpit in order to maintain their tax exemption was a violation of their First Amendment rights, the plaintiffs argued in their lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.
In the final days of the Biden administration, the Department of Justice sought to dismiss the case. Read the rest of this entry »
GRAPEVINE (AP) — A generational divide over the Iran war surfaced Thursday between older attendees and their political heirs at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, as the group’s leaders pleaded for unity in a challenging midterm election year for Republicans.
Younger conservatives spoke of disappointment and even “betrayal” over President Donald Trump’s launch of strikes against Iran, saying in interviews with The Associated Press that the president’s actions run counter to his many pledges to oppose foreign entanglements.
Meanwhile, older conservatives were looking past Trump’s campaign criticism of military action to topple foreign regimes, arguing the war in Iran is a pragmatic act forced by threats to the United States.
The bright dividing line emerged in conversations with a dozen participants on either end of the age spectrum who gathered for the annual meeting of conservatives, being held outside Dallas. That split could reflect flagging enthusiasm for Trump among some younger voters, a potentially troubling sign for Republicans heading into midterm elections and for the conservative movement as it looks to build beyond Trump’s tenure.
“We did not want to see more wars. We wanted actual America-first policies, and Trump was very explicit about that,” said Benjamin Williams, a 25-year-old marketing specialist for Young Americans for Liberty. “It does feel like a betrayal, for sure.”
Williams, from Austin, Texas, worries about his friends in the military, especially his Air Force officer brother. More broadly, he sees the war as an unnecessary disruption to the stability in the Middle East that could have long-term negative effects on the U.S. economy.
“Trump’s rhetoric was very important for people of my generation,” Williams said.
Auburn University sophomore Sean O’Brien’s support for Trump has slipped, especially with talk of sending U.S. troops into the Middle East. “I’m not happy,” he said.
Sending troops into Iran, he said, “would be full betrayal.”
In light of the U.S. military preparing to deploy at least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East in the coming days, O’Brien said, “That’s what keeps me up at night.”
Older CPAC participants were far more forgiving, describing Trump as wisely responsive to what they described as the threat Iran posed. Several, in fact, suggested Trump did not initiate the war, but that Iran had decades ago.
“I don’t believe he started a new war. He was acting in response to a 40-year-old war by Iran,” said 70-year-old retired defense contractor Joe Ropar of McKinney, Texas. “How long were we supposed to wait? I think he did what he had to do when he had to do it.”
“Do nothing? I’m not on board with that,” Ropar said.
Echoing a common theme from older participants, Kelle Phillips said Trump’s decision was a pragmatic reaction to a real threat that overrules the best hopes of campaign rhetoric.
“You campaign on what you want to do and then the world’s dynamics happen,” said Phillips, a 61-year-old author and religious instructor from Frisco, Texas. “I think the difference is if you have someone in the Iranian regime who wants to destroy America. You can’t reason with them.”
Trump’s goals in Iran, as James Scharre believes, are short-term and not a concern for those adverse to a long slog overseas.
Scharre, 61, also interprets Trump’s early campaign opposition to government overthrow as a preference, not an ironclad promise.
“I think he said he was against it,” he said. “Trump is a wise leader. He does what works. And I’m for it.”
Cracks in the conservative coalition began appearing early in the war, led by influential opinion leaders like podcaster Tucker Carlson.
This month, Joe Kent, the director of the Center for Counterterrorism at the Department of Homeland Security, quit his Trump administration post, saying in his departure statement that “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran” and that “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation.”
Right-wing podcaster Steve Bannon, who is expected to speak at CPAC, has worried aloud that a protracted Mideast military engagement would cost Republicans support by pushing some conservatives to sit out the November midterms.
This comes at a time when Republicans’ hold on the U.S. House is in jeopardy and the GOP’s thin Senate majority is not as secure as it was a year ago.
A recent survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research indicates that while Trump’s approval rating is holding steady, the conflict could be turning into a major political liability for his administration. About 59% of Americans say U.S. military action in Iran has been excessive, the poll found.
CPAC Chairman Matt Schlapp acknowledged conservatives were divided over Iran and said the convention’s annual straw poll will include a question about it. The results will be released Saturday, the convention’s final day.
“Any consensus is still to be determined. I think people trust President Trump, so I don’t think there’s been any shaking of his support,” Schlapp told the AP. “But I think underneath there’s concern about where does this lead.”
Tiffany Krieger, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh, said her onetime level-10 support for Trump has dipped to five over the war.
“It seems like the love for him is plateauing. We see our party splitting apart and we’re supposed to be united,” said Krieger, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. “I think this issue with the war has put a line through the conservative movement.”
Almost if addressing Krieger directly, Mercedes Schlapp, senior fellow for the CPAC foundation, opened Thursday’s session of the conference in Texas with a direct appeal.
“We cannot divide from within,” she told an audience of hundreds from the stage at the convention center. Referring to political opponents, she added: “Let’s stay united. They want us divided.”
EAST TEXAS — Road closures continue for night work from 8pm – 6am Wednesday night into Thursday morning. All access roads connecting I-20 and Toll 49 will be closed. Drivers are encouraged to plan ahead and use alternate routes.
RIO GRANDE VALLEY (AP) – Over the past five years at the U.S.-Mexico border, the Rev. Brian Strassburger has gone from ministering to throngs of asylum-seekers in overcrowded shelters to celebrating Mass with detained and deported migrants.
But while border crossings have drastically shrunk under President Donald Trump’s administration, the Jesuit priest said his mission remains centered on embodying the Christian message “that God is accompanying you on your journey.
“And the journey, whether it’s northbound or southbound, involves a lot of suffering,” Strassburger added. “We have a faith that speaks to us amid that suffering. We have a God who says, ‘I want to be one of you.’”
Based in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, Strassburger heads the Del Camino Jesuit Border Ministries, a trio of Jesuits who have been providing Mass and other sacraments to migrants on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border since 2021.
Back then, thousands of migrants crammed into bare-bones shelters daily before and after crossing the border in record numbers.
Nearly 2.5 million people crossed the border illegally or came legally through a system for those seeking humanitarian protections from May 2023, when Joe Biden’s administration ended COVID-19 restrictions on asylum, until January 2025, when Trump declared a national emergency at the border at the start of his second term.
Strassburger celebrated Mass in packed shelters in McAllen, Texas, and just across the Rio Grande in Reynosa, Mexico, where many thousands slept in tents in makeshift shelters and hundreds more waited outside for a chance to cross into the United States even as the Biden administration started to impose restrictions.
He was there, at a shelter run by Catholic nuns, the day after the Trump administration canceled all border appointments would-be asylum-seekers had made through an app to enter the United States.
After celebrating Mass, he asked people how they were managing the news. Most said they were feeling devastated, terrified and deceived. But one woman raised her hand and said, in Spanish, “The last thing we lose is hope.”
“Sandra, she doesn’t place her hope in a smartphone app or in a presidential administration or in a government. She puts her hope in the Lord, and that is a hope that doesn’t disappoint, even in the midst of the despairing moments of life,” Strassburger recalled. “If Sandra can say that, in that day and in that moment, how can I lose hope in my own ministry here on the border?”
The 41-year-old pastor’s journey to the priesthood and border ministry was one of grace more than planning, Strassburger said.
Raised in Colorado by Catholic parents, he dreamed of becoming a dad, math teacher and basketball coach in a Jesuit high school like the one he attended. It was after college, while volunteering with the Augustinians — among whom he met the future Pope Leo XIV — that he first considered a religious vocation, especially when ministering to AIDS victims at a hospice in South Africa.
“I’d always thought a religious vocation or a priesthood was like this cross that you bear because God tells you you have to. He’s like, ‘Sorry, Brian, you’re one of those ones who has to be a priest.’ And you’re like, ‘OK, God,’” Strassburger said. “I started to think, what if the life of priesthood isn’t this great burden, but actually the way for me to be my best self?”
In 2011, he entered the Jesuit novitiate and five years later, despite knowing no Spanish, he was sent to Nicaragua for more than two years. On his return, newly bilingual, he spent a summer at the Kino Border Initiative in the two Nogales — the cities in Arizona and Mexico just across the fence.
That’s where he found his mission, the ideal place for his ability to navigate a bilingual context and serve as a bridge. After ordination, his superior asked him to establish a Jesuit presence in the Rio Grande Valley, literally at the country’s margins, the places where Pope Francis had urged the church to go.
“I couldn’t have said yes fast enough,” Strassburger said, adding that the local bishop then assigned him and another Jesuit a simple mission. “He said, ‘Read the reality and respond to it.’ And that’s what we’ve been trying to do since then. And we identified very quickly the need for pastoral accompaniment of the migrant population.”
With the ongoing immigration crackdown, Strassburger has been focusing on celebrating regular Masses at two large Texas detention centers as well as in shelters in Mexico.
One of them, in Matamoros, is run by Mexican authorities for people who’ve been deported — some of them after decades in the United States, like one woman with six children, all U.S. citizens, ages 19 to 6. She was arrested after 29 years in the country, right before Christmas at an immigration court check-in.
“She’s like, ‘I just keep thinking, was it a mistake for me to even try to regularize my status? Like, if I had not gone to court that day, would I be celebrating Christmas with my six kids?’” Strassburger recalled. “That’s the kind of thing we encounter every day.”
Five years ago, William Cuellar was deported back to his native Mexico, which he left when he was 4. He’s now also staying in a shelter in Matamoros, which abuts Brownsville, Texas, to facilitate visits from his mother and adult children who remain in the U.S.
He started attending Mass with Strassburger six months ago and sees him as a friend more than a priest.
“When I met Father Brian, I was like, ‘Cool, I can communicate in English with someone else,’” Cuellar said. “He provides me with the time to hear me out.”
In addition to sacraments such as Mass, confession and baptisms, it’s that consoling, listening presence from Strassburger and the other Jesuits that helps migrants the most, added Sister Carmen Ramírez, who runs the Casa del Migrante shelter in Reynosa with another Catholic nun.
“They bring hope to people,” Ramírez said. “These men, they bring the Gospel, a glance of empathy, of compassion.”
The shelter now hosts about two dozen people mostly from Honduras and Mexico. When the Jesuits visit twice a week, another 50 families come for Mass and activities focused on mothers and children, most of whom are from Haiti.
“Father Brian is a man who knows how to relate to children. I imagine Jesus when I see them running to hug him,” Ramírez said. “His apostolate is of listening, of sitting down to listen, looking at people straight in the face, saying that there is a God who loves them through this encounter.”
GRAPEVINE (AP) — Conservatives are holding one of their largest annual gatherings at a perilous political moment for President Donald Trump and with open division on the right over the war he launched in Iran.
While Trump maintains broad support among conservatives, the war in Iran is more than a wrinkle for activists drawn to his “America First” campaign pledge against getting involved in foreign conflicts. A new AP-NORC poll shows about 59% of Americans think the military action in Iran is excessive. The debate will be a subtext — and likely flare publicly — as thousands of activists, influencers and Republican lawmakers gather at the Conservative Political Action Conference that begins Wednesday outside Dallas.
The event also comes a day after a Democrat flipped the Florida state legislative seat that’s home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
The gathering will be a contrast to the celebratory meeting one year ago when Trump, newly returned to office, vowed to “forge a new and lasting political majority” and Elon Musk wielded a chain saw to symbolize how the Republican administration was slashing the government workforce and red tape.
This year, neither Trump nor Vice President JD Vance has been publicly announced as speaking to the gathering. But among those who are slated to speak are big names in the MAGA movement who have voiced conflicting views on the Iran war.
“This is obviously going to be a hot topic,” said John Gizzi, a CPAC veteran and columnist for the conservative media outlet Newsmax, who noted the possibility of greater U.S. involvement over an uncertain length of time.
Among the featured speakers scheduled at the four-day event is longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon. Bannon said during his “War Room” podcast this month that should the war become “a hard slog,” it could cost the GOP conservative voters ahead of the midterms.
“We are going to bleed support,” Bannon said.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who supports the war, also is on the agenda at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center.
“I think President Trump was exactly right to act to protect Americans,” Cruz said last week in a CBS News interview.
Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s scheduled speaking slot is a reminder of the disagreement among some conservatives about the U.S. military alliance with Israel against Iran.
Gaetz, host of a show on the conservative One America News Network, has said the U.S. has been too cozy with Israel as popular conservative personalities such as Tucker Carlson have challenged conservatives’ longtime bond with the country, prompting criticism from GOP groups, including pro-Israel Republicans, of antisemitism.
Others scheduled to speak include Trump border czar Tom Homan and former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, who is running for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina.
A year after Trump presided over the group’s jubilant conference upon his return to office, he is in a much different place.
At war while worries about jobs and household costs linger, his approval is down. His signature domestic policy, aimed at tightening voting rules ahead of November’s midterm elections, has stalled in a Congress his party controls, while the House Republican majority is in jeopardy and the party’s hold on the Senate is less certain than a year ago.
Despite the dividing lines, Trump enjoys enduring approval from his party’s right flank. Eighty-six percent of conservatives said they approved of the president’s job performance in a February AP-NORC poll.
And while Trump’s supporters remain devoted, some within the most conservative circles say division over Iran could signal trouble for Republicans in November.
Texas Rep. Steve Toth, who plans to attend CPAC, suggested that Trump’s support remains robust among conservatives but that Republican messaging on the war could be stronger.
“From MAGA people, for the most part, I don’t hear frustration with the president,” said Toth, who beat incumbent Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw in Texas’ March 3 primary. “I don’t know that we’re doing a great job at communicating the full ramifications.”
Another stark reminder of the contrast with last year is Texas’ unresolved Senate primary, a particular political headache for Trump.
Texas Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton, who is challenging four-term GOP Sen. John Cornyn, not only is attending the event but also has one of the event’s premier speaking roles, the Ronald Reagan Dinner on Friday evening. Cornyn is not attending the Texas conference.
Trump said three weeks ago he would soon endorse one of them after Paxton finished narrowly behind Cornyn in the March 3 primary, though neither received a majority to avoid a May 26 runoff.
Trump implored whoever didn’t get the endorsement to drop out, writing in a social media post that the bitter contest “cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer.”
The deadline for candidates to remove their names from the May 26 runoff ballot passed last week, as Paxton and Cornyn were launching stepped-up attack ads targeting one another.
WHITEHOUSE — The City of Whitehouse has decided not to enter into ICE’s 287(g) program following Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Tuesday night, community members held signs protesting outside the Whitehouse city council chambers. As the meeting got underway, many passionately shared their opinions with the city council members, urging them to oppose the 2-87-g agreement with ICE that would allow trained police officers to help enforce immigration law.
“I strongly oppose 287(g), I don’t believe that it’s the job of local law enforcement officials to do the job of the federal government,” Whitehouse resident Dylan Sigler said. “Whenever I saw that white house was considering this agreement, I felt like it was my responsibility to come out here and voice that dissent.” Read the rest of this entry »
PORT ARTHUR (AP) – An oil refinery fire near the Texas coast was put out Tuesday and a shelter-in-place order was lifted, hours after a large explosion at the complex shot plumes of smoke into the air, officials said.
No one was injured in Monday’s explosion at the Valero refinery in Port Arthur, about 90 miles east of Houston, Mayor Charlotte M. Moses said. She had urged residents in parts of the west side of the city to stay put.
“There’s been an explosion, yes, but we’re OK; everybody’s OK,” she said. “They’re trying to put the fire out as quickly as possible.”
Residents at least several miles away said they felt their homes shake. Some schools in the area were closed Tuesday as a precaution.
The explosion comes amid a spike in gas prices driven by uncertainty over the global oil supply because of the Iran war.
The refinery has about 770 employees and can process about 435,000 barrels of oil per day, according to Valero’s website. The plant refines heavy sour crude oil into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
Images and video posted online show a large plume of smoke and flames billowing out from the refinery.
Valero did not respond to emails and a call from The Associated Press seeking comment. Local television stations reported a company spokesperson said everyone was accounted for.
Texas state Rep. Christian Manuel said in a post on social media that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality arrived at the refinery with air monitoring equipment and was working with local and state partners.
TYLER — The University of Texas at Tyler named Dr. Jenifer Chilton as the dean of the School of Nursing. Chilton has served as interim dean since 2025, according to a UT press release.
“A longtime and highly respected member of our School of Nursing faculty, she has served as interim dean, providing steady leadership,” said UT Tyler President Julie V. Philley, MD. “Dr. Chilton brings a spirit of innovation and collaboration, along with a deep commitment to the university’s mission.”
Chilton first served as a preceptor for UT Tyler community health students in 2004 and became a clinical instructor in 2007. Starting in 2021, Chilton served as the associate dean for academic affairs, playing a key role in advancing the school’s academic mission, improving student outcomes and fostering a collaborative environment for faculty and staff. Read the rest of this entry »
SMITH COUNTY — The dome has been installed on top of the new Smith County Courthouse. Overnight, the 56,000-pound lower portion of the dome was installed. Hoar Construction officials monitored wind conditions throughout the weekend and were able to install it during the early morning hours of Monday, March 23. After 8 a.m., they installed the 16,000-pound upper portion.
A 900-ton mobile crane — one of the largest cranes of its kind and reportedly the second largest crane on wheels in the United States — was used, said Fletcher Rives assistant project manager for Hoar Construction.
“This milestone represents a major step forward in the restoration and brings the courthouse closer to completion,” Rives said. Read the rest of this entry »
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the appeal of a Texas-based online citizen journalist who said she was wrongly arrested in a case that drew attention from national media organizations and free speech advocates.
The justices left in place a divided federal appeals court ruling that found journalist Priscilla Villarreal, known online as La Gordiloca, could not sue police officers and other officials over her arrest for seeking and obtaining nonpublic information from police.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, writing, “It should be obvious that this arrest violated the First Amendment.”
The high court has previously directed the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review Villareal’s case in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling in another case from Texas. In June 2024, the justices gave a former local elected official another chance to pursue her lawsuit claiming she too was wrongly arrested.
In that case, Sylvia Gonzalez, a former city council member in the San Antonio suburb of Castle Hills, said she was arrested in retaliation as part of a dispute with a political rival.
But the 5th Circuit essentially stood by its earlier ruling and this time, the justices declined to intervene without explanation. “The Fifth Circuit has doubled down on granting officials free rein to turn routine news reporting into a felony,” Villareal’s lawyers wrote in their Supreme Court appeal.
A state judge had previously dismissed the criminal case against Villareal, saying the law used to arrest her in 2017 was unconstitutional. She then sought to sue the officials for damages. The full 5th Circuit ruled 9-7 that officials Villarreal sued in Laredo and Webb County were entitled to legal immunity.
Villarreal had sought — and obtained from a police officer — the identities of a person who killed himself and a family involved in a car accident and published the information on Facebook. The arrest affidavit said she sought the information to gain Facebook followers.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from longtime Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed who has sought to test crime-scene evidence that he says will help clear him.
The justices left in place a ruling against Reed from the federal appeals court in New Orleans for the second time in less than three years.
The three liberal justices dissented.
Reed was sentenced to death for the 1996 killing of 19-year-old Stacey Stites. Prosecutors have refused to allow for DNA testing of the webbed belt that was used to strangle Stites as she made her way to work at a supermarket in Bastrop, a rural community about 30 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Austin.
Prosecutors say Reed also raped Stites, but he contends that he was having a consensual affair with her.
Reed has long maintained that Stites’ fiance, former police officer Jimmy Fennell, was the real killer. Fennell was angry about the interracial affair, Reed says. Stites was white and Reed is Black. Fennell, who served time for sexual assault and was released from prison in 2018, has denied killing Stites.
“The killer held that belt tight against her throat for minutes, and must have left his sweat and skin cells—and thus his DNA—where he gripped the belt, both on the surface and deep within the webbing,” Reed’s attorneys wrote.
State and lower federal courts have so far backed prosecutors’ refusal to allow for the testing, which would be paid for by Reed’s defense team.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that it is “inexplicable” why prosecutors wouldn’t allow the belt to be tested, “despite the very substantial possibility that such testing would exculpate Reed and identify the real killer.”
With the high court’s refusal to step in, “the State will likely execute Reed without the world ever knowing whether Reed’s or Fennell’s DNA is on the murder weapon,” Sotomayor wrote in an opinion that was joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
The state’s top criminal appeals court ruled that the Texas law on DNA testing doesn’t apply to items that may have been contaminated. But the state routinely uses contaminated evidence in prosecutions, Reed’s lawyers wrote, and in any event, the state, not Reed, was responsible for the handling of the evidence.
In 2023, the justices ruled 6-3 to send Reed’s case back to a lower court for his constitutional challenge to the state’s law on DNA testing.
The issue before the high court then was whether Reed, sentenced to death more than 25 years ago, waited too long to file his lawsuit claiming that untested crime-scene evidence would exonerate him. Texas courts and the federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled that he missed the deadline.
Reed’s efforts to stop his execution have received support from such celebrities as Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian and Oprah Winfrey.
SMITH COUNTY — Smith County Road 129 will be closed Monday and Tuesday, March 23-24, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. between CR 146 and CR 113. Smith County Road and Bridge crews will be installing cross culverts under this section of the road.
The Texas Department of Transportation will be closing CR 436 at its intersection with Farm-to-Market Road 16 on Tuesday, March 24, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. This road will be closed for the tie-in of CR 436 to the new elevation of FM 16.
Smith County has an interactive map that shows what County Roads are closed. It can be found by clicking here. Go to the “How Do I” tab at the top of the page, select view and then click on “County Road and Office Closures.”
DALLAS (AP) – Scenes of airport security lines spilling out of terminals may be adding a new layer of stress for travelers as the busy spring break season unfolds.
Some airports have seen wait times stretch well past an hour. In recent days, passengers reported waiting up to two hours in line at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, while people were advised to get to the airports in New Orleans and Austin, Texas, as much as three hours before their flights.
Many other airports reported wait times in line with normal conditions, making it difficult for travelers — especially those with upcoming trips or those accustomed to arriving at the last minute — to know what to expect.
The uneven delays are being driven by a mix of factors, including a partial government shutdown that has strained Transportation Security Administration staffing, along with heavy spring break crowds. The result is a patchwork of conditions that can shift quickly, even within the same airport.
That unpredictability makes checking TSA wait times before a scheduled departure a key step for airline customers right now.
TSA is not actively managing its sites during the shutdown, meaning the wait times listed on the MyTSA mobile app may not be accurate. Experts say the estimated wait times listed on third-party websites tracking TSA lines may also be outdated during the shutdown if they rely on publicly available data.
“Luckily, major airports tend to list those checkpoint times, terminal by terminal. I can’t think of a major one that doesn’t,” said Eric Rosen, director of travel content for The Points Guy, a travel and finance advice website.
The most reliable way to monitor wait times right now is by checking an airport’s websites and social media accounts, Rosen said, including the social platform X, where many airports have been sharing timely updates and guidance.
Still, travelers should keep in mind that airport conditions can change quickly, meaning any information might not reflect what is happening at a specific time.
Experts say it’s best to check airport conditions early and often. Waiting until a few hours before a flight can leave little to no margin for delays — for example, if the drive to the airport takes 45 minutes for a flight leaving in three hours.
The shutdown, which began Feb. 14, affects only the Department of Homeland Security, which includes TSA. It is the third funding lapse in a year that has left roughly 50,000 TSA agents working without pay and waiting for money from missed paychecks.
Employee absences are rising as the shutdown drags on because unpaid TSA workers face growing financial strain, making it harder to afford basics, like gas or childcare, while continuing to report for work, according to the American Federation of Government Employees, the union that represents most airport security screeners. Homeland Security has said at least 366 TSA agents have quit during the shutdown.
“It’s so hard to predict where these bottlenecks are going to pop up,” Rosen said. “One airport might have 30% of its TSA agents calling out in a certain day and 10% the next day. There’s just no way to know that in advance.”
Democrats in Congress have said Homeland Security won’t get funded until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year.
Tyler Hosford, a security director at global risk management firm International SOS, said travelers should take a proactive approach rather than relying solely on monitoring TSA wait times.
When booking travel, flying earlier in the day can be helpful, he said, because passengers would have more time to adjust their plans if something goes wrong — whether that means rebooking another flight, departing from a different airport or arranging a rental car.
“I always say you should have a Plan B under the best of circumstances,” Hosford said. “But I think we’re to a point where you need to start having Plan C, D and maybe even E.”
If travelers arrive at an airport with long lines, it doesn’t have to be a hopeless situation, Hosford said.
Passengers can ask staff at security checkpoints for an estimated wait time and whether any assistance is available to move through the line more quickly.
“Always talk to people. It can never hurt to ask,” Hosford said. “The worst they can say is, ’No, we can’t help you.'”
If that happens, he said, contact the airline — by phone, on their mobile app or on social media — to ask about options for rebooking.
“Never stay stagnant. You want to be moving forward trying to find your options,” he said. “It can feel exhausting, but the alternate is you potentially get stuck and miss your flight.”
AUSTIN (AP) – Many of the upcoming celebrations and holidays honoring the late farmworker labor leader César Chavez are being renamed, postponed or completely canceled in the wake of allegations that he sexually abused women and girls while at the helm of the United Farm Workers Union.
Labor rights activist Dolores Huerta revealed this week she was among those who say they were abused by Chavez, who died more than three decades ago.
The allegations have prompted swift fallout, including from the United Farm Workers, which announced it would not take part in any events named after the organization’s former leader.
Several states recognize a day on or near Chavez’s March 31 birthday as an annual holiday, including California, Colorado, Minnesota, Texas, Utah and Washington. In 2014, President Barack Obama signed a proclamation designating March 31 as César Chavez Day. The day isn’t a paid holiday for federal workers, however — it’s a commemorative observance.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday that his state would not observe the holiday this year, and that he was directing all state agency heads to comply with the change. Abbott also said he would work with legislators to remove the holiday from state law.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has declined to recognize March 31 as César Chavez Day as she has in the two prior years, said Liliana Soto, a spokesperson for Hobbs. While it is not a state holiday, some Arizona municipalities recognize it, closing schools or government offices.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday said he was still “processing” the news and wouldn’t commit to making any changes to the state holiday.
The city of Lansing, Michigan, canceled its Legacy of César Chavez Dinner on March 25. The featured speaker was scheduled to be granddaughter Julie Chavez Rodriguez, who was campaign manager for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
“We remain committed to honoring the Latino community, and the service, dignity, and rights of farmworkers. We will be working on further events and celebrations in the future,” the city said.
The city of Milwaukee also canceled its annual celebration.
The Coconino County Hispanic Advisory Council in Arizona postponed an annual César E. Chavez Community Breakfast, with plans to reschedule it to focus on the contributions and achievements of Hispanic residents in the county.
San Jose, the largest city in Northern California, is canceling its César Chavez celebration, the mayor announced Wednesday morning. Matt Mahan said the city would identify ways to honor the legacy of the farmworker movement without celebrating “individuals who caused such profound harm to the community.”
The Hispanic Advocates and Business Leaders of Austin, Texas, announced that an annual march honoring Chavez set for March 28 would no longer take place. Several Austin city leaders also announced that they support the renaming of César Chavez Street.
The César Chavez Peace and Justice Committee of Denver canceled a celebration set for April 11.
Officials at the AFL-CIO said the allegations came as a shock and that the federation of unions would not participate or endorse any activities for César Chavez Day.
“Our thoughts are first and foremost with any victims of assault and abuse who have described experiencing what no one — especially children — should ever have to survive,” AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler and secretary-treasurer Fred Redmond said in a statement. “No legacy can excuse it.”
The organization continues to support farmworkers and said the rights they have won “cannot be erased by the horrific actions of one person.”
Dozens of schools, streets and other locations across the United States are named for Chavez, including the César E. Chávez National Monument in Keene, California.
Dennis Arguelles, the director of the National Parks Conservation Association in Southern California, said renaming the national monument would require an act of Congress. He said the national park site should continue to honor the farmworker movement and leaders who fought for dignity, better working conditions and fair wages.
The Lubbock Democratic Party in Texas on Wednesday called on city leaders to rename César Chavez Drive to honor Dolores Huerta.
In Wisconsin, Milwaukee City Alderperson JoCasta Zamarripa said discussions will begin soon on what to do about a street named after Chavez.
Portland, Oregon, city councilor Candace Avalos said she would start a petition to rename a city boulevard after Huerta. City rules require 2,500 signatures to start a renaming effort, Avalos wrote on social media, urging her constituents to stay tuned for ways to help with the effort.
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a New Mexico Democrat, issued a statement Wednesday saying abuse of any kind, especially against children, is indefensible and a betrayal of the values that Latino leaders have championed for generations.
“His name should be removed from landmarks, institutions and honors,” Luján said of Chavez. “We cannot celebrate someone who carried out such disturbing harm.” ___ Associated Press reporters around the United States contributed.