Today is
Thursday June 04, 2026
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail at the San Francisco home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of attempted murder and attempted arson.
Daniel Alejandro Moreno-Gama, wearing an orange jail uniform, did not speak as his attorney entered the pleas during his arraignment in state court. The 20-year-old also faces federal charges.
Moreno-Gama, of Spring, Texas, hurled the flammable bomb at Altman’s home last month, setting an exterior gate alight before fleeing on foot, authorities allege. Less than an hour later, he went to OpenAI’s headquarters about 3 miles (5 kilometers) away and threatened to burn down the building, they say.
After an initial court appearance last month, his lawyer, Diamond Ward, said Moreno-Gama was experiencing a mental health crisis and had been excessively charged. Ward, a San Francisco deputy public defender, said it was a “property crime, at best” and that prosecutors were trying to curry favor with Altman.
On Tuesday, Ward requested a mental health evaluation for Moreno-Gama. The judge granted the request and scheduled another hearing for later this month.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said last month that Moreno-Gama carried out a “targeted attack on Mr. Altman” and that prosecutors had evidence to substantiate the charges.
Moreno-Gama’s parents said in a statement shortly after the attack that he has never harmed anyone and recently began having mental health issues.
Authorities said Moreno-Gama, who works part-time at a pizzeria and is attending community college, expressed hatred of artificial intelligence in his writings, describing it as a danger to humanity and warning of “impending extinction,” according to court filings.
Officials haven’t said whether Altman was home at the time of the attack.
The state charges carry penalties ranging from 19 years to life in prison.
CARROLLTON – A suspect has been arrested after gunfire was reported at the Ktowne Plaza located on the intersection of State Highway 121 and West Hebron Parkway in Carrollton. Police evacuated nearby businesses and urged the public to avoid the area as officers searched for a suspect who remained at large. The Carrollton Police Department announced that two people were killed, and three others were injured during the shooting. The suspect, who was identified as 69-year-old Sung Ho Han, was later arrested after a short foot chase.
AUSTIN (THE TEXAS TRIBUNE) — In March, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick directed state senators to explore ways to close “gambling loopholes” that allow online prediction markets to operate in Texas, raising concerns that state elections and sporting events could be manipulated for profit.
Patrick’s directive was the first time a state leader officially acknowledged the existence of rapidly growing prediction markets, which let users wager on outcomes tied to anything from the weather to election winners and sports scores.
Most prediction markets didn’t operate in the U.S. before 2025.
Texas Lottery intensifies campaign against harmful gambling habits
Any attempts by the Texas Legislature to restrict prediction operators, however, would run into federal roadblocks as the Trump administration insists that oversight belongs to a U.S. agency, not the states.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has taken vigorous steps to retain exclusive regulatory oversight, suing to block five states from taking legal action against predictive markets, including a lawsuit filed Tuesday against Wisconsin.
Prediction market operators argue that state gambling laws don’t apply to them because users aren’t placing bets, they’re risking money on predictions — no different than other exchange-traded financial contracts that speculate on the future performance of commodities. Congress created the CFTC in 1974 to regulate futures trading.
Sara Slane, head of corporate development for Kalshi, the country’s largest prediction market, said she believes federal regulators provide adequate oversight, a perspective Kalshi is “never shy” about sharing with state officials.
“We are regulated at the federal level, but of course, given now the popularity of prediction markets, we are doing a lot of educating on the state level,” Slane said. “That’s the dialogue that we’ll envision having, certainly, in the state of Texas.”
Amid fears of insider trading and market manipulation, other states have struggled to regulate prediction markets under their current gambling laws, including 15 states that have sued, investigated or sent cease and desist orders to operators for allegedly violating gambling restrictions or failing to acquire gambling licenses.
Texas, however, has been slower to react, uncharacteristic for a state that has stood firm against efforts to expand online wagering.
The National Association of Attorneys General and the Ohio attorney general’s office asked Texas in March to join a legal brief arguing that the CFTC does not have sole authority to regulate the markets, emails obtained by The Texas Tribune show. Although 39 states signed on, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office didn’t respond.
Prediction markets say they’re different from sportsbooks. Gambling addicts say it’s all the same
The same thing happened last week when the two organizations again asked Texas to support a similar brief joined by 37 states.
In August 2025, Paxton was one of four state attorneys general who did not sign a letter urging then-U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to crack down on offshore gambling.
Paxton’s office did not respond to requests for comment on whether state gambling laws applied to prediction markets and why Texas did not join the two briefs or the letter to Bondi. When the Tribune asked to view internal communications related to prediction markets, the office declined, saying the information was protected by attorney-client privilege. The Ohio attorney general’s office and the national group declined to comment.
Opponents of legalized gambling say prediction markets, despite being portrayed as a form of futures trading, are simply a new form of gaming, producing the same problems as other types of wagering, including addiction, financial ruin and family strain.
“This is public health. It rewires the brain, it requires increasing amounts of dopamine, people will bet more and more and more,” said Russ Coleman, board chair for Texans Against Gambling. “The number of suicides that will result, the number of families that will be broken up, the number of embezzlement cases — it will hit.”
Jonathan Covey, director of policy for Texas Values, a conservative advocacy group, said the markets have the potential for additional harm because many facilitate wagering on elections.
“Elections, they’re not just economic activity, they’re core functions of our state sovereignty,” Covey said. “We have Penal Code chapter 47 that says election betting is illegal, and prediction markets have been trying to sort of relabel that activity.”
Last week, Kalshi revealed that it had fined three congressional candidates, including one in Texas, for attempting to wager on their own elections. That revelation — and the recent arrest of a U.S. Army soldier accused of using classified information for an almost $410,000 payday on another platform — has added fuel to opponents’ concerns that the current regulatory framework is unprepared to address potential manipulation.
Betting on federal oversight
Prediction markets operate by offering “event contracts” tied to different outcomes, such as the number of strikeouts in an Astros’ ballgame or the winner of the Texas attorney general Republican runoff. Sports-related contracts represent 80% to 90% of Kalshi’s monthly trading volume, according to investment research platform Artemis.
There are very few explicit federal restrictions on futures trading beyond motion picture box office receipts and, thanks to the Onion Futures Act of 1958, the price of onions. A CFTC advisory in March also clarified that contracts related to war, assassination or terrorism are not allowed.
Polymarket, which bills itself as the world’s largest prediction market, has offered contracts based on the wars in Iran and Ukraine, but those are hosted on a platform outside of the U.S. and are not subject to CFTC regulation. Polymarket also maintains a U.S. product under CFTC regulation.
The CFTC permits prediction market operators to self-regulate their contracts, a structure Chair Michael Selig described as the government granting them “quasi-regulatory authority.” The CFTC, he told a U.S. House hearing mid-April, can review and reject contracts, acting as the “second line of defense” after the operators themselves.
“The Commodity Exchange Act sets forth a regulatory scheme where the exchanges are the first line of defense,” Selig said.
That self-governing was displayed last week when Kalshi announced enforcement action against the congressional candidates who bet on their own races, including Zeke Enriquez, who finished 11th in the 21st Congressional District Republican primary. Kalshi fined Enriquez $784 and banned him from using the exchange for five years for buying less than $100 worth of event contracts in the GOP primary.
The CFTC also solicited public comments from mid-March through Thursday for input on future rules specifically addressing prediction markets. On Thursday, the National Conference of State Legislatures, which represents state lawmakers including those in Texas, submitted a comment urging the CFTC to place event contracts related to sports under state gambling laws.
In Texas, Patrick opened the door to potential regulation in March when he directed the State Affairs Committee to study how federal law has been exploited to “circumvent Texas gambling prohibitions.” As presiding officer of the Texas Senate, he has long opposed efforts to loosen state gambling restrictions.
Patrick also told senators to prepare recommendations for the 2027 session of the Legislature to ensure prediction markets do not endanger the integrity of elections and sports in Texas.
The committee has no meetings currently scheduled.
Texas Tech’s Brendan Sorsby takes leave for gambling addiction
Coleman said Patrick’s directive was a “happy surprise” as his organization works to raise awareness of the rapidly expanding prediction markets. While uncertain what effect it will have, he hoped it indicated Patrick’s continued opposition to gambling writ large.
“Maybe it was stretching a little bit to read too much into that, but it says that he’s paying attention,” Coleman said.
The CFTC’s efforts to discourage states from regulating prediction markets started after Selig, appointed by President Donald Trump, began in December as the only commissioner at the agency, which is designed to be led by five presidential appointees. Selig and the CFTC did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Covey said Selig’s treatment of prediction markets was “concerning” because states have traditionally had the power to determine what kinds of gambling are permitted within their borders.
“The CFTC is treating these as financial documents, but the states are the ones that have always regulated gambling,” Covey said. “When a federal agency pushes to expand these markets nationwide, it risks overriding state authority and exposing consumers to something that many states would otherwise restrict.”
Covey said operators, relying on federal oversight, have set up shop in states without formal notification, leaving political leaders playing catch-up.
“I think that this issue has not been highlighted, and a lot of people are not aware of it,” Covey said.
In Republican-led Texas, efforts to regulate prediction markets may be complicated by many state officials’ close ties to Trump. Truth Social, the social media platform created by the president, announced in October it would launch its own prediction market platform. Donald Trump Jr. is an adviser for Kalshi and Polymarket.
“There’s a lot of political overtones to this,” Coleman said.
As courts, Congress weigh in, sportsbooks enter the picture
People on both sides of the issue expect questions about state vs. federal regulation to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Three federal appeals courts are reviewing disputes between prediction market operators and states, with oral arguments completed in two cases and a third set for next week — although no cases are pending before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which oversees Texas.
“This is so, so far down the road that I can truly understand why state lawmakers are saying, ‘OK, great, Dan Patrick, it’s on the interim charge, thank you, we’ll keep our eye on this,’ but at this point it’s got to play out in the courts,” Coleman said.
Several bills have been introduced in Congress to restrict who can use prediction markets and prohibit contracts related to sports or war, including one sponsored by Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin. On Thursday, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution banning senators from using prediction markets. Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said on the Senate floor that the ban also applied to Senate staff.
Meanwhile, prediction markets have provided sportsbooks access to residents of states like Texas where online gambling is generally forbidden.
Two of the largest online sportsbooks, FanDuel and DraftKings, have launched prediction market products offering sports contracts that accept money from Texans. Gaming advocates had worked, unsuccessfully, to persuade Texas lawmakers to legalize daily fantasy sports in 2017 and online sports betting in 2023 and 2025. Today, opening DraftKings’ sports betting app in Texas automatically pivots players to its prediction market.
DraftKings says there is “clear consumer interest” in Texas.
“Drawing on more than a decade of experience serving sports fans, and informed by ongoing, thoughtful dialogue with regulators and policymakers, DraftKings has developed a platform designed to enhance the fan experience while making available responsible engagement tools and resources,” a statement from a DraftKings spokesperson read.
FanDuel responded to questions about their prediction markets by pointing to interviews with other outlets, including a CNN interview with company President Christian Genetski, who described the markets as a “reasonable facsimile” to sportsbooks.
What could Texas do?
Carol Ann Maner, chair of the Texas Coalition on Problem Gambling, a nonpartisan organization focused on bolstering resources to combat gambling addiction, said the exponential growth of prediction markets is a great concern from a public health perspective.
The coalition has not identified examples of problem gambling stemming from prediction markets, but Maner said the similarities between them and sportsbooks means the risks are no different.
“It would be almost like malpractice on our part to pretend not to know that this would be harmful,” she said.
Gambling opponents say Texas lawmakers still have several opportunities to regulate or investigate prediction markets without crossing the CFTC.
Covey suggested scrutinizing advertising that is often indistinguishable from sportsbook operations and can target younger audiences. Federal regulations allow prediction markets to be used by those 18 and older, while most states restrict gambling to those 21 and up.
“Their advertising really is a pretty significant insight into where they feel like they’re pulling their customer base from,” Covey said.
Kalshi and Polymarket previously ran Instagram ads in Texas that explicitly called their services “betting,” the Tribune found in September. Ads using direct gambling terminology were removed after Event Horizon and the Tribune reported on their proliferation, but new ads still frame the markets as a more profitable alternative to sportsbooks.
Legislators could also request or subpoena information from operators to glean details on how Texans use prediction markets. The Senate State Affairs Committee used that tool last year when it scrutinized lottery couriers, learning that 99.9% of the largest courier’s sales in 2024 were done online, which Patrick and other lawmakers said violated state law.
Another idea is banning state officials and employees from participating in prediction markets if they have insider information. Four state governors have issued executive orders barring state employees from using nonpublic information to influence contracts purchased on prediction markets. The orders do not outright ban employees from using the markets.
Slane said she understands why state leaders may be apprehensive about giving up oversight but is confident Kalshi is on “firm legal ground” being regulated exclusively by the feds.
“It’s not a fight that we want to be in, but we’re not surprised that we are in it,” Slane said. “I think when people sort of take a step back, certainly from a state level, and they’re simply viewing this as a federal preemption issue over states’ rights, your natural intuition is to be the defender of your state rights.”
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — You’re standing in the middle of an empty highway, staring off into the fading, golden light of Arizona’s high desert. The soundtrack playing in your mind? Depeche Mode.
Industrial-leaning synth-pop strains might seem incongruous with such a vista, but it was the alternative rock band’s homage to Route 66 that seduced David J. Schwartz. With camera in hand he has made 42 trips over two decades along the celebrated highway, qualifying himself for the job of creating postage stamps commemorating the Mother Road’s centennial.
The U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday is releasing eight stamps marking significant parts of the road in each of the states it traverses, passing by vintage diners, gas stations and motels — many since preserved or restored — along with breathtaking vistas and wide horizons of the open road.
Route 66 is paved with history, from its early days as an escape from the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, through serving as a vital supply route during World War II, to its mid-century role as an antidote for wanderlust. A symbol of freedom and mobility, it has evolved into a time capsule of Americana, steeped in nostalgia and neon.
As teenagers in 1988, Schwartz and his best friend had planned a road trip after girlfriends introduced them to Depeche Mode, where they discovered a cover of Bobby Troup’s 1946 pop standard, “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.” Schwartz’s mother nixed his participation, delaying his first taste of the open road until 2004.
To Schwartz, the road — stretching 2,448 miles (3,940 kilometers) — represents a significant piece of a newly mobile 20th century America, from its debut in 1926 to its decommissioning in 1985: “Road trips, big cars, neon signs.” Though retired from the federal highway system, vast stretches of the route are still in use and a favorite of road warriors and tourists to this day.
“So much to explore. You start here in Illinois on 66 and you’re cruising through prairie land,” Schwartz said during a recent interview in Springfield. “By the time you get out west, you’re in the desert or you’re in mountains through hairpin turns. It’s just an incredible journey and you just get such a beautiful slice of America going through it.”
Tired of retail management, Schwartz went back to school to study photography and had the idea of Route 66 stamps as early as a decade ago. He was tapped for the project in 2023. He recalls thinking, “Here is my moment to bring Route 66 to the masses.”
Greg Breeding, a USPS art director for stamp design, was working on a graphic showing a map of the road when he discovered Schwartz’s photos. They were beautifully photographed, not commercial and slick.
“They’re as if you were there,” he said, “which makes them especially useful for stamps.”
The USPS plate contains 16 stamps, two of each one representing Route 66 host states. A ninth photo serves as selvage, or the image surrounding the block. It’s the scene of that empty Arizona highway, shot in 2023 near Seligman, Arizona, when Schwartz and his high school friend finally took that trip 35 years in the making.
But a road is a road, isn’t it? Why can’t a traveler get the same view standing on one of the interstate highways that ultimately bypassed Route 66?
“You’d probably get run over,” Schwartz said dryly.
“Interstates are designed to move traffic quickly. They cut through the sides of mountains, they do not follow the contour of the land …,” he added. “On Route 66, you’re actually part of the landscape as you move through it. You feel the land as you’re traveling.”
Breeding and Schwartz steered clear of the fabled highway’s most popular spots, not only because those are tougher to get permission to use, but also because they wanted to give people a “fresh look,” Breeding said. The stamps are devoid of people, he said, in part to create a sense of allure rather tourist trap vibes.
To that end, the blocks capture both the continuing commerce and the roadside relics that hint at their former vibrancy. Take for example the Conoco Tower Station and U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas, a neon-adorned Art Deco beauty whose luminous lights come alive at dusk.
In Yucca, Arizona, Schwartz photographed the dilapidated “Motel” sign in the relentless noonday sun, revealing desert desolation but also “the enduring pulse of the open road.”
Among his favorites is the Illinois entry, a friend’s 1929 Model A Ford rumbling down the only remaining section of Route 66 composed of hand-laid brick in Auburn, just south of Springfield. The goal? Create an image that would make viewers feel as if they were there for the birth of Route 66.
“We wanted to show it to be colorful. We wanted to show the quirkiness. We wanted to show the age,” Breeding said. “It’s like a sort of show, the idea that Route 66 is a living history of the United States, from the past to the present.”
Schwartz said he’s amazed that the stamps boasting his work will “travel all over the United States and end up in people’s mailboxes.”
He added: “I hope they really inspire people to get out there and travel the road and support the Mom and Pop businesses and keep Route 66 alive for another 100 years.”
Nayomie Mendoza has become accustomed to how Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in the U.S.: the platters of tacos, the pitchers of margaritas and the jubilant sounds of mariachi bands.
She is among a number of Mexican American business owners who’ve become more vocal about also honoring Mexican history and the significance of the holiday, as a way to combat anti-immigrant sentiments amid heightened immigration enforcement efforts that have targeted Latino communities.
Mendoza, owner of Cuernavaca’s Grill in Los Angeles, said she prefers a celebration that reflects “everything that as a community we’re enduring today.” So, Mendoza will host Cinco de Mayo festivities at her restaurant that, along with traditional mariachi and Mexican cuisine, will include a nod to Mexican perseverance over the French in the Battle of Puebla over 160 years ago.
“Just looking at how much they did with very little resources,” she said. “It just showed resilience. So, on Cinco de Mayo we always make it a testament of our resilience.”
Restaurants owners aren’t the first Latino community leaders to reclaim Cinco de Mayo in the U.S. — moving away from a flattening of Mexican culture toward highlighting history and community. This year, the celebrations are noticeably embracing traditional Mexican culture and focused on preservation, said Sehila Mota Casper, director of Latinos in Heritage Conservation.
“These are just incredible moments of educating and knowledge sharing,” Mota Casper said. “The more we educate, the more knowledge we share, the better a community and people we become.”
Restaurants emphasize authenticity over tequila shots
Hispanic-owned firms accounted for 8.4% of 5.9 million U.S. employers in 2024, according to the Census Bureau’s annual survey of businesses. They also were approximately 18% of all restaurant businesses in the United States last month, according to the National Restaurant Association, which uses census data.
U.S. revelers hoping to crowd restaurants and toss back shots of tequila may find more wholesome and intentionally planned offerings, said Raul Luis, who owns the Birrieria Chalio Mexican Restaurant, with locations in Los Angeles and Fort Worth, Texas. On Cinco de Mayo, he wants his customers to eat and drink the types of “guisados” — traditional Mexican braises or stews served as taco filling — that one would eat when invited into a Mexican family’s home.
Well-made, traditional cooking will keep customers coming back, even if they aren’t Hispanic, Luis said.
“It’s the ultimate opportunity for restaurants to take advantage of that moment and bring them in and entice them to authentic Mexican food,” Luis said.
What Cinco de Mayo celebrates
Cinco de Mayo marks the anniversary of the 1862 victory by Mexican troops over invading French forces at the Battle of Puebla. The triumph over much larger French troops who were better-equipped was an enormous emotional boost for Mexican soldiers led by Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza.
In Mexico, historical reenactments are held annually in the central city of Puebla to commemorate the victory. Participants dress as Mexican and French troops and as Zacapoaxtlas — the Indigenous and farmer contingent that helped Mexican troops win.
In the U.S., May 5 is seen as a day to celebrate Mexican American culture, stretching back to the 1800s in California. Festivities typically include parades, street food, block parties, mariachi competitions and baile.
Folklórico, or folkloric ballet, features whirling dancers in bright, ruffled dresses and their hair tied with shiny ribbons.
The day often is mistaken for Mexican Independence Day, which is on Sept. 16.
Latino activists and scholars say that disconnect in the U.S. is bolstered by the hazy history of Cinco de Mayo and marketing that plays on stereotypes that include fake, droopy mustaches and gigantic, colorful sombreros.
A testament to Mexican resilience
Since returning to the White House in 2025, President Donald Trump has continued to label Mexican immigrants as criminals and gang members, and Latino communities have been a target of his hard-line immigration tactics. Memes shared from official White House social media accounts perpetuate negative stereotypes about Latinos, while a federally led English-only initiative and ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs all seem to target communities of color.
All together, it’s generated a great deal of fear in Latino communities.
Mendoza, the Los Angeles restaurant owner, said it’s also been a hard time for the restaurant industry because of rising costs. But in spite of it all, Cuernavaca’s Grill will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
As part of the restaurant’s Cinco de Mayo festivities, she’ll invite customers to contribute to a food and toy drive meant to support those who are struggling in the current climate.
“This is a testament of our resilience,” Mendoza said. “It’s a testament of our hard work. It is pride to our community and everything that we’ve accomplished.”
TRINITY COUNTY, Texas (KETK)— The Trinity County Sheriff’s Office has opened an investigation after gallon barrels of chemicals and paint were illegally dumped into a local creek.
According to the sheriff’s office, 55-gallon barrels containing chemicals, paint and unknown substances were dumped from a white rental truck into a creek near the Port Adventure subdivision, less than half a mile from Lake Livingston.
“Dumping chemicals into our waterways can harm wildlife, contaminate drinking water, and create long-term environmental damage that affects this county for years to come,” Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace said.
A cleanup effort to remove the chemicals from the water has begun and crews from Lone Star Hazmat are currently on the scene. The sheriff’s office is asking anyone who witnessed the products being dumped to contact authorities at 936-642-1424 so they can build a strong case against potential suspects.
“If we allow this kind of behavior, we are inviting more of it,” Wallace said. “A dirty environment attracts more crime, more dumping, and more people who have no respect for this county.”
SAN AUGUSTINE, Texas (KETK)– An East Texas man was sentenced to 99 years in prison on Thursday after committing murder with a crossbow in 2022.
Lorenza White was arrested in December 2022 after deputies from the San Augustine County Sheriff’s Office received a call regarding an unresponsive and bloodied man lying in the front yard of a house on FM 711.
Once on the scene, deputies found the victim dead from injuries he sustained after being shot by a crossbow in the back. White was later arrested in Lufkin after he was seen driving in the victim’s truck, which had been reported stolen.
After being placed under arrest, White admitted to officials that he had shot the victim with a crossbow and then stole his truck. White was later charged with murder, aggravated robbery and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
On Thursday, White was sentenced to 99 years in prison after being found guilty by a jury of murder.
EL PASO (AP) – A group of civil rights organizations on Monday filed a new lawsuit seeking to stop parts of the law that would let Texas police arrest people suspected of illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
The law can go into effect next week after a federal appeals court lifted a lower court ruling that had kept it paused for years.
Senate Bill 4, as the law is known, created a state-level crime for entering the country without authorization and created pathways for state authorities to remove such people from the country if convicted.
Courts have long held that immigration enforcement is the sole responsibility of the federal government, but with the state law, Texas Republicans sought to challenge that precedent.
The Texas Civil Rights Project, American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, and ACLU argue in Monday’s lawsuit the law is unconstitutional because immigration law is exclusively the federal government’s domain and should preempt the state law.
They are trying to stop four provisions of SB 4: the creation of a crime for re-entering the country without authorization, even if a person has since obtained legal status; granting state magistrates authority to order a person’s deportation; the creation of a crime for failing to comply with a magistrate’s order; and requiring that magistrates continue a prosecution even if a person has a pending immigration case such as an asylum claim.
“Our fight against SB 4 isn’t over until justice wins,” Kate Gibson Kumar, of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said in a statement. “SB 4 is not only unconstitutional, but a vile law that uses our Texas resources to harm communities across our state.”
Attorney General Ken Paxton ’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit is the latest effort to stop the 2023 law, passed by the Legislature in response to record border crossings that GOP state leaders argued amounted to an invasion.
The Biden administration was among the plaintiffs to initially challenge the law in 2024, but the Trump administration last year terminated the Department of Justice’s participation in the lawsuit amid his immigration crackdown.
That lawsuit continued until two weeks ago, when a federal appeals court lifted an injunction that had stopped the law when it ruled that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue.
The law can go into effect May 15 unless it’s halted by another court.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday restored broad access to the abortion pill mifepristone, blocking a lower-court ruling that had threatened to upend one of the main ways abortions are provided across the nation.
The order signed by Justice Samuel Alito temporarily allows women seeking abortions to obtain the pill at pharmacies or through the mail, without an in-person visit to a doctor.
Those rules had been in effect for several years until a federal appeals court imposed new restrictions last week.
The latest order will remain in effect for another week while both sides respond and the high court considers the issue more fully.
Most abortions use pills rather than procedures
The majority of abortions in the U.S. are obtained through medications. Some Democratic-led states have laws that seek to give legal protection to those who prescribe the drugs via telehealth to patients in states with bans.
Those prescriptions have blunted the impact of abortion bans that most Republican-led states have sought to enforce since the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade. One recent report suggested that in the 13 states where abortion is banned at all stages of pregnancy, more women obtained abortions with pills prescribed by telehealth last year than by traveling to other states.
Louisiana sued to roll back the Food and Drug Administration’s rules on how mifepristone can be prescribed, asserting that the policy undermines the ban there. The case also questioned the safety of the drug.
That lawsuit is the furthest along of several efforts by abortion opponents to curtail access to mifepristone.
Restrictions would not end telehealth abortions
Mifepristone is usually taken with a second drug, misoprostol, for abortions. According to the FDA label on mifepristone, the combination completes medical abortion 97.4% of the time.
Misoprostol can also be used alone for terminating pregnancies, with some studies putting its effectiveness at around 80% or higher.
In countries where mifepristone is banned or unavailable, misoprostol is frequently used alone.
Unlike mifepristone, misoprostol has never been formally approved by the FDA for abortion. The drug is most commonly used to treat stomach ulcers, but it has been adapted by doctors for use in medication abortions. Because the FDA never cleared the drug for ending pregnancies, it has faced far less scrutiny from anti-abortion groups.
Several groups that prescribe abortion bills by telehealth made the switch over the weekend to misoprostol only, a regimen that can cause longer-lasting side effects.
Dr. Angel Foster, founder of The Massachusetts Abortion Access Project, said her organization was prepared to send misoprostol only on Monday afternoon but was able to switch back to the two-drug combination.
“Regardless of what happens with this regulatory issue, we and other groups will continue to provide high-quality abortion care to patients in all 50 states,” she said.
Rapid rulings have created confusion
Foster said her organization spent the weekend guiding different groups of patients: those who were sent mifepristone but had not received it yet; those who had been approved for the drugs but had not paid or been sent them; and those who reached out with initial requests.
For now, she said, they are asking patients to approve being sent pills with or without mifepristone — in case of another change.
Monday’s ruling offers more time to figure out a course of action in case mifepristone prescriptions are curtailed again.
“We have a little bit more time to navigate this new landscape with the stay,” said Julie Burkhart, the founder of Wellspring Health Access, a Wyoming abortion clinic that provides roughly 100 abortions a year through pills prescribed by telehealth.
Elizabeth Ling, associate director of legal services at If/When/How, which provides legal guidance for people considering abortion, said that wherever the legal battle goes next, there’s one thing women need to understand: “The outcome is not going to make it a crime for people to access care.”
None of the state laws currently include any punishment for women who obtain abortions.
The court fight continues
Anti-abortion groups vowed to continue the legal battle.
Monday’s ruling “is a temporary procedural step that leaves unresolved the very real concerns about the safety of these drugs and the decision under the Biden administration’s FDA to recklessly remove longstanding safeguards,” Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, said in a statement.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who filed the lawsuit against the FDA along with a woman who says her boyfriend coerced her into taking abortion pills to end a pregnancy, criticized drug companies for their role in the case.
“Big abortion pharma claims they need an emergency stay because they will lose massive amounts of money if they can’t kill more babies quickly and efficiently by mail without medical oversight,” Murrill said in a statement. “The administrative stay is temporary, and I am confident life and the law will win in the end.”
HOUSTON COUNTY (KETK) – The Houston County Sheriff’s Office recently recovered several items that had been stolen from homes near State Highway 7, including pieces of jewelry and sports memorabilia. According to our news partner KETK, on April 7, sheriff’s office deputies were sent out to a home on State Highway 7 west to investigate a reported robbery. Several items were reportedly missing from this first home.
Then, on April 25, a deputy responded to another home on State Highway 7 west where several purses, credit cards and debit cards were stolen. Hours after that robbery, one of the debit cards was reportedly used at an ATM in Crockett.
The sheriff’s office got bank video from the ATM and identified a suspect in the robberies as the person trying to use the stolen debit card. The sheriff’s office added that information from several citizens was essential in identifying the suspect.
On Wednesday, April 29, deputies headed to a residence in the area near the burgled homes. Once at the residence, deputies located the suspect and found probable cause to arrest them and charge them for burglary of a habitation, burglary of a vehicle and credit card abuse.
MOUNT PLEASANT (KETK) – Titus Regional Medical Center officially began operating as CHRISTUS Health Mount Pleasant Hospital on Friday, after the hospital’s board of managers voted to partner with CHRISTUS Health.According to our news partner KETK, in a Feb. 2 statement from the hospital, the board voted to proceed with a strategic partnership with CHRISTUS Health because of their shared commitment to healthcare in rural communities.
“This decision reflects our responsibility to ensure both excellent care and thoughtful stewardship of our mission,” Chair of the Titus Regional Medical Center (TRMC) Board of Managers Don Lowry said. “The Board is confident that this partnership strengthens our capacity to serve the community while honoring values that matter deeply to our patients and caregivers.”
The hospital began operating under its new name on Friday, May 1. CHRISTUS Health administrators and CHRISTUS Health Mount Pleasant Hospital staff marked the name change with a celebration on Friday where staff got cupcakes, new CHRISTUS Health shirts and CHRISTUS Health water bottles.
“As we move forward together, our focus is on continuity, stability and growth,” senior vice president and chief operating officer of U.S. ministries for CHRISTUS Health Chris Glenney said. “We are grateful for the strong foundation built by Titus Regional Medical Center and are honored to build upon it while extending the healing mission of Jesus Christ.”
The TRMC board also acknowledged that the Titus Regional Medical Center Foundation will continue on in it’s charitable work with local nonprofits.
“For generations, the Northeast Texas community has trusted this hospital for compassionate, high-quality care. That trust doesn’t change today. It’s our foundation, and we are confident CHRISTUS will thoughtfully carry that legacy forward,” Lowry said.
EDMOND, Okla. (AP) — Authorities in Oklahoma were looking for suspects Monday in a weekend shooting at an unsanctioned lakeside party packed with young adults that left at least 23 people injured, some critically, according to police and hospital officials.
It wasn’t clear how many of those injured had suffered gunshot wounds, according to a statement released by police Monday. No arrests had been made.
The shooting broke out Sunday night during a party near a campground at Arcadia Lake, a popular swimming and boating spot in Edmond, just outside Oklahoma City, said Edmond police spokesperson Emily Ward.
At least 18 people were treated at hospitals in the Oklahoma City area. One healthcare system said the victims it treated ranged in age from 16 to 30. It said three people were in critical condition and four were listed as serious.
Jason Hearne told ABC News that he was nearby when the shooting started and saw people who had been shot in the legs and one young woman with a head wound who was still breathing.
“These kids came out to have a, probably a good time, and for this to break out, I know that wasn’t what they expected, and it’s just tragic,” he said.
Police in Edmond said Monday that the party was not a permitted or reserved gathering and had been advertised across social media, drawing a large crowd of mostly young adults from across the Oklahoma City area.
“There is no reason to believe there is an ongoing threat to the public,” police said in a statement.
Some of those injured were transported from the scene while others sought treatment on their own, police said.
Integris Health said it treated 13 people at its hospitals in Edmond and Oklahoma City. Seven remained in Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City, including three in critical condition.
OU Health said it received five people at its trauma center but provided no other details.
While police did not provide more details about the party, a flyer circulated on social media after the shooting suggested that an event called Sunday Funday was scheduled at a pavilion near the lake until midnight.
It advertised food, drinks, music and “good vibes, good people.”
Arcadia Lake sits just north of Oklahoma City and is dotted with picnic pavilions, campgrounds, a fishing pier, and swimming beaches.
It was built in the 1980s for outdoor recreation and flood control and also provides water to the city of Edmond, a suburb with about with about 100,000 residents.
Forty years ago, Edmond was the site of one of the deadliest workplace shootings in U.S. history. On Aug. 20, 1986, postal worker Patrick Sherrill shot 20 co-workers, killing 14 of them. He then killed himself.
Over the weekend, another shooting at a party in the Texas Panhandle left two people teenagers dead and 10 others wounded. Police in Amarillo said two people opened fire at an apartment complex early Saturday.
SUNNYVALE, Ca. (AP) — Hundreds of years ago, Yemen helped introduce the world to coffee. Lately, the mountainous, war-ravaged country that borders Saudi Arabia and Oman is exporting something else: its coffee culture.
Yemeni coffeehouses are opening at a rapid pace across the U.S. The number of cafes run by six major chains that serve Yemeni-style drinks grew 50% last year to 136, according to Technomic, a restaurant industry consulting company. The count doesn’t include the many smaller chains and independent cafes serving coffees and teas imported from Yemen.
Yemeni coffeehouses are meeting the moment for several reasons. They stay open late — sometimes past 3 a.m., especially during Ramadan — and provide a place to socialize for the growing number of Americans who don’t drink alcohol. Last year, a Gallup poll found that just 54% U.S. adults reported drinking alcohol, the lowest percentage in 90 years.
“Generally in the Middle East. our nightlife is coffee, right? People hang out at coffee shops, they play cards, they talk. We wanted to bring that here,” said Ahmad Badr, who owns an Arwa Yemeni Coffee franchise in Sunnyvale, California.
Another reason for the cafes’ popularity is the growing number of Americans of Arab descent. Between 2010 and 2024, the Arab American population in the U.S. rose by 43%, compared to around 10% growth for the U.S. population as a whole, according to the Arab American Institute.
While most Yemeni coffee shops are in places with high concentrations of Arab Americans, including Michigan, California and Texas, they’re also opening in locations as diverse as Alpharetta, Georgia; Overland Park, Kansas; and Portland, Maine.
A taste of home
Faris Almatrahi is the co-founder and owner of Texas-based Arwa Yemeni Coffee, a chain with 11 cafes across the U.S. and 30 more in development. He said an ongoing civil war in Yemen that began in 2014 has prevented Yemeni Americans like himself from visiting their homeland, so he has tried to evoke Yemen in his cafes.
Arwa locations are painted in natural desert tones, with archways that mimic mosques and lampshades shaped like the hats worn by Yemen’s coffee farmers.
“One of the ways to actually visit without traveling there was to bring that experience to the U.S., and that was a huge passion for us when we opened our first location,” Almatrahi said. “It was extremely emotional for all of us due to the fact that it really transported us to Yemen.”
But Almatrahi noted that most of his customers aren’t of Arab descent. In fact, Americans of all backgrounds are seeking out new global flavors and authentic experiences, according to market research company Datassential. Food trends are also spreading quickly through social media.
Menus vary, but Yemeni cafes generally serve specialties like Adeni tea, a spiced tea similar to chai, and qishr, a traditional drink made from the dried husks of coffee cherries. Familiar drinks like lattes might contain special spices or honey; at Arwa, lattes features the outline of a camel stenciled in spices.
Bakery cases might contain khaliat nahal, or Yemeni honeycomb bread, a cheese-filled pastry drizzled with honey, or basboosa, a cake soaked in sugar syrup and often flavored with lemon or rose water. Many Yemeni menus also mix in more typical U.S. coffeeshop fare, like matcha lattes or berry refreshers.
Choices for coffee lovers
Peter Giuliano, a researcher with the Specialty Coffee Association, a California-based nonprofit, said culturally specific cafes have been a key growth driver in the U.S. coffee industry for the last few years. In addition to Yemeni cafes, he cited the Latin-style chain Tierra Mia in California and Nguyen Coffee Supply, a New York-based company that roasts Vietnamese beans.
A customer who visited Badr’s shop in Sunnyvale for the first time said an internet search brought her there on a recent weekday. Cindy Donovan said she’s always on the hunt for good coffee and was excited by Yemeni coffees she tried.
“I think they’re much more refined and mellow, and much more full of flavor than a regular cup of dark roast, for instance,” Donovan said. “The cardamom in the drinks is fantastic. Very, very flavorful, rich but not heavy.”
Most Yemeni coffee is sun-dried, which enhances its flavor and brings out undertones of chocolate and fruit, Almatrahi said. Yemeni cafes often mix coffee with special spice mixes – or hawaij – that may contain cardamon, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, coriander or nutmeg.
“Our coffee and teas are not just made through a fully automatic machine,” said Mohamed Nasser, the director of operations for Haraz Coffee House, a Dearborn, Michigan-based chain with 50 U.S. outlets and another 50 in development. “We have to manually blend and mix our coffee and tea, boil it with water and evaporated milk, make sure that it comes out (with the) perfect taste, perfect color.”
Yemen’s flavorful history
Coffee has a long history in Yemen. While the plant was likely discovered in Ethiopia, by the 1400s it was being cultivated in Yemen, where monks brewed it to stay awake during prayers, according to the National Coffee Association, a U.S. trade group. Yemen monopolized the coffee trade for around 200 years until Dutch merchants smuggled coffee seeds to Indonesia and began growing plants there.
Almatrahi said a revitalization of the Yemeni coffee industry over the last two decades, led by coffee companies, foundations and young entrepreneurs, helped make the current U.S. boom possible. Coffee is one of the most promising sectors for economic development in Yemen, where more than 80% of the population lives in poverty, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
“We are ambassadors for our culture and our people. So when we open these shops, we want to perform the outreach, to show the hospitality, to show what we have to offer,” Almatrahi said.
SULPHUR SPRINGS – Authorities in Sulphur Springs are working to identify human remains found Saturday morning.
The Sulphur Springs Police Department said officers were dispatched to Mark Street, across from the Hopkins Veterinary Clinic, at around 8:55 a.m. , where they discovered human remains near a residence. Criminal investigators and the Texas Rangers searched the surrounding area and found additional remains.
The skeletal remains have since been transported to the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas, where they will attempt to identify the remains and the cause of death. The investigation remains ongoing, the Sulphur Springs Police Department said.
AUSTIN — A Richardson resident claimed a Lotto Texas jackpot prize worth an estimated $41 million for the drawing held on April 20. The cash value option was selected at the time of purchase and the winner received $22,574,163.57 before taxes. The winning Quick Pick ticket matched all six of the numbers drawn (21-28-33-34-43-44). The ticket was purchased at 7-Eleven Convenience Store on Interstate Highway 30, in Mesquite.
“We haven’t missed a Lotto Texas drawing in 30 years,” said the claimant, who elected to remain anonymous.
After the claimant’s spouse checked the ticket several times to confirm the jackpot win, the spouse woke the claimant late at night with the exciting news. The spouse went straight to sleep, but the claimant told the Texas Lottery, “I stayed up all night thinking about it!”
When asked what they may do with the winnings, the winner shared that they look forward to using the prize to help their children and grandchildren, along with making time to travel, adding, “There’s a whole world out there I need to see!”