Today is
Wednesday July 22, 2026
LONDON, Uk. (AP) – BP has ousted its chairman over what it called serious concerns related to “important governance standards, oversight and conduct.”
The departure was abrupt and unexpected, with Albert Manifold having been appointed to the position late last year.
“Albert has helped bring a welcome focus and pace to BP’s transformation,” Amanda Blanc, senior independent director, said in a statement Tuesday. “However, the board has been surprised and disappointed to learn of governance oversight and conduct issues it deems unacceptable and has taken decisive action.”
BP’s board named Ian Tyler as interim chair, effective immediately.
BP, based in London, is a “supermajor,” one of the five largest oil production and exploration companies in the world when measured by revenue and profit.
Manifold, who had been the top executive at Dublin-based global building materials company CRH for 10 years, became the chair at BP in October. BP was looking for someone to revamp the oil giant and went with an industry outsider in Manifold, who had made major strategic changes at CRH.
After a new focus on renewable energy at BP in 2020, by 2025 the company was seeking a return to its roots. BP’s hard reset was criticized by environmentalists, as well as some shareholders.
CEO Murray Auchincloss said last year that optimism over opportunities in renewable energy was misplaced, with the company moving “too far and too fast.”
Changes in leadership at BP in recent years has been tumultuous.
CEO Bernard Looney resigned in late 2023 after BP determined that he had misled the company over his past relationships with colleagues.
Auchincloss stepped down in December, and the company named Meg O’Neill as his successor.
Manifold’s was challenged almost immediately when shareholders defeated company resolutions this spring that would have allowed BP to reduce climate reporting requirements and move its annual meetings fully online. Some 18% of shareholders voted against Manifold’s election as chairman, a high level of opposition for an appointment that is generally rubber stamped by investors.
Legal & General, one of Britain’s largest insurers and investment companies, said at the time that Manifold was responsible for resolutions that would have had “a negative impact on shareholders’ insight into how the company is addressing financially material long-term risks, and seizing long-term value creation opportunities, associated with the energy transition,” the Times of London reported on April 23.
Glass Lewis, an influential shareholder advisor, urged investors to vote against Manifold’s election. It held that BP took “unprecedented action” by refusing to consider a resolution from a group of climate activists and pension funds hoping to force the board to create an alternative strategy should demand for fossil fuels decline, the Times reported.
Like other big oil companies, BP has struggled with falling demand in recent years.
BP’s 2025 earnings fell 16% from a year earlier to $7.49 billion as the price of Brent crude, a benchmark for international oil prices, dropped 16.9%. The company’s preferred measure of earnings is underlying replacement cost profit, which adjusts for one-time items and fluctuations in the market value of inventories. Net income plunged 86% to $55 million.
Last year there were media reports that British oil giant Shell was in talks to buy rival BP. Shell denied the reports at the time.
The search for a new chair is underway, BP said Tuesday.
Shares of BP Plc slid nearly 5% in midday trading on the NYSE.
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CHAPEL HILL – Chapel Hill ISD is deeply saddened by the recent and sudden loss of 2026 graduate Vanessa Vazquez. Vanessa was a valued member of the Bulldog family, and her passing is heartbreaking for our students, staff, and community. The school extends their heartfelt condolences and prayers to her family, friends, classmates, and all who knew and loved her.
During this difficult time, we ask our community to keep the Vazquez family in your thoughts and to respect their privacy as they grieve. Counseling support will be available for students and staff members in need.
Vanessa will always be remembered as part of the Bulldog family.
DALLAS (AP) — After three terms in the U.S. House and two unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate, Colin Allred said he’s heard plenty about voters’ suspicions that politicians are just trying to make a buck in Washington.
“‘What about the stock trading in Congress? What about people getting rich in Congress?’” Allred said they ask him regularly. “And I have to say to them, you’re absolutely right about that, too. We need to be better.”
He’s challenging Rep. Julie Johnson in the Democratic runoff for a Dallas-area House seat on Tuesday, and he’s one of several candidates trying to harness populist anger over congressional stock trading. Allred has denounced Johnson for trades involving companies like Palantir, a data analytics firm with ties to President Donald Trump’s administration.
Johnson said her trades were handled by a financial manager, and she accused Allred of being “only out for himself.” She pointed to financial disclosures that showed Allred’s wealth nearly doubling during his own time in Congress, although Allred said his assets were in a blind trust and the money came from his wife’s income as a partner at a law firm.
“To be clear, the sum total I made on that trade was only $90,” Johnson said of her Palantir stock. “My opponent is trying to make it seem like it was hundreds or thousands.”
The bitter campaign is emblematic of broader debates within the Democratic Party over the role of money in politics. Long a refrain of strident progressives and good-government reformers, accusations that political rivals are self-dealing or bought by special interests have become a mainstay of Democratic primaries. The heightened criticism of lawmakers’ personal wealth comes as the party looks to sharpen its anti-corruption message against Trump and to develop a platform for overhauling Washington if Democrats take power in the midterms.
Some are tracking congressional stock trading
Trump campaigned on a promise to “drain the swamp,” capitalizing on Americans’ disdain for the Washington establishment. Now that his family is profiting while he’s back in the White House, Democrats are eager to regain the upper hand on an issue that could prove potent with voters.
“The difficulty is that right now, no party has the mantle on anti-corruption,” said Daniel Lobo-Lewis, a political consultant in Washington. “Many voters outside of the beltway see both parties as corrupt, because they see all politicians as bought by the donors or by their own self-interest.”
Lobo-Lewis and Nico Agosta founded the Political Integrity Project last year to track stock trading and corporate donations involving members of Congress.
The organization asks candidates to sign an “integrity pledge” to refrain from trading stocks or accepting corporate donations while in Congress and vow not to work as a lobbyist after they leave office. So far, about 90 challengers and seven sitting lawmakers have taken the pledge.
“If we want to, in any way, start rebuilding trust in our political institutions, it starts with no-brainer changes like this that have an approval rating above and beyond any other issue you could imagine,” Lobo-Lewis said.
Congress has yet to enact a stock trading ban for its members, though insider trading is already illegal for members just like it is for anyone else. There are multiple proposals on Capitol Hill, but none have gained traction.
A bipartisan bill to ban congressional stock trading stalled this year despite receiving Trump’s blessing during his State of the Union. And Democrats remain divided over the number of alleged loopholes in their competing proposals.
Anti-corruption messages spread in Democratic primaries
A crowded race in a Democratic-leaning Utah congressional seat has featured attacks over candidates’ personal wealth. State Sen. Nate Blouin criticized his main rival, former Rep. Ben McAdams, for having equity in a Utah data center firm, and excoriated others in the race for past investments and jobs.
McAdams said the equity of several thousand dollars was payment for a past contract completed by his government consulting firm while he was a private citizen. His campaign defended the data center project by saying it would use no water and run on clean energy.
A spokesperson for McAdams also claimed Blouin “is currently hiding his corporate donations” by removing them from campaign disclosure reports, which McAdams’ campaign claims “is not only deceitful, it breaks campaign finance law.”
In an interview, Blouin rejected the claim that he broke the law, and said that he removed the donations because he returned the money to each donor.
“It was actually quite uncomfortable to return some of those,” said Blouin, because some of the firms included local firms and clean energy companies. “But there is a perception that campaign contributions from lobbyists and companies influence votes, and I think there is some truth to that.”
In a New York City congressional district that includes both Wall Street and the Democratic Socialists of America’s headquarters, the city’s former comptroller, Brad Lander, has accused Rep. Dan Goldman of trying to buy another term by using his own wealth to match campaign contributions. Goldman, an heir to the Levi Strauss family fortune, says he entered all of his assets into a blind trust after taking office in 2023.
A spokesperson for Goldman said Lander is “running a deceitful campaign based on absurd lies that Dan is beholden to special interests” and that Goldman has raised more campaign funds than Lander “without taking a dime of corporate PAC money.” Goldman has spent his own money on the race, the spokesperson said: “To ensure that the NY-10 voters can be sure that he is beholden only to them and his principles.”
Lander said Goldman’s spending is “not illegal, but it is certainly anti-democratic when a quarter-billionaire like Dan Goldman not only dumps millions of his own inherited wealth into his elections but also solicits money from the same forces who are rigging the economy and worsening the affordability crisis.”
More candidates are fighting over stocks in California
Even representatives who support a ban on congressional stock trading are feeling the heat.
Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman of California is facing multiple primary challengers who have criticized the congressman for holding stocks while serving in Congress. Sherman does not trade individual stocks and supports a ban on stock trading.
“I only own three individual stocks, which I inherited from my mother when she passed away, which were originally acquired by my grandmother,” Sherman said. “I have never sold them because I made a promise to my constituents that I would not buy and sell individual stocks.”
One of Sherman’s primary challengers is Jake Levine, a former climate adviser to President Joe Biden, who signed the pledge from the Political Integrity Project. But Sherman said Levine “refuses to disclose key elements of his $18 million stock portfolio, and actively bought and sold stocks while serving on the National Security Council.” Levine has said he cannot disclose the portfolio because it is managed by his family and he has no oversight.
In the race to succeed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California State Sen. Scott Wiener has critiqued his progressive opponent, Saikat Chakrabarti, over his personal wealth. Chakrabarti is a former software engineer who earned millions as an early employee at the tech firm Stripe. He later served as the first chief of staff to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
Wiener said that Chakrabarti “has enormous investments” and “is trying to buy this seat” while “spreading bogus conspiracy theories” with his own wealth. He criticized Chakrabarti for not disclosing the last decade of his stock trades.
“If you’re making a ban on stock trades a central part of your campaign — as Saikat is doing, running around saying that everyone under the sun is corrupt — how about you tell the voters about your own stock trading history,” Wiener said.
Chakrabarti retorted that his wealth as a private citizen is not relevant to his future time in office and that he would place all of his assets into a blind trust should he be elected. He critiqued Wiener for being supported by super PACs funded by the AI firm Anthropic and other major corporations.
“This is all part of a larger problem, which is just the whole idea of corruption in our politics,” Chakrabarti said. “If you’re in Congress, you sit on committees that oversee a lot of these industries, and it’s unethical to be using that insider information, that knowledge to make stock trades. But that doesn’t apply to a private citizen.”
SMITH COUNTY – A vehicle is currently stuck inside a house in Smith County after crashing into the home on Monday afternoon.
According to officials with Smith County Emergency Services District 2, the crash occurred at around 5 p.m. after the driver of a Jeep crashed into a home located off Highway 271 in the Eagle Creek subdivision.
Firefighters are currently on the scene working to remove the vehicle from the house. No injuries have been reported following the crash and all the residents have been removed from the home. It is unclear at this time how the crash occurred.
SMITH COUNTY – Smith County will have 19 voting centers open for the Primary Runoff Election from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26.
Statewide runoff races are on the ballot. U.S. Senator, Attorney General, Railroad Commissioner and Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3, Judge are on the Republican ticket. The Democratic ballot will have runoff races for U.S. Representative, District 1, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. The City of Tyler Mayor Runoff Election is not on the current ballot. That election is set for June 13, with early voting beginning June 1. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — Crews have responded to a major crash involving an 18-wheeler on FM 14 , state park highway, Sunday. According to our news partner KETK and Smith County Emergency Services District 2, an 18-wheeler and an SUV crashed on FM 14 at around 5:12 p.m. on Sunday, leaving one passenger trapped.
The SUV was flipped on its roof during the crash and one passenger had to be extracted from the vehicle so they could be taken to a hospital for treatment. Smith County officials do not know the extent of the passenger’s injuries.
The 18-wheeler driver was uninjured in the crash. Smith County officials said FM 14 would be closed until further notice as they work to clear the roadway.
TOOL – On Thursday evening, Henderson County residents packed into the West Cedar Creek Municipal Utility District meeting, protesting a proposal from Diode Ventures, a Kansas?based company seeking to build a data center near Key Ranch Estates.
When the room filled beyond capacity, dozens stood outside in the rain, waiting for their turn to speak. Their message was unified and blunt: “Profit should be secondary to people’s welfare.”
Diode Ventures already has two solar projects sold in Texas, one in Fort Bend County and another in Hamilton County, and is developing a massive 900?plus?acre site in Red Oak, south of Dallas, called Weston Holladay Technology Park. The company says that the project will position it as a leader in data?center development in the state’s “growing digital market.” Read the rest of this entry »
KILGORE – Kilgore College has named Chris Clifton as its new director of bands and instrumental music, bringing a Ranger Band alumnus back home to lead one of the college’s most storied traditions. Clifton, a 2003 KC graduate and former member of the Ranger Band, returns to KC after nearly two decades of public school band leadership experience across East Texas, including serving as director of bands at Carlisle ISD from 2015 to 2026. His previous experience also includes leadership roles at Gladewater ISD and Nacogdoches ISD.
As director of bands and instrumental music, Clifton will oversee the KC band program, including the Ranger Band, while working to recruit and develop student musicians for the college’s instrumental ensembles.
“For me, this is a full-circle moment,” Clifton said. “Kilgore College played a major role in shaping my musical journey, and I’m honored to return to the place that gave me so many incredible memories and opportunities. My goal is to rebuild and strengthen the tradition of excellence that has long defined the Ranger Band while creating an exciting experience for a new generation of student musicians.” Read the rest of this entry »
SMITH COUNTY – On Thursday, May 21, at approximately 10:15 am, Smith County Deputies responded to a reported Deadly Conduct incident that occurred at County Road 46, Old Harmony Road near Tyler. When Deputies contacted the victim, she reported that two suspects, both residents of the location, had assaulted and robbed her. They also were told that the incident took place on the previous evening and continued into the morning. At this time, Patrol personnel notified the Criminal Investigations Division (CID).
The victim was taken to the downtown office to be interviewed. During the interview, the victim stated that sometime during the preceding evening , she was approached outside the residence by the suspects, who demanded money to purchase narcotics. When she refused, one of the suspects allegedly grabbed her and cut her arm with a knife. The victim was able to escape, retreat into the residence, secure herself inside her bedroom, and remain there for the remainder of the night. Read the rest of this entry »
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TYLER – The City of Tyler announced that Old Bascom Road in Tyler will be closed starting May 22, until June 25. The closure will allow for construction of the roadway and drainage improvements, the city said in release. Drivers are encouraged to use alternate routes and should expect delays near the intersections of Old Omen Road and Old Bascom Road and Kent Drive and Old Bascom Road.
JASPER COUNTY – No investi-gator needed for this capture. In Jasper County, a 9-and-a-half-foot alligator was captured after stalling traffic on 1013 West Wednesday. According to our news partner KETK, Jasper County Sheriff’s Office deputies can add “alligator catchers” to their list of accolades after successfully removing the alligator from the road. After being captured by deputies, the alligator was handed over to Texas Game Wardens and was safely relocated.
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SMITH COUNTY – Smith County will have 19 voting centers open for the Primary Runoff Election from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26.
Statewide runoff races are on the ballot.
U.S. Senator, Attorney General, Railroad Commissioner and Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3, Judge are on the Republican ticket. The Democratic ballot will have runoff races for U.S. Representative, District 1, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General.
The City of Tyler Mayor Runoff Election is not on the current ballot. That election is set for June 13, with early voting beginning June 1.
These polls are open for the Primary Runoff Election Day:
*Arp Community Center: 108 E. Longview Street, Arp
*Bethel Bible Church: 17121 Highway 69 South, Tyler
*Cameron J Jarvis Library: 102 S. Georgia Street, Troup
*Chapel Hill Fire Department: 13801 CR 220, Tyler
*First Christian Church (Christian Life Center): 4202 S Broadway Ave., Tyler
*Glass Recreation Center: 501 W. 32nd Street, Tyler
*Greater Life Church: 2751 FM 344 East, Bullard
*Heritage Building: 1900 Bellwood Road, Tyler
*Hideaway Members Services Building: 101 Hide-A-Way Lane, Hideaway
*The Hub: 304 E. Ferguson Street, Tyler
*Lindale Kinzie Community Center: 912 Mt. Sylvan Street, Lindale
*&Noonday Community Center: 16662 CR 196, Tyler
*Old Tyler Airport: 150 Airport Drive, Tyler
*St. Louis Baptist Church: 4000 Frankston Highway, Tyler
*St. Violet Baptist Church: 14129 FM 2767, Tyler
*Three Lakes Middle School: 2445 Three Lakes Parkway, Tyler
*Tyler Senior Center: 1915 Garden Valley Road, Tyler
*Whitehouse City Center: 109 E. Main Street, Whitehouse
*Winona Community Center: 520 Dallas Street, Winona
For more information about voting locations, times and what is on the ballot, or to use our interactive map, go to the Smith County Website.
SMITH COUNTY – All non-emergency Smith County offices will be closed for business on Monday, May 25, for Memorial Day. Offices will reopen for normal business hours on Tuesday, May 26, and Commissioners Court will be held at the normal time, 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Find the meeting’s agenda here. Offices and services from City of Tyler are also altering schedules and hours in observance of Memorial Day. Read the rest of this entry »
HENDERSON COUNTY – A Henderson County man who has been accused of killing his 84-year-old father was arrested in the Dallas area on Wednesday by U.S. Marshals. According to our news partner KETK, Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, deputies had been searching for Ronny Medford since May 12 after he was accused of killing his father inside their family home in Payne Springs.
An arrest warrant for murder was issued by a district judge for Medford following the death of his father.
“We have been working closely with the community and law enforcement agencies to locate Medford and it worked,” the sheriff’s office said.
SMITH COUNTY – Early voting for the May 26 Primary Runoff Election runs Monday through Friday, May 18-22, 2026.
Statewide runoff races are on the ballot.
U.S. Senator, Attorney General, Railroad Commissioner and Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3, Judge are on the Republican ticket. The Democratic ballot will have runoff races for U.S. Representative, District 1, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General.
There are five early voting locations open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Read the rest of this entry »
HENDERSON COUNTY – A narcotics search warrant in Henderson County led to the arrest of two sisters and the discovery of several illegal drugs on Tuesday.
According to our news partner KETK, Henderson County Sheriff’s Office investigators conducted the search warrant in the 500 block of Williams Street and 3rd Streets in Athens at about 11:13 p.m. During the search, two sisters, Robyn Lynnette Dewberry and Unshella Reene Dewberry, were taken into custody.
Deputies found a quantity of suspected cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana while searching the house. Multiple digital scales and plastic baggies, which are commonly used in narcotics distribution, were also located.
Robyn was arrested for manufacturing, delivery of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance and Unshella was arrested for possession of a controlled substance. The sisters were transported to the Henderson County Jail and are awaiting arraignment.
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SMITH COUNTY – The Smith County Commissioners Court approved a contractor Tuesday for the Animal Shelter project. Casey Slone Construction was one of six bids received. Construction will begin immediately and is expected to be completed by the end of November. The shelter upgrade will cost about $1.8 million, including architect’s fees, and will be paid for by ARPA funding.
The project cost came in above what was planned, partially because of the amount of work that will need to be done underground, including a new sewer system. The project will include renovating the Animal Shelter building and the building next door, which previously housed the Facility Services Department. Read the rest of this entry »
ZAVALLA – An Angelina County home was left with substantial damage after a fire broke out for unknown reasons on Monday morning, officials say. According to the Huntington Volunteer Fire Department, several VFDs were dispatched to assist Zavalla VFD at a structure fire on Kitchen Cemetery Road. The majority of the fire was contained to the attic space, but the home sustained major damage.
The cause of the fire is unknown to fire officials at this time, Huntington VFD said. No injuries were reported and several valuable items were saved.
MARSHALL — An educational aide has been terminated from Marshall ISD after being arrested for allegedly swinging a student by her feet last week. The Marshall ISD Police Department was made aware of an incident involving former educational aide Rachel Kirspel and a student at the Marshall Early Child Hood Center on May 14.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by our news partner KETK, Kirspel had hung a 5-year-old student upside down by her feet and “had swung her side to side and then up and down,” hitting her head. Kirspel told investigators that she was trying to help get the kids on their mats for nap time but one student did not and instead was “playing around.” Kirspel put the student over her shoulder but when that didn’t work, she hung her upside down.
The student told investigators that Kirspel had pulled her nap mat from underneath her and flipped her over before picking her up by her feet, swinging her, and calling her “ugly.” Read the rest of this entry »
CHEROKEE COUNTY – A woman has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly shooting her boyfriend twice in the head near Alto on Monday. According to our news partner KETK , Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to a residence in rural Alto at around 7 p.m. Sheriff Brent Dickson said the shooting was initially reported as an accident.
33-year-old Alanna Bilbo, and her boyfriend were in an argument about their relationship when her boyfriend started “yelling at her to shoot him,” the affidavit said. Bilbo then reportedly shot him between the eyes with a .22 caliber revolver and then again in the back of the neck after he turned to the left. After being flown to a Tyler hospital, the victim remains in stable condition as of Tuesday morning, Dickson said.
Bilbo was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, family violence and is being held at the Cherokee County Jail with a $150,000 bond.
Biblo and her boyfriend were allegedly using narcotics, Dickson told KETK News.
PALESTINE – Three teenagers were placed under arrest on Sunday after driving a vehicle stolen from Jacksonville. According to our news partner KETK and the Palestine Police Department, officers on Sunday observed a vehicle matching the description of a vehicle recently reported stolen being driven near North Sycamore and West Pine Streets.
While the officers attempted to make a traffic stop, the driver sped off, prompting a police chase. The vehicle pursuit ended after the vehicle struck a curb, leaving it disabled.
The suspect, who was identified as a minor, and two other teenage boys proceeded to exit the car and attempted to leave the scene on foot. Two of the boys were located and arrested shortly after the incident on Sunday, while the third was taken into custody on Monday morning. Read the rest of this entry »
Bullard – Bullard has announced that Kristen Haynes will be the new principal of Bullard Elementary School. Mrs. Haynes currently serves as assistant principal and testing coordinator. She will step into the role following the retirement of the current principal, Amy Bickerstaff, this summer.
Mrs. Haynes has served in education since 2009 and has held teaching and administrative roles in Bullard ISD since 2015. Before becoming assistant principal of Bullard Elementary School in 2022, she served as a 6th-grade English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) teacher and team leader at Bullard Intermediate School and dean of students (grades 3-5) for summer school. Mrs. Haynes has also held teaching and administrative roles at Tyler ISD and Cumberland Academy.
Mrs. Haynes earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and a Master of Educational Leadership from Stephen F. Austin State University.
AUSTIN (THE TEXAS TRIBUNE) — Dozens of wind projects in Texas are in limbo after the U.S. Department of Defense paused issuing routine federal permits citing national security concerns, a move that experts say expands the Trump administration’s crusade against wind energy.
According to data collected by the American Clean Power Association, 54 Texas wind projects are waiting for the department to review development plans to ensure that turbines don’t interfere with military operations. It’s part of a broader nationwide logjam that has ensnared 165 onshore wind projects, a figure first reported by the Financial Times.
Federal law requires any structure 200 feet or taller — such as antennas, smokestacks or wind turbines — to be reviewed first by the Federal Aviation Administration, then the military, which must determine whether a structure may interfere with military airspace.
Federal law requires the Department of Defense to conduct those reviews within 60 days of receiving an application from the FAA. But “right now, the entire process has just ground to a halt,” said Dave Belote, a wind energy consultant who helped design the review system when it was established more than 15 years ago.
Normally, the defense department evaluates whether a turbine is within the line of sight of a radar or in a low-altitude military airspace. If so, the department and developer typically agree on mitigation options — a process that usually takes a matter of weeks.
“In the past, those have been fairly trivial — you meet the requirements and you get the permit,” said Jonathon Blackburn, an Austin-based energy consultant.
However, the department has not approved a wind project since August 2025, and in April the department canceled all pending meetings with wind developers waiting for clearance, according to the trade group.
These delays have caused disruptions to developers’ projects, hindering their ability to secure project financing, jeopardizing local permits contingent on federal approvals, and delaying construction timelines, turbine orders, and contractor scheduling.
“There’s a lot of delay coming out of the permitting process from the federal government, and delays add cost,” Blackburn said. “Maybe the federal government is not able to flat-out stop projects, but they are able to drag them out.”
In a statement, a DoD official said that the department is still actively evaluating the projects to ensure they do not impair national security or military operations, a process that requires high levels of interagency coordination.
The department’s evaluation of wind turbines “is inherently complex and time-consuming because it involves balancing two critical, and sometimes competing, interests: developing energy sources while ensuring military operations and readiness are not degraded or impaired to the extent an unacceptable risk to national security is created,” the official said.
The department didn’t respond to questions about why approval wait times have blown past federally required deadlines.
“It’s not clear why these policies are being implemented during an affordability crisis, but I think it shows the level of disdain the administration has for renewable energy in general and wind power specifically,” said University of Texas energy professor Michael Webber.
Texas is home to more wind turbines than any other state, and also has a number of military installations.
According to a 2019 report by the Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, there are 17 military bases with flight facilities in the state and large expanses of airspace set aside for military operations. This includes several training routes for Air Force and Navy pilots flying out of Laughlin Air Force Base near Del Rio, the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, San Antonio’s Randolph Air Force Base and the Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene.
The pause is the latest move by an administration that is attempting to slow the growth of wind power across the U.S. Most of the administration’s efforts have focused on offshore projects.
Last year, the administration suspended leases for five major projects off the East Coast, citing national security concerns related to radar interference. Federal judges later ruled against the administration in all five cases, finding that the government exceeded its authority and failed to prove that the projects posed national security threats. All five projects have since resumed construction.
The Interior Department announced in March that it had reached an agreement with TotalEnergies to pay the company $1 billion to walk away from a planned offshore wind project and instead expand fossil fuel investments.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A fast-growing wildfire sparked by the fatal crash of a small medical plane outside Ruidoso, New Mexico, has triggered evacuations for a rural area north of the Capitan Mountains and closures in the Lincoln National Forest, officials said Monday.
The plane was en route from Roswell Air Center to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport when it crashed before dawn Thursday, killing the four people aboard. They were identified as pilots Keelan Clark and Ali Kawsara with the company Generation Jets and flight nurses Jamie Novick and Sarah Clark with Trans Aero MedEvac.
“Our hearts remain with the families and loved ones navigating an unimaginable loss,” Matt Goertz, vice president of Trans Aero MedEvac, said in a joint statement with Generation Jets.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.
The wildfire grew rapidly over the weekend amid dry and windy conditions, nearly doubling in size between Sunday and Monday morning to more than 19 square miles (50 square kilometers). It was burning out of control in a sparsely populated area despite the efforts of more than 600 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and several interagency Hotshot crews.
Adam Turner, a public information officer for the fire, said steep, rugged terrain has made it impossible for crews to engage the fire directly.
“This is what firefighters call ‘mountain goat territory,’” said Turner, adding that crews were instead working to contain and steer the fire away from several evacuated cattle ranches to the northeast and the community of Arabella to the west.
A red flag warning remained in effect across southern New Mexico on Monday, with wind speeds forecast between 20-30 mph (32-50 kph).
FLINT – The Faith Lutheran Church congregation gathered in Flint on Sunday to mark the very beginning of construction for their new church building. According to our news partner KETK, the congregation’s groundbreaking was held in Flint on Sunday between Wells Marble and Apache Glass off of Old Jacksonville Highway. The groundbreaking is a milestone for their church, which has been trying to grow its presence into Smith County for decades.
“It’s important because our church body, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, has been trying to establish roots in the Tyler area for 60 years now, and over the last ten years, God has blessed us to be able to do that,” Faith Lutheran Church pastor Joseph Koelpin said on Sunday.
The congregation is currently housed at their main church building on FM 346 in Tyler. Their new Flint church is expected to be completed in 2027.