Most families of Walmart shooting victims wanted the case to end, El Paso DA says

(THE TEXAS TRIBUNE) District Attorney James Montoya said he decided against seeking the death penalty against the man who killed 23 people and wounded 22 others in a racist attack at an El Paso Walmart because most of the victim’s families wanted the case brought to a conclusion.

As a result, Patrick Crusius, 26, will plead guilty April 21 to capital murder and aggravated assault charges and be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“I believe in the death penalty. I believe that this defendant deserves the death penalty for what he did,” Montoya said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon, a day after he notified most of the families of those killed of his decision on whether to seek capital punishment.

“What changed? The answer to that, what changed was I sat down and spoke to the victims, each of them, individually,” said Montoya, who was elected in November and took office in January. “It became clear, as we met with the families one by one, that there is a strong and overwhelming consensus that just wanted this case over with, that wanted finality in the court process.”
Montoya acknowledged that some of the families wanted prosecutors to continue seeking the death penalty, and that he has heard criticism from the community for his decision. He said some families of those killed have become frustrated with the judicial system and no longer talk with the District Attorney’s Office.
He said if he had continued to pursue the death penalty, the case might need to be moved out of El Paso and families could have to wait until 2027 or 2028 for a trial in the Aug. 3, 2019, mass shooting at the Cielo Vista Walmart.

“And after speaking with the families and giving them this assessment and speaking through with them what they truly want out of this process, as I mentioned, it became very clear that the vast majority of them want this case over and done with as quickly as possible,” the district attorney said.
What victims’ families say

Jessica Garcia, who was injured in the shooting, said she felt torn about Montoya’s decision. Garcia’s husband, soccer coach Guillermo “Memo” Garcia, was the last victim to die from the shooting. He was hospitalized for nearly nine months before succumbing to his injuries.

Her daughter Karina, now a teenager, asked her mother Monday what decision would have been good enough – a question Garcia still doesn’t know how to answer.
“My kids will never know again what it’s like to be with their father,” Garcia said. “My mother-in-law can never have her son replaced. It’s never enough. I don’t think there’s any justice in this world that would be enough.”

Garcia said a part of her wants the case to be over so Karina and her son “little Memo” can move on. She doesn’t want them to relive tragedy with every upcoming development in the case, every news story, every condolence expressed. But Garcia also feels disappointed in the decision to not seek the death penalty. 

She met with Montoya in his office when the district attorney was still deliberating over the decision. Garcia said Montoya walked her through the process of a death penalty case, explaining it could take years from conviction to sentencing to possible appeal to the day of lethal injection itself. Montoya noted the El Paso serial killer who has sat on death row for more than 32 years, she recalled.

To Garcia, giving up on the death penalty feels like giving up on Memo. It feels like giving Crusius exactly what he wants, even if his execution conflicts with her Catholic belief to avoid an “eye for an eye” retribution.

“Little Memo is oblivious, he doesn’t know what’s going on,” Garcia said. “For Karina, how do I tell her as a mom I want them to leave it in the past, but leaving it in the past doesn’t mean we’re leaving daddy in the past or that we gave up on him or that we didn’t seek enough justice for him?”
Karla Romero, whose mother, Gloria Irma Márquez, 61, was among those killed at the Walmart, told El Paso Matters that people should turn their focus to preventing future violence.

“This highlights the evident systemic issues that continue to impact the justice system. Aside from the systemic problems, we must address racism, radicalization and violence that consume our society’s overall health. Education serves as a tool to address these issues; knowledge is key. Through awareness, we shed light on these issues, and being aware of them sparks ongoing conversations that benefit our community,” Romero said.

“We must invest in our education and pour resources into the education of El Paso County. It is imperative that we continue to strive to develop equity in the socioeconomic, health and educational aspects of our community to reduce susceptibility to the risk of prolonged violence. Violence is a moral responsibility and a call for action for state governors, policymakers, and the community. 

“Lastly, in honor of my mother’s memory, I am first her daughter above anything else; therefore, I call everyone into action to be an interventionist for peace.”

The judge presiding over the case, 409th District Judge Sam Medrano, issued a gag order in 2022 that prevented attorneys and potential witnesses in the case – including injured victims and family members of those killed – from talking to the news media about the  case. At Montoya’s request, Medrano lifted the gag order Tuesday.
Defense lawyer, El Paso’s bishop react to the decision

Crusius, of Allen, Texas, drove 10 hours from his home to El Paso on Aug. 3, 2019, and opened fire outside and inside the Cielo Vista Walmart. Before entering the store, he posted an online screed that spewed racist rhetoric and said he wanted “to stop the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”
The attack was the deadliest in modern U.S. history targeting Hispanics. Most of the hundreds of people in the Walmart that Saturday morning were Hispanic or Mexican nationals doing routine shopping.

Crusius, then 21, was arrested shortly after the shooting while driving on Viscount Boulevard behind the Walmart and Cielo Vista Mall. Investigators said he confessed to the shooting.
In addition to the state charges of capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Crusius also faced federal weapons and hate crimes charges, which carried a potential death sentence. But the U.S. Justice Department decided against seeking the death penalty in 2023, and Crusius quickly pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms in federal prison.

Federal officials didn’t say why they didn’t seek the death penalty, but that the sentencing hearing in July 2023 both defense lawyers and prosecutors said Crusius had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a mental health disorder often characterized by hallucinations.

Montoya said the decision on where Crusius will serve his sentence will be made by state and federal prison officials. U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama recommended that Crusius serve his sentence in the so-called “supermax” prison in Colorado, but prison officials aren’t bound by that recommendation.

Joe Spencer, one of the attorneys representing Crusius in the state and federal cases, said Montoya made the right decision.

“I think Mr. Montoya really had no choice in what he wanted to do. I think he’d have done more harm to this community if he had tried the case. I don’t think there would have been anywhere near the type of closure that some members of the community thought they might get by a jury trial,” Spencer said in an interview with El Paso Matters.

El Paso Catholic Bishop Mark Seitz, who has cited church teachings on the sanctity of life in opposing the death penalty for Crusius, praised Montoya’s decisions.

“As followers of Christ, we believe in the sanctity of every human life and remain opposed to the death penalty even in the face of this hateful and violent act. While we believe that the community needs to be protected from anyone who would commit such a crime, our community will not be safer or better by seeking more bloodshed,” Seitz said.

Montoya said he has long believed that Crusius’ fate should be decided by an El Paso jury.

“But, in my opinion, the benefits of having a trial to the detriment of the families is simply not worth it,” he said at the news conference. 

Montoya said actions by former District Attorney Yvonne Rosales – who resigned in 2022 – complicated the prosecution of the case. Montoya lost the Democratic runoff to Rosales in 2020, and a number of prosecutors handling the Walmart case – including Montoya – were pushed out or resigned.

Rosales’ aides also were accused of targeting the Juárez family of one of those killed at the Walmart, Alexander Gerhard Hoffmann, because they didn’t go along with efforts to attack Medrano and a former prosecutor in the case. No charges were ever brought, though Rosales and Assistant District Attorney Curtis Cox invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination when questioned about the alleged scheme in court, and process servers were unable to find another Rosales aide, El Paso attorney Roger Rodriguez. 

“It really breaks my heart that a representative of this office, a representative of the state of Texas, engaged in that misconduct. At the end of the day, it doesn’t change the facts about this case, and her conduct as a whole contributed to the delay,” Montoya said. “But the misconduct that her and her colleagues engaged in, to me, weighed very little in the ultimate decision of bringing this case to an end.”

Rosales could not be reached for comment.

Montoya said he continues to believe prosecutors could have convinced a jury to sentence Crusius to death, although there is no certainty of that and a single juror could block the death penalty.

“This defendant will die in the penitentiary. He will not get out. He will die in prison. And fundamentally, that’s what this comes down to is, are we going to drag this out for a year, two years, for decades so we can stick a needle in his arm?” he said.

The original article can be found at The Texas Tribune.

Funding overhaul has transformed Texas community colleges

TEXAS (AP) – Community colleges in 2023 celebrated a long-awaited investment from the Texas Legislature, positioning Texas to lead the country in connecting young people to the workforce.

That year, state legislators reimagined how community colleges are financed with House Bill 8. The old funding formula awarded schools based on enrollment. Schools now have to see their students through to graduation to get money: The new formula ties state dollars to degree and certificate completions, transfers to four-year universities and high schoolers’ participation in dual credit courses.

The effort was born out of state leaders’ desire to better prepare young Texans for the workforce. By 2030, at least 60% of jobs in Texas will require a postsecondary credential, and yet, less than 40% of students earn a degree or certificate within six years of graduating high school. For students, a postsecondary credential often leads to higher wages and increased economic and social mobility.

As part of a near-unanimous vote for HB 8, lawmakers poured a historic $683 million into two-year institutions. When the money trickled down to each college in fiscal year 2024, each college saw an influx of dollars that ranged from $70,000 to $2.9 million.

Over a year after the law went into effect, community colleges have been working with unprecedented resources to bring down barriers to completion. Some have introduced free tuition benefits; others have expanded their student advising services. Those efforts are reshaping how schools run and who is taking their classes.

“HB 8, at its heart, was an attempt for the Legislature … to say, ‘What’s the most impactful way that we can ensure alignment between educational outcomes and business and industry needs?’” Ray Martinez III, the president of the Texas Association of Community Colleges, said. “That’s why this is so significant … We have seen tremendous outcomes.”

Lawmakers have been fine-tuning funding incentives this session. Rep. Gary VanDeaver, R-New Boston, is shepherding a bill that would give community colleges money for student transfers not only to public universities but also to private schools. Community colleges currently get bonus dollars when students complete credentials of value, or credentials that lead to high-demand, high-wage jobs: VanDeaver’s bill would adjust the definition of a credential of value to include more precise labor market data.

Here are five ways community colleges have transformed because of the new funding formula:
Dual credit boosts enrollment

During the COVID-19 pandemic, young Texans cut community college out of their plans. One in ten students in the state — or about 80,000 students — disappeared from campuses.

Economic uncertainty acutely affected community college students, who often come from lower-income households and have more work and care responsibilities than their peers at four-year institutions. Many left school for low-skill jobs. Others lost the steam to keep going.

Community college leaders have had to find ways to keep students — and one big way has been growing the pool of high school students who get a jump start on college.

HB 8 makes it easier for low-income students to take dual credit courses. Community colleges in the Financial Aid for Swift Transfer program, or FAST, now get extra funding when they allow high school students who qualify for free and reduced-priced lunch to take classes at no cost. Other students get a discount, with a cap on costs at about $55 per credit hour.

Research shows dual credit students are more likely to graduate from high school, enroll in college and finish their degrees faster.

The financial help has prompted an upshoot in enrollment. More than 250,000 students participated in dual credit classes through the FAST program in the 2023-24 school year, according to Sarah Keyton, who was the interim commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board last fall.

Kilgore College in East Texas, for example, saw a 36.5% increase in dual credit enrollment last school year. High schoolers now make up the majority of its student body.

Community colleges don’t have to participate in the FAST program but nearly all have opted in. Colleges got a total of about $80 million in extra funding last academic year, Keyton said.

College leaders are adapting to their schools’ changing identities as dual credit students make up a larger portion of their total student populations. Some faculty now spend more time teaching in high schools than on campus.
Free tuition gains momentum

As young people increasingly question the value of college, a pair of colleges have come up with a new price tag: free.

In bold pilot programs, Austin Community College and Del Mar College are waiving three years of tuition for local high school graduates.

“‘Discount’ doesn’t change people’s perceptions that they can’t afford to go to college,” ACC Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart told The Texas Tribune. “‘Free’ means something when you’re talking about college affordability.”

The first class of students to benefit from the free tuition program started this year. ACC paid for it with the $6.8 million it received from the state last year through HB 8.

Lowery-Hart wants to use the program to reach students who were not planning to go to college. In a recent survey of ACC prospective students, more than half said they didn’t enroll because of tuition costs.

When glitches in the revamped federal financial aid application delayed award packages, students in the Austin area told the Tribune that ACC’s free tuition program was a much-needed option that eased the uncertainty.

Del Mar College is following ACC’s footsteps, launching a free tuition benefit this fall for recent high school graduates and adult learners in the Corpus Christi area. Students have to enroll full time and maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average to qualify.

In what is known as a “first dollar” program, both Texas colleges are paying for students’ tuition before federal and state aid kicks in. That allows students to use their grants and scholarship money to pay for other needs like housing, food and textbooks.
Students hired as peer mentors

Laredo College has turned nearly 80 students into peer advisers, multiplying its advising crew by seven.

The peer advisers are recent graduates, former students who transferred to a four-year university or current students who are finishing their degree. They help their classmates register for classes and stay on track to graduation.

Many Laredo College students are the first in their families to go to college. Young people in the region often opt not to get a college degree because they don’t know how to go through the process — and there’s nobody at home to help them, said Minita Ramirez, the president of Laredo College.

“Whether it’s a first-time college student out of high school or … a 70-year-old gentleman who all his life wanted to go to college, …. our hope is that we provide the support … to get that person through the process, to make them feel comfortable in an environment that is completely foreign,” Ramirez said. “And if we can do that, our numbers grow.”

Already, Laredo College has seen 1,500 students switch from part-time to full-time, Ramirez said.

HB 8 has pushed college leaders like Ramirez to fix disjointed advising systems to prevent students from falling through the cracks. Research shows student advising is tied to higher grades and graduation rates.

When students at North Central Texas College register online for a course that won’t count toward their degree, a warning sign now pops up encouraging them to visit an adviser. Chancellor G. Brent Wallace said he wants to make sure students don’t sign up for the wrong course — and save them the time and money that goes along with those decisions.

North Central Texas College also hired about a dozen more staffers so advisers aren’t stretched too thin and students get the academic attention they need, Wallace said.
Growing workforce training

Community colleges have long been a player in helping close workforce gaps, but HB 8 was the push for leaders to strengthen relationships with local employers.

Sherman, for example, has been grappling with its new identity as a semiconductor manufacturing hub. In recent years, giant companies like Texas Instruments and GlobiTech have been constructing multibillion-dollar chipmaking facilities.

Before those facilities could finish construction, Grayson College was already training students so they would be ready to join the industry.

Jeremy McMillen, the president of the college, said the school added programs like electronic and automation certifications with input from those companies. It mimicked the kind of collaboration the state’s technical colleges have with employers on curricula.

“We needed to move the needle in terms of building out of the infrastructure,” McMillen said at a Texas Tribune event last month. “Without HB 8 in the background, it’s very difficult to imagine that we’ve been able to do that.”
Schools team up so credits transfer

Students in North Texas are getting more support when they select Dallas College courses they want to count toward a bachelor’s degree.

To ease transfers to local universities, Dallas College teamed up with Texas A&M University-Commerce, Texas Woman’s University and the University of North Texas at Dallas to identify which courses students will get credit for when they transfer. The HB 8 funding model means the community college gets money when students successfully transfer.

Around 80% of students who enroll in community colleges intend to transfer but just 16% do, according to data from The Aspen Institute.

In the fall of 2022, more than 13,000 Texas students who transferred did not receive credit for at least one of the courses they completed, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Students lose time and money when they take classes that don’t end up counting toward their degrees. The setback can discourage them from completing their bachelor’s degree.

The Dallas-area schools launched an online portal in the fall where prospective students can see how their credits would be counted at each school and track their progress toward their bachelor’s degree.

For three areas of study — business, education and health sciences — the universities have already agreed on which Dallas College courses will be counted for credit toward related majors on their campuses.

HUD undermines two Texas housing discrimination cases

WASHINGTON – ProPublica reports that the findings were stark. In one investigation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development concluded that a Texas state agency had steered $1 billion in disaster mitigation money away from Houston and nearby communities of color after Hurricane Harvey inundated the region in 2017. In another investigation, HUD found that a homeowners association outside of Dallas had created rules to kick poor Black people out of their neighborhood. The episodes amounted to egregious violations of civil rights laws, officials at the housing agency believed — enough to warrant litigation against the alleged culprits. That, at least, was the view during the presidency of Joe Biden. After the Trump administration took over, HUD quietly took steps that will likely kill both cases, according to three officials familiar with the matter. Those steps were extremely unusual. Current and former HUD officials said they could not recall the housing agency ever pulling back cases of this magnitude in which the agency had found evidence of discrimination.

That leaves the yearslong, high-profile investigations in a state of limbo, with no likely path for the government to advance them, current and former officials said. As a result, the alleged perpetrators of the discrimination could face no government penalties, and the alleged victims could receive no compensation. “I just think that’s a doggone shame,” said Doris Brown, a Houston resident and a co-founder of a community group that, together with a housing nonprofit, filed the Harvey complaint. Brown saw 3 feet of water flood her home in a predominantly Black neighborhood that still shows damage from the storm. “We might’ve been able to get some more money to help the people that are still suffering,” she said. On Jan. 15, HUD referred the Houston case to the Department of Justice, a necessary step to a federal lawsuit after the housing agency finds evidence of discrimination. Less than a month later, on Feb. 13, the agency rescinded its referral without public explanation. HUD did the same with the Dallas case not long after.

AG opens investigation into East Plano Islamic Center development

AUSTIN – KERA reports that Attorney General Ken Paxton is opening an investigation into a proposed development in North Texas aimed at supporting the area’s Muslim community, claiming potential violations of Texas consumer protection laws. The East Plano Islamic Center, one of the largest mosques in the area, is planning the development in Josephine, Texas, roughly 40 miles northeast of Dallas. Paxton issued a Civil Investigative Demand into the corporate entity involved with the project, Community Capital Partners. “Under my watch, there will be zero tolerance for any person or entity that breaks Texas law,” said Paxton. “My office has an open and ongoing investigation into EPIC City, which has raised a number of concerns, and this CID will help ensure that any potential violation of state law is uncovered.”

It comes after Gov. Greg Abbott announced on X “a dozen state agencies are looking into” the East Plano Islamic Center’s proposed 402-acre development, which he alleged had “serious legal issues.” The governor did not provide evidence of his claim. Abbott also referred to “foreign adversaries” in his tweet, but did not elaborate. KERA News reached out to his office for clarity on both claims. The project, referred to as “EPIC City,” includes a new mosque, more than 1,000 single and multi-family homes, a K-12 faith-based school, senior housing, an outreach center, commercial developments, sports facilities, and a community college. KERA News reached to the East Plano Islamic Center and will update this story with any comment.

Gov. Abbott showing no rush to replace late U.S. Rep. Turner

AUSTIN – Three weeks after U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner’s death and just over a month before the state’s next uniform election, Gov. Greg Abbott has not yet called a special election to fill the seat representing parts of Houston, a Democratic stronghold, in Congress.

Turner, who previously served in the Texas House for nearly three decades before becoming mayor of Houston, died March 5, two months into his first term representing Texas’ 18th Congressional District. His funeral was held in Houston on March 15.

Turner was elected to Congress last year after his predecessor and political ally, former U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, died in office after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Abbott has the sole authority to call a special election to fill Turner’s seat for the rest of the two-year term. State law does not specify a deadline for the governor to order a special election. If called, the election must happen within two months of the announcement.

But the Republican governor has little incentive to send another Democrat to Congress.

Turner’s death — in addition to the death this month of an Arizona Democrat, U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva — comes at a critical moment for Republicans, who hold a razor-thin majority in the House and can afford few defections on any votes if all Democrats remain united in opposition.

Congressional District 18 is a solidly blue district encompassing downtown Houston and several of the city’s historic neighborhoods, including Third Ward and parts of The Heights and Acres Homes.

With Turner’s seat vacant, the House breaks down to 218 Republicans and 213 Democrats, allowing the GOP to lose two votes and still win a majority on the floor. The Republican margin would drop to one vote if the seat were filled, likely by another Democrat.

Democrats blasted Abbott for not calling a special election, arguing that he was depriving Texans of representation in Congress.

“Abbott is leaving 800,000 Texans voiceless at a pivotal moment in our nation’s history,” state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston and Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair, said in a statement. “The people of Texas need the governor to start doing his job — honor the memory of Sylvester Turner and give the good people of District 18 their constitutional representation back.”

U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader, highlighted the delay on Tuesday. “Why hasn’t the Texas Governor called a special election to fill this vacant seat?” he wrote on social media.

“An announcement on a special election will be made at a later date,” Abbott Press Secretary Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement last week that did not address whether House Republicans’ margin was factoring into the governor’s decision.

The next scheduled election date in Texas is May 3. According to the state election code, Abbott would have to order the special election by March 28 for it to take place in May. But the practical deadline to call a May 3 election may have already passed, due to how much time the state needs to program voting machines and prepare and mail ballots.

The Texas Secretary of State’s office did not respond to a question about how much time the state generally requires to carry out an election.

Chad Dunn, a longtime Democratic Party lawyer, argued that there was plenty of time for the state to execute a special election on May 3 if Abbott ordered it.

While Texas law does not set a deadline for the governor to call a special election, Dunn added, “the assumption of Texas laws is that the state doesn’t want to be without representation in Congress.”

Historically, states were “eager” to ensure their entire delegation was present in Congress, Dunn said. Extreme partisanship in the broader political climate has changed that.

“Rather than pursue the interests of their state,” he argued, “some partisan governors are not moving expeditiously with replacement elections in these circumstances because they think that benefits their political party.”

In February 2021, after the death of U.S. Rep Ron Wright, R-Arlington, Abbott called a special election to fill Wright’s seat on the third day after his burial, or just two weeks after his death.

Abbott called a special election to fill Jackson Lee’s seat just over a week after her funeral, and 17 days after her death.

In those cases, however, there were several months before the next uniform election date.

Abbott could also declare an “emergency” special election, which allows for an election to take place outside the May or November uniform election dates.

He called for an emergency election on June 30, 2018 to replace former U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, who resigned that April. Then, Abbott pointed to the recovery from Hurricane Harvey as justifying an emergency election.

Democrats in New York are also considering holding off on calling a special election as soon as U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican, leaves her seat to pursue her nomination to be US ambassador to the United Nations. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, ordered a special election to fill Grijalva’s seat days after his death.

Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.

Jewish Texans disagree on how to combat antisemitism in schools

AUSTIN – Some Jewish Texans on Tuesday supported a measure to address a rise in antisemitism in schools, while others said it would not only stifle free speech but make them less safe.

They testified Tuesday evening on Senate Bill 326 in the Senate’s K-16 Education Committee.

The bill would require public school districts, open-enrollment charter schools and colleges and universities to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition and examples of antisemitism in student disciplinary proceedings.

The IHRA defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

A few examples the IHRA provides of antisemitism are “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” “applying double standards by requiring of it (Israel) a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation,” and “holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the state of Israel.”

Oli Hoffman, a student at the University of Texas at Austin, said the IHRA definition encourages “a dangerous conflation of the government of Israel and the Jewish people.”

“I am a proud Longhorn studying education,” Hoffman said, “and I can recall some respectful debates regarding Israel that I was a party to on campus that would be defined as antisemitic come Sept. 1 if this bill is passed.”

Students at UT Austin and universities throughout the country demonstrated support for Palestinians last spring, calling for their universities to divest from manufacturers supplying Israel with weapons in its strikes on Gaza.

UT officials called state police, who responded to the campus and arrested more than 100 people. While some have criticized the university for what they called a heavy-handed response, others have applauded it as necessary to combat protests they saw as antisemitic. Some point to the phrase some protesters chanted, “from the river to the sea,” as evidence of this.

“From the river to the sea” refers to a stretch of land between the Jordan River on the eastern flank of Israel and the occupied West Bank to the Mediterranean Sea to the west.

Pro-Palestinian activists have said this is a call for peace and equality in the Middle East, but SB 326’s author, Phil King, R-Weatherford, said he thinks that phrase calls for the killing of Jews.

Sandra Parker, vice chair of the Texas Holocaust, Genocide, and Antisemitism Advisory Commission and King’s invited witness, agreed and added that it also calls for the eradication of the Jewish state.

She stressed that the bill would allow school leaders to decide on their own if a student has violated their code of conduct and provides them a tool to determine whether the violation was motivated by antisemitism.

That could help the school determine what discipline is warranted, she said.

“Why is that necessary? Because you cannot defeat what you are unwilling to define,” Parker said. “We know the conduct is happening, but why? The answer can only be one of two things. Antisemitism is being tolerated and ignored or people don’t know what antisemitism is when they see it.”

Parker added that the bill could address incidents like one at a high school in San Antonio where she said a student who is not Jewish had an Israel flag stolen and destroyed by another student. The school then moved the student who owned the flag to another classroom rather than punish the students who destroyed the flag.

“This behavior was aimed to silence both Jewish students and those who support them,” Parker said.

But other Jewish Texans disagreed with King and Parker that the phrase “from the river to the sea” is antisemitic.

“Whatever the intentions of this bill, understand that it actually makes Jews in Texas less safe to formally associate us with a foreign government, evoking the longstanding antisemitic charge of dual loyalty that’s been leveled against Jewish people in the U.S. and Europe for decades, setting us apart from our neighbors and painting us as outsiders,” said Jennifer Margulies, who attends Congregation Beth Israel in Austin, which a man set on fire in 2022.

“I know what antisemitism looks like,” she said. “It looks like needing to reassure my child that it’s safe to attend Hebrew school when I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as I drive by the burnt black sanctuary doors to drop her off, hoping that I am not lying.”

Since protests broke out last spring, lawmakers have heard about an uptick in antisemitic incidents in schools. They heard that again on Tuesday from Jackie Nirenberg, a regional director for the Anti-defamation League.

She said the ADF and Hillel International, a Jewish Campus organization, surveyed Jewish college students at 135 colleges and universities across the U.S. and found that 83% of them have experienced or witnessed antisemitism since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

SB 326 was left pending in committee.

State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, has filed identical legislation in the House.

Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.

Trump administration says it will pull back billions in COVID funding from health departments

WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal health officials said Tuesday they are pulling back $11.4 billion in COVID-19-related funds for state and local public health departments and other health organizations throughout the nation.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.

The statement said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to recover the money beginning 30 days after termination notices, which began being sent out on Monday.

Officials said the money was largely used for COVID-19 testing, vaccination and global projects as well as community health workers responding to COVID and a program established in 2021 to address COVID health disparities among high-risk and underserved patients, including those in minority populations. The move was first reported by NBC News.

Lori Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County & City Health Officials, said much of the funding was set to end soon anyway. “It’s ending in the next six months,” she said. “There’s no reason — why rescind it now? It’s just cruel and unusual behavior.”

In a related move, more than two dozen COVID-related research grants funded by the National Institutes of Health have been canceled. Earlier this month, the Trump administration shut down ordering from covidtest.gov, the site where Americans could have COVID-19 tests delivered to their mailboxes for no charge.

Although the COVID federal public health emergency has ended, the virus is still killing Americans: 458 people per week on average have died from COVID over the past four weeks, according to CDC data.

HHS wouldn’t provide many details about how the federal government expects to recover the money from what it called “impacted recipients.” But HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in an email: “The $11.4 billion is undisbursed funds remaining.”

Freeman said her understanding is that state health departments already had the COVID money.

“The funding was authorized by Congress, was appropriated by Congress, and it was out the door, basically, into the hands of the grantees” — states, she said, which decide how to distribute it locally.

Some of the COVID money is used to address other public health issues, Freeman added. For example, wastewater surveillance that began during COVID became important for detecting other diseases, too.

“It was being used in significant ways to track flu and patterns of new disease and emerging diseases — and even more recently with the measles outbreak,” Freeman said.

Under both the first Trump administration and the Biden administration, billions of dollars was allocated for COVID response through legislation, including a COVID relief bill and the American Rescue Plan Act.

At this point, it’s unclear exactly how health departments will be affected by the pullback of funds. But some were starting to look at what it might mean for them. In Washington state, for example, health officials were notified that more than $125 million in COVID-related funding has been immediately terminated. They are “assessing the impact” of the actions, they said.

In Los Angeles County, health officials said they could lose more than $80 million in core funding for vaccinations and other services. “Much of this funding supports disease surveillance, public health lab services, outbreak investigations, infection control activities at healthcare facilities and data transparency,” a department official wrote in an email.

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Measles cases hit 370 total in Texas and New Mexico

WEST TEXAS (AP) – The measles outbreaks in West Texas and New Mexico have surpassed a combined 370 cases, and two unvaccinated people have died from measles-related causes.

Measles is caused by a highly contagious virus that’s airborne and spreads easily when an infected person breathes, sneezes or coughs. It is preventable through vaccines, and has been considered eliminated from the U.S. since 2000.

Already, the U.S. has more measles cases this year than in all of 2024, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week. Here’s what else you need to know about measles in the U.S.

How many measles cases are there in Texas and New Mexico?

Texas state health officials said Tuesday there were 18 new cases of measles since Friday, bringing the total to 327 across 15 counties — most in West Texas. Forty people have been hospitalized since the outbreak began. Lamb County was new to the list, with one case.

New Mexico health officials announced one new case Tuesday, bringing the state’s total to 43. Most of the cases are in Lea County, where two people have been hospitalized, and two are in in Eddy County.

Oklahoma’s state health department has nine total cases as of Tuesday, including seven confirmed cases and two probable cases. The first two probable cases were “associated” with the West Texas and New Mexico outbreaks.

A school-age child died of measles in Texas last month, and New Mexico reported its first measles-related death in an adult last week.

Where else is measles showing up in the U.S.?

Measles cases also have been reported in Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont and Washington.

An outbreak in Kansas has grown to 10 cases across three counties — Grant, Morton and Stevens counties. A state health department spokesperson did not respond to emails about whether the outbreak is linked to the situation in Texas or New Mexico.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines an outbreak as three or more related cases. The agency counts three clusters that qualified as outbreaks in 2025 as of Tuesday.

In the U.S., cases and outbreaks are generally traced to someone who caught the disease abroad. It can then spread, especially in communities with low vaccination rates. In 2019, the U.S. saw 1,274 cases and almost lost its status of having eliminated measles.

Do you need an MMR booster?

The best way to avoid measles is to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The first shot is recommended for children between 12 and 15 months old and the second between 4 and 6 years old.

People at high risk for infection who got the shots many years ago may want to consider getting a booster if they live in an area with an outbreak, said Scott Weaver with the Global Virus Network, an international coalition. Those may include family members living with someone who has measles or those especially vulnerable to respiratory diseases because of underlying medical conditions.

Adults with “presumptive evidence of immunity” generally don’t need measles shots now, the CDC said. Criteria include written documentation of adequate vaccination earlier in life, lab confirmation of past infection or being born before 1957, when most people were likely to be infected naturally.

A doctor can order a lab test called an MMR titer to check your levels of measles antibodies, but health experts don’t always recommend this route and insurance coverage can vary.

Getting another MMR shot is harmless if there are concerns about waning immunity, the CDC says.

People who have documentation of receiving a live measles vaccine in the 1960s don’t need to be revaccinated, but people who were immunized before 1968 with an ineffective measles vaccine made from “killed” virus should be revaccinated with at least one dose, the agency said. That also includes people who don’t know which type they got.

What are the symptoms of measles?

Measles first infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body, causing a high fever, runny nose, cough, red, watery eyes and a rash.

The rash generally appears three to five days after the first symptoms, beginning as flat red spots on the face and then spreading downward to the neck, trunk, arms, legs and feet. When the rash appears, the fever may spike over 104 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the CDC.

Most kids will recover from measles, but infection can lead to dangerous complications such as pneumonia, blindness, brain swelling and death.

How can you treat measles?

There’s no specific treatment for measles, so doctors generally try to alleviate symptoms, prevent complications and keep patients comfortable.

Why do vaccination rates matter?

In communities with high vaccination rates — above 95% — diseases like measles have a harder time spreading through communities. This is called “herd immunity.”

But childhood vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the pandemic and more parents are claiming religious or personal conscience waivers to exempt their kids from required shots.

The U.S. saw a rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett mocks Greg Abbott, who uses a wheelchair, as ‘Gov. Hot Wheels’

DALLAS (AP) – Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett mocked her state’s governor during a weekend appearance, referring to Greg Abbott — who uses a wheelchair — as “Gov. Hot Wheels” while speaking at a banquet in Los Angeles.

“You all know we got Gov. Hot Wheels down there. Come on, now,” Crockett, a Dallas Democrat, said about Abbott, a Republican, while addressing the Human Rights Campaign event. “And the only thing hot about him is that he is a hot-ass mess, honey.”

Abbott was paralyzed in 1984 after a tree fell on him while he was running. The accident severely damaged Abbott’s spinal cord. Abbott, now 67, was elected in 2014.

Crockett, elected to the House in 2022, was roundly criticized by Republicans for the comments, an aside she made during her speech to the civil rights group event after she thanked Morgan Cox, a group board member and fellow Dallas resident, according to video of the event posted to Human Rights Campaign’s YouTube channel.

“Crockett’s comments are disgraceful,” Texas Sen. John Cornyn posted on the social media platform X. “Shameful.”

Crockett suggested Tuesday that she was not referring to Abbott’s condition. Instead, she posted on X that she was referring to Abbott’s policy of sending thousands of immigrants who were in Texas illegally to cities where local policy limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities, such as New York and Philadelphia.

“I was thinking about the planes, trains, and automobiles he used to transfer migrants into communities led by Black mayors, deliberately stoking tension and fear among the most vulnerable,” the post stated.

Abbott’s office did not immediately replied to requests for comment.

Crockett has faced criticism from Republicans for suggesting last week that tech billionaire Elon Musk, heading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, “be taken down.”

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Gunman who killed 23 at a Walmart offered plea deal to avoid death penalty

EL PASO (AP) – The gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack at an El Paso Walmart in 2019 in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history has been offered a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, a Texas prosecutor said Tuesday.

The announcement by El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya is a significant turn in the criminal case of Patrick Crusius, 26, who was already sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences after pleading guilty in 2023 to federal hate crime charges.

Under the Biden administration, federal prosecutors also took the death penalty off the table but did not explain why.

In addition to the federal case, Crusius was also charged in state court with capital murder.

Montoya said he supports the death penalty and believes Crusius deserves it. But he said he met with the families of the victims and there was an overriding desire to conclude the process, though some relatives were willing to wait as long as it took for a death sentence.

“The vast majority of them want this case over and done with as quickly as possible,” he said.

Montoya also said pursuing the death penalty would mean a long and drawn-out legal battle with many hearings and appeals.

“I could see a worst-case scenario where this would not go to trial until 2028 if we continued to seek the death penalty,” he said.

Montoya, a Democrat, took office in January after defeating a Republican incumbent who was appointed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. Montoya’s predecessors supported sending Crusius to death row.

“I’ve heard about it. I think the guy does deserve the death penalty, to be honest,” Abbott said Tuesday about the decision. “Any shooting like that is what capital punishment is for.”

Crusius, who is white, was 21 years old and had dropped out of community college when police say he drove more than 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) from his home near Dallas to target Hispanics in El Paso.

Moments after posting a racist screed online that warned of a Hispanic “invasion” of the state, he opened fire with an AK-style rifle inside and outside the store.

Before the shooting, Crusius appears to have been consumed by the immigration debate, posting online in support of building the border wall and other messages praising the hardline border policies of President Donald Trump, who was in his first term at the time. He went further in the rant he posted before the attack, saying Hispanics were going to take over the government and economy.

In the years since the shooting, Republicans have called migrants crossing the southern border an “invasion” and dismissed criticism that such rhetoric fuels anti-immigrant views and violence.

In the U.S. government’s case, Crusius received a life sentence for each of the 90 charges against him, half of which were classified as hate crimes. Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said after the sentencing that “no one in this country should have to live in fear of hate-fueled violence.”

One of his attorneys told the judge before the sentencing that his client had a “broken brain” and his thinking was “at odds with reality.”

Federal prosecutors did not formally explain their decision not to seek the death penalty, but they did acknowledge that Crusius suffered from schizoaffective disorder, which can be marked by hallucinations, delusions and mood swings.

The people who were killed ranged in age from a 15-year-old high school athlete to several grandparents. They included immigrants, a retired city bus driver, teachers, tradesmen including a former iron worker, and several Mexican nationals who had crossed the U.S. border on routine shopping trips.

In 2023, Crusius agreed to pay more than $5 million to his victims. Court records showed that his attorneys and the Justice Department reached an agreement over the restitution amount, which was then approved by a U.S. district judge. There was no indication that he had significant assets.

Texas measles outbreak grows to 327 cases with 18 confirmed infections over last 5 days: Officials

AUSTIN (ABC) – The measles outbreak in western Texas is continuing to grow with 18 cases confirmed over the last five days, bringing the total to 327 cases, according to new data published Tuesday.

Nearly all of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or in individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). At least 40 people have been hospitalized so far.

Just two cases have occurred in people fully vaccinated with the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to the data.

In the Texas outbreak, children and teenagers between ages 5 and 17 make up the majority of cases at 140, followed by children ages 4 and under accounting for 105 cases, according to the data.

“Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in the outbreak area and the surrounding communities. DSHS is working with local health departments to investigate the outbreak,” the department said in a press release.

It comes as another case of measles was confirmed in New Mexico, bringing the total to 43, according to data from the state Department of Health. The majority of cases are in Lea County, which borders Gaines County — the epicenter of the outbreak in Texas.

Additionally, two cases of measles were confirmed in Erie County, Pennsylvania, on Monday. A media release from the Erie County Department of Health said the cases were linked to international travel and there is not a high risk of exposure for the general population.

Two likely measles deaths have been reported so far in the U.S. The first was an unvaccinated school-aged child in Texas, according to the DSHS. The child did not have any known underlying conditions, according to the department.

The Texas death was the first measles death recorded in the U.S. in a decade, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A possible second measles death was recorded after an unvaccinated New Mexico resident tested positive for the virus following their death. The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) said the official cause of death is still under investigation.

The CDC has confirmed 378 measles cases this year in at least 17 states: Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont and Washington. This is likely an undercount due to delays in states reporting cases to the federal health agency.

The majority of nationally confirmed cases, about 95%, are in people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown, the CDC said. Of those cases, 3% are among those who received just one dose of the MMR inoculation and 2% are among those who received the required two doses, according to the CDC.

The CDC currently recommends that people receive two vaccine doses, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective, the CDC says. Most vaccinated adults don’t need a booster.

For those living in the outbreak area, Texas health officials are recommending that parents consider an early dose of the MMR vaccine for children between 6 months and 11 months, and that adults receive a second MMR dose if they only received one in the past.

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West Texas lawmakers to divert oil and gas taxes for county needs

ODESSA — The fracking boom that resuscitated the Texas oil fields has also beaten up the infrastructure in the Permian Basin, the state’s biggest oil and gas drilling region.

More heavy trucks drove through small towns, tearing up roads. Companies built temporary workforce housing, called man camps, which local officials said dramatically increased the population, requiring more public services like garbage pick-up, hospital beds and first responders.

Local leaders say the oil boom has caused strains that their city and county budgets can’t keep up with.

Two West Texas lawmakers want to divert 10% of the roughly $8 billion that oil and gas companies pay the state in so-called severance taxes to benefit oil-producing counties. Legislation sponsored by State Reps. Tom Craddick of Midland and Brooks Landgraf of Odessa would redirect a portion of those taxes to 32 eligible counties to be used for infrastructure repairs, emergency services, health care, education and workforce development.

Regulators, industry and environmental policy experts agree that addressing the damage caused by decades of oil and gas production will require significant policy and funding changes.

A report by the House Appropriations Committee on House Bill 2154, which Craddick and Landgraf authored together in 2019 to address the same issues, said that failing to help communities in the oil patch repair their infrastructure could also impede the oil and gas industry.

“In recent years, the regions of Texas responsible for the growth in the state’s oil and natural gas production have encountered significant challenges that have limited the potential growth of the energy sector and could pose a significant threat to the sustained future growth of oil and natural gas production in the state,” the report said.

Their 2019 bill died in the Senate. And in 2021 and 2023, they tried and failed again.

This time, they introduced two separate proposals. Craddick authored House Bill 265, which is basically identical to the 2019 bill. Landgraf introduced House Bill 188, which would also devote money to oil field cleanup and emissions reduction programs managed by the Texas Railroad Commission and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality — and give property tax relief to homeowners statewide.

Landgraf could not say whether the changes will be enough to finally win support in the upper chamber.

“It’s a high barrier. I’ve known that since 2018 when I first started looking into this,” Landgraf said. “But I do think that if it’s a policy that we can put in place, it would have great dividends for every corner of Texas, and that’s why I think it’s a fight that’s still worth fighting.”

The two bills would redirect some oil and gas tax money to certain oil and gas-producing counties, as well as coastal counties where a port authority transports oil and gas. Landgraf’s bill would set aside $500 million, while Craddick’s would collect up to $250 million for all eligible counties.

Under Landgraf’s bill, county governments, school districts, colleges and nonprofits in qualifying counties could apply for the money and spend it on things like road repairs, improving schools, workforce development initiatives and emergency services.

The remaining $300 million would go toward the Property Tax Relief Fund, an account managed by the state comptroller used to reduce maintenance repairs in school districts, which are funded by local property taxes.

If one or both of the bills can get through the Legislature and get Gov. Greg Abbott’s approval, they would still need to go before Texas voters this fall as a constitutional amendment.

Budget writers in both chambers typically don’t like being told how to spend money through constitutional amendments, said Sherri Greenberg, a dean of state and local government engagement at the University of Texas at Austin.

The intense pace of oil production in the Permian Basin, which covers 75,000 square miles between Texas and New Mexico, has also inflicted environmental damage.

The Texas Railroad Commission, the state agency that regulates the state’s oil and gas industry, has said it cannot afford to keep up with the increasing cost of plugging thousands of so-called orphan oil and gas wells, which have no clear owner or were drilled by now-bankrupt companies.

Recently, a number of these wells have unexpectedly erupted with toxic wastewater that apparently migrated from oilfield disposal wells.

Under Landgraf’s bill, 1% of the diverted money would go to the Railroad Commission to help plug orphan wells. An additional 1% would pay for emissions reduction efforts in trucking, farming and construction overseen by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Oil companies, trade groups and environmentalist policy experts have testified in favor of both bills.

Cyrus Reed, a legislative and conservation director for the Sierra Club, which advocates for policies that strengthen environmental protections nationally, said he supports Landgraf’s bill for its environmental propositions.

“We’re going to support any solution that gets more revenue paid by the oil and gas industry to resolve (environmental) issues,” Reed said. “We don’t want to rely on … just general revenue from the people of Texas to pay for a problem that industry created.”

Landgraf hopes that expanding the legislation so it has an impact beyond energy-producing regions of Texas will help it gain more support in the Legislature.

“My position is that what’s good for the Permian Basin is good for all of Texas,” he said “But sometimes that takes a bit more of a holistic or longer view for people not from the Permian Basin to reach that conclusion.”

Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.

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