Today is
Thursday June 04, 2026
AUSTIN (AP) — The Onion’s plan to take over the Infowars platforms that Alex Jones built into a bullhorn of conspiracy theories and turn them into parody sites was in limbo again Thursday, after a court paused a proposed deal involving the satirical news outlet.
Infowars is facing liquidation because of the more than $1 billion in defamation lawsuit judgments Jones owes relatives of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting for calling the massacre a hoax. The proposed deal would give The Onion temporary authority to use Infowars’ trademarks, copyrights and intellectual property while a state receiver in Texas works toward liquidation.
A state judge had scheduled a hearing Thursday on whether to approve The Onion deal. But the proceeding turned into a status conference because the Texas Third Court of Appeals approved an emergency motion by Jones’ lawyers that temporarily blocked the transfer of any Infowars assets. The judge set another hearing for May 28.
Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families had asked the Texas Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court ruling before Thursday’s hearing.
“This newly insane, unprecedented legal stalling does nothing but delay our deal with the receiver to take control of InfoWars,” Ben Collins, The Onion’s CEO, said in a social media post ahead of Thursday’s hearing. “We now expect new traps in Alex Jones’ amoral war to deny paying the Sandy Hook families, but we’re freshly surprised by the U.S. legal system’s appetite to put up with it.”
Jones declared victory in videos posted on his social media sites Wednesday night, calling The Onion’s plan illegal in part because he has court appeals pending in the case.
“I said days ago there’s no way the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Texas doesn’t overturn this — you know they’re all Democrats — because it’s so outrageous what you’ve done,” Jones wrote.
AUSTIN (AP) — Officials at Camp Mystic said Thursday they are withdrawing their application for a camp license to operate this summer, saying they want to give families of those who died there more time to grieve.
The decision comes after days of pointed questioning by Texas lawmakers who are investigating camp officials’ response to the devastating flood on July 4 that claimed the lives of 25 campers and two teenage counselors. The camp’s owner, Dick Eastland, also died in the flooding.
“No administrative process or summer season should move forward while families continue to grieve, while investigations continue and while so many Texans still carry the pain of last July’s tragedy,” Camp Mystic said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services confirmed Thursday that the camp withdrew its application.
WASHINGTON (AP) – A back-and-forth volley of congressional redistricting in states has changed the electoral battlefield ahead of the November midterm elections, as Republicans and Democrats each seek an edge in their push for control of the closely divided U.S. House.
Florida’s Republican-led Legislature is latest to act, approving new House districts on Wednesday that could help the GOP win several additional seats in this year’s elections. That could offset Democratic gains in Virginia, where voters recently approved a new U.S. House map designed to flip several seats to Democrats.
Voting districts typically are redrawn once a decade, after each census. But President Donald Trump last year urged Texas Republicans to redraw House districts to give the GOP an edge in the midterms. California Democrats reciprocated, and redistricting efforts soon cascaded across states.
Republicans believe they could win up to 13 additional seats from new congressional districts in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Florida. Democrats, meanwhile, think they could gain up to 10 seats from new districts in California, Utah and Virginia. But that presumes past voting patterns hold in November. And that’s uncertain, especially since the party in power typically loses seats in the midterms and Trump faces negative approval ratings in polls.
Democrats need to gain just a few seats in November to wrest control of the House from Republicans, potentially allowing them to obstruct Trump’s agenda.
New U.S. House districts have passed in eight states since last summer. Six took up redistricting voluntarily, one was required to by its state constitution and another did so under court order.
Current map: 13 Democrats, 25 Republicans
New map: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a revised House map into law last August that could help Republicans win five additional seats.
Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in December cleared the way for the new districts to be used in this year’s elections. It has since overturned a lower-court ruling that blocked the new map because it was “racially gerrymandered.”
Current map: 43 Democrats, nine Republicans
New map: Voters in November approved revised House districts drawn by the Democratic-led Legislature that could help Democrats win five additional seats.
Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in February allowed the new districts to be used in this year’s elections. It denied an appeal from Republicans and the Department of Justice, which claimed the districts impermissibly favor Hispanic voters.
Current map: two Democrats, six Republicans
New map: Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a revised House map into law last September that could help Republicans win an additional seat.
Challenges: A Cole County judge ruled the new map is in effect as election officials work to determine whether a referendum petition seeking a statewide vote complies with constitutional criteria and contains enough valid petition signatures. The Missouri Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit claiming mid-decade redistricting is illegal. It’s scheduled to hear arguments in May on claims the new districts violate compactness requirements and should be placed on hold pending the potential referendum.
Current map: four Democrats, 10 Republicans
New map: The Republican-led General Assembly gave final approval in October to revised districts that could help Republicans win an additional seat.
Challenges: A federal court panel in November denied a request to block the revised districts from being used in the midterm elections.
Current map: five Democrats, 10 Republicans
New map: A bipartisan panel composed primarily of Republicans voted in October to approve revised House districts that improve Republicans’ chances of winning two additional seats.
Challenges: None. The state constitution required new districts before the 2026 election, because Republicans had approved the prior map without sufficient Democratic support after the last census.
Current map: no Democrats, four Republicans
New map: A judge in November imposed revised House districts that could help Democrats win a seat. The court ruled that lawmakers had circumvented anti-gerrymandering standards passed by voters when adopting the prior map.
Challenges: A federal court panel and the state Supreme Court, in February, each rejected Republican challenges to the judicial map selection.
Current map: six Democrats, five Republicans
New map: Voters in April approved a constitutional amendment authorizing new U.S. House districts backed by Democrats that could help the party win up to four additional seats.
Challenges: The state Supreme Court allowed the referendum to proceed, but it has yet to rule whether the effort is legal. The court is considering an appeal of a Tazewell County judge’s ruling that the amendment is invalid because lawmakers violated procedural requirements.
Current map: eight Democrats, 20 Republicans
New map: The Republican-led Legislature in April passed revised House districts that could improve the GOP’s chances of winning four additional seats.
Challenges: The state constitution says districts cannot be drawn with intent to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent.
Governors, lawmakers or partisan officials pushed for congressional redistricting in numerous states. In at least five states, those efforts gained some initial traction but ultimately fell short in either the legislature or court.
Current map: seven Democrats, one Republican
Proposed map: The Democratic-led House in February passed a redistricting plan backed by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore that could help Democrats win an additional seat.
Challenges: The legislative session ended in April without the Democratic-led Senate voting on the redistricting plan. The state Senate president said there were concerns it could backfire on Democrats.
Current map: 19 Democrats, seven Republicans
Proposed map: A judge in January ordered a state commission to draw new boundaries for the only congressional district in New York City represented by a Republican, ruling it unconstitutionally dilutes the votes of Black and Hispanic residents.
Challenges: The U.S. Supreme Court in March granted Republicans’ request to halt the judge’s order, leaving the existing district lines in place for the 2026 election.
Current map: two Democrats, seven Republicans
Proposed map: The Republican-led House passed a redistricting plan in December that would have improved Republicans’ chances of winning two additional seats.
Challenges: Despite pressure from Trump to adopt the new map, the Republican-led Senate rejected it in a bipartisan vote on Dec. 11.
Current map: one Democrat, three Republicans
Proposed map: Some Republican lawmakers mounted an attempt to take up congressional redistricting.
Challenges: Lawmakers dropped a petition drive for a special session on congressional redistricting in November, after failing to gain enough support.
Current map: 14 Democrats, three Republicans
Proposed map: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in October proposed a new U.S. House map that would improve Democrats’ chances of winning an additional seat.
Challenges: The Democratic-led General Assembly declined to take up redistricting, citing concerns about the effect on representation for Black residents.
MINERAL WELLS (AP) — Vicious winds burst through the front door of Christopher Hester’s duplex apartment, then started ripping the roof apart. Hester and his wife grabbed their dog and ducked into a hallway to the sound of breaking glass, furniture hitting the walls and a howl like a monstrous vacuum cleaner.
“It was kind of hard to see because of the debris,” Hester, 33, said Wednesday, standing amid the ruins of his home. “I was able to see the tornado. And all of my stuff go into the sky.”
Officials confirmed that a tornado on Tuesday tore through this small Texas city, sending five people to a hospital as it flattened buildings used for manufacturing and ravaged nearby homes. Police and firefighters said they feared the worst when they first saw the damage in Mineral Wells, home to about 15,000 people.
“We are most grateful for no loss of life in this event yesterday,” Mayor Regan Johnson told a news conference Wednesday. “When you see the destruction that’s here, you can tell that’s really amazing.”
Hester and his wife searched through overturned furniture and scattered debris Wednesday for their two missing cats and any belongings they could salvage. Their roof was gone and the windows were blown out, along with the apartment’s front and back walls.
“By the grace of God we are still standing here today,” Hester said.
Allison Prater, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Fort Worth, said the tornado touched down in Mineral Wells with winds of at least 120 mph (193 kph). The weather service sent a team Wednesday to survey the destruction 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of Dallas.
Violent weather has been plaguing parts of the South and Midwest. Two people died in North Texas last weekend as thunderstorms spawned destructive tornadoes, and a Michigan man was killed on Monday by a tree that toppled in a storm.
A hail storm damaged roofs, skylights and parked vehicles Tuesday at a zoo in Springfield, Missouri, and also killed one of its large birds. A female emu named Adam died from head trauma as hail fell at the Dickerson Park Zoo, spokesperson Joey Powell said Wednesday.
More severe storms were possible Wednesday across the South and parts of the Mid-Atlantic. The weather service said there was a slight chance of damaging winds and large hail across portions of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
In Mineral Wells, local officials spoke with reporters Wednesday in a subdivision strewn with splintered lumber, fallen trees and other debris.
Fire Chief Ryan Dunn said five people injured in the storm went to a hospital for treatment. Others were treated for minor injuries by first responders.
“As we arrived on scene, we noticed there was a lot of debris, a lot of roofs off,” Dunn said. “And then we started seeing buildings collapse.”
Dunn said most of the area struck by the tornado is used for commercial and industrial purposes, though some homes were also damaged. At least two manufacturers suffered heavy damage.
One was Ventamatic, which makes large fans and other ventilation equipment in Mineral Wells. The company said on its website that employees evacuated ahead of the storm and none were injured. Operations were shut down Wednesday “due to severe damage and ongoing safety hazards,” the company said.
More than 9,000 homes and businesses were without electricity across Texas on Wednesday afternoon, according to the tracking site PowerOutage.us. About 230 of those outages were in the Mineral Wells area.
Mineral Wells officials declared a local state of disaster and imposed an overnight curfew that will remain in place Wednesday, Police Chief Tim Denison said.
HOUSTON (AP) — People who are wrongfully incarcerated then exonerated, sometimes after spending decades behind bars, face yet more challenges finding jobs and rebuilding their lives after their release. Advocates say exonerees lack work history, viable skills, training and references when seeking work. Advocates and exonerees say they also face bias and stigma, even though they have been found innocent. National nonprofits and local groups are working to provide employment opportunities and other assistance for exonerees. The National Registry of Exonerations reports that more than 3,800 people have been exonerated in the U.S. since 1989.
Richard Miles set out to find a job after his release from a Texas prison in 2009 with a collection of newspaper clippings about his wrongful murder conviction as his resume. No one would hire him, including warehouses and fast-food restaurants.
It was a period of painful rejection that is familiar to exonerees. Some see their own struggles reflected in Calvin Duncan, who won elected office in New Orleans after clearing his name but likely won’t serve. Louisiana lawmakers sent a bill to the governor’s desk Wednesday abolishing his job.
“We’re still kind of like looked at as an inmate that did a particular crime. It further deteriorates our ability to believe that the system can heal itself,” said Miles, who eventually found a job through a minister at his church. “When cases like in Louisiana occur, it just shows us that the system is not healing itself.”
The fight in Louisiana has touched a nerve among exonerees in the U.S. who see Duncan’s plight as reflective of the biases and stigmas they have to confront as they try to rebuild their lives.
Duncan served nearly 30 years in prison before his murder conviction was vacated in 2021 after evidence emerged that police officers had lied in court. He was elected to become the Orleans Parish clerk of criminal court in November, vowing to fix the system that failed him. He had been set to take office May 4.
Louisiana Republicans who want to dissolve the office say it isn’t about Duncan’s past but a necessary step toward government efficiency.
“Even if they are seen as somebody who is exonerated, there is still a stigma as somebody who has been in prison,” said Jon Eldan, the founder and executive director of After Innocence, a California-based nonprofit.
NEW YORK (AP) — The governor of Sinaloa and nine other current and former Mexican officials were charged with drug trafficking and weapons offenses in a U.S. indictment unsealed Wednesday in New York, accused of aiding in the massive importation of illicit narcotics into the United States.
Some officials were members of Mexico’s progressive ruling party, Morena, posing a political conundrum for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum as she seeks to offset mounting pressures from the Trump administration. Some of those politicians called the indictment a political attack on their party.
U.S. federal officials announced the charges in a news release. None of the defendants were in custody, but Mexico’s government said shortly afterward that it had received multiple extradition requests from the U.S. without identifying those requested. It did not say how it would respond.
The 10 people charged in Manhattan federal court are current and former government or law enforcement officials in Sinaloa, including Rubén Rocha Moya, 76, who has been governor of Mexico’s Sinaloa state since November 2021.
Charges against Moya included narcotics importation conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, along with another conspiracy count. If convicted, he could face life in prison or a mandatory minimum of 40 years behind bars.
Rocha was a staunch ally of Sheinbaum’s mentor, former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The governor enthusiastically backed the ex-president’s “Hugs, Not Bullets” policy, which involved avoiding direct confrontation with powerful drug cartels. López Obrador built a political platform by railing against endemic corruption plaguing Mexican politics.
Rocha, the highest profile official charged, said he “categorically and completely rejects” the accusations as baseless and called them an “attack” on Mexico’s ruling party and its leaders.
“It is part of a perverse strategy to violate (Mexico’s) constitutional order, specifically on national sovereignty, ” he wrote in a post on X on Wednesday afternoon. “We will show them that this slander doesn’t have any sort of foundation.”
Later in the day, he told reporters that he planned to stay in Sinaloa and wasn’t worried.
Some of those named, according to the indictment, have themselves participated in the Sinaloa Cartel’s campaign of violence and retribution.
Those charged included a Mexican senator, a Sinaloa state deputy attorney general, a former Sinaloa secretary of public security, a former deputy director of the Sinaloa State Police and the mayor of Culiacan.
According to the indictment, the defendants shielded cartel leaders from investigation, arrest, and prosecution, fed the cartel with sensitive law enforcement and military information, directed members of state and local law enforcement agencies to protect drug loads and let the cartel commit brutal drug-related violence without consequence. In return, it said, the defendants received millions of dollars in drug money.
The indictment alleged that they were closely aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel faction known as “Los Chapitos,” which is run by the sons of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the ex-cartel leader now serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison.
Authorities said the defendants played critical roles in helping the cartel ship fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine from Mexico into the U.S. The Sinaloa Cartel is among eight Latin American crime groups designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.
“As the indictment lays bare, the Sinaloa Cartel, and other drug trafficking organizations like it, would not operate as freely or successfully without corrupt politicians and law enforcement officials on their payroll,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a release.
The indictment of Rocha, who was born in the same town as “El Chapo,” was particularly notable because the governor was embroiled in a scandal in 2024 involving the Sinaloa Cartel. His name was published in a letter written by a then-Sinaloa Cartel capo who was kidnapped by leaders of a rival faction of the cartel and handed off to law enforcement in the U.S. In the letter, the capo said that when he was kidnapped he believed he was on his way to meet with Rocha.
In the years since, the cartel’s two warring factions have ravaged the northern Mexican state in their struggle for territorial control.
Among those indicted, at least three officials — Rocha, the mayor of Sinaloa’s capital, and a senator — were affiliated with Sheinbaum’s party, Morena. A number of other officials held positions unaffiliated with Mexican parties.
It’s not the first time the U.S. has brought drug trafficking charges against ranking Mexican officials. Genaro García Luna — a former Mexican public security secretary under former President Felipe Calderón — was convicted by a U.S. court and sentenced to 38 years in prison after he was accused of taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel. He denied the allegations and is appealing his conviction.
The indictment unsealed Wednesday come after U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ron Johnson last week said that the U.S. administration would launch an anti-corruption campaign targeting Mexican officials he said were linked to organized crime.
“Corruption not only hinders progress, it distorts it. It increases costs, weakens competition, and erodes the trust upon which markets depend. It is not a problem without victims,” Johnson said.
Sheinbaum responded Monday by saying her government has not seen “any evidence” of the charges of corruption.
“Any investigation in the United States against any person in Mexico must have evidence reviewed by the (Mexican) Attorney General’s Office,” Sheinbaum said.
Sheinbaum’s government has already detained several local officials across Mexico in its ongoing crackdown against the cartels, fueled by pressure by the Trump administration.
The indictment has once again forced the Mexican leader to walk a political tightrope, said Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Washington-based Brookings Institution who specializes in organized crime.
If Sheinbaum doesn’t go after Rocha, it will put strain on relations with the U.S. ahead of renegotiations of a free-trade agreement with the U.S. crucial to the Mexican economy, the analyst said. If she does arrest him, “it carries tremendous consequences for her politically” ahead of next year’s midterm elections in Mexico.
“Is she going to move to arrest Gov. Rocha and the other eight indicted politicians and attempt to extradite him to the United States? This is certainly what the United States wants,” Felbab-Brown said.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Onion is taking another stab at getting control of Alex Jones’ Infowars platforms and turning them into comedy sites spoofing the conspiracy theorist.
A Texas judge is set to consider Thursday whether to approve the satirical news outlet’s proposed takeover, though Jones has filed last-minute appeals in state and federal courts to try to stop the hearing. It comes amid legal fights over more than $1 billion Jones owes to relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting for falsely saying the 2012 massacre in Connecticut was a hoax.
The Onion has pursued the Infowars platform before and is gearing up in case it is successful this time. It is already selling Infowars merchandise on its own website, including T-shirts and tote bags with an Infowars logo that replaces the “o” with its trademark Onion image.
Jones has vowed to fight an Onion takeover. If it happens, he would continue broadcasting on his personal social media accounts, new websites and dozens of radio stations that air his program. He also plans to keep selling merchandise, including dietary supplements and clothing that bring in millions of dollars a year.
What to know about Alex Jones, Infowars and the Onion:
How Jones got here
Several relatives of the 20 first graders and six educators killed at Sandy Hook sued Jones and his company in Connecticut and Texas for defamation and inflicting emotional distress for saying the shooting was staged by “crisis actors” to win more gun control.
Victims’ relatives testified that followers of Jones subjected them to death and rape threats, in-person harassment and abusive comments on social media.
Jones argued there was no proof that linked him to the others’ actions. He did concede under oath that the shooting did happen.
The Connecticut case produced a judgment against Jones of more than $1.4 billion in damages, which was reduced by about $150 million during appeals. In Texas, Jones was hit with nearly $50 million in damages. His Texas appeal remains pending.
Jones filed for bankruptcy in late 2022.
How Infowars became a media empire
Jones pushed many conspiracy theories over the last three decades, including that the U.S. government was behind or failed to stop the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 9/11 attacks.
As the outlandish nature of his false claims grew, so did his presence across radio stations, his Infowars website and social media.
After getting fired from an Austin radio station in the mid-1990s, he began broadcasting from home on his Infowars website. He bought the domain name for $9.
In 2004, he had two employees and a tiny office. By 2010, Jones had over 60 employees. By 2024, he had four studios in Austin and a warehouse for the products he sells.
Jones says he has a new Austin studio ready if he loses Infowars.
Why a judge rejected The Onion’s previous bid
Jones’ bankruptcy case included a 2024 auction to liquidate Infowars’ assets to help pay off the judgments, and the The Onion was named the winning bidder. But the bankruptcy judge tossed that plan, citing problems with The Onion’s bid and the bidding process.
The bankruptcy judge then allowed the Sandy Hook families to pursue liquidation in state court. Jones has appealed that ruling.
The Onion’s new plan would be a six-month licensing deal with a right to renew as the court-appointed receiver works to eventually sell the assets of Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems. Proceeds from the liquidation would go to the Sandy Hook families.
The Onion would pay $81,000 a month to cover the rent for the building housing Infowars’ studios, utilities and other costs.
What The Onion has planned for Infowars
The Onion recently announced that it had hired people to run the revamped Infowars platforms, including Tim Heidecker, one half of the comedy duo Tim and Eric, known for their work on the Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” shows. Besides parody, plans include showcasing other forms of comedy.
Based in Chicago, The Onion was founded in the 1980s and for decades has skewered politics and pop culture, including making Jones a frequent target of mocking articles. It carries the banner of “America’s Finest News Source” on its masthead.
Mass shootings in the U.S. are often followed by The Onion publishing slightly updated versions of one of its most well-known recurring pieces of satire: “‘No Way to Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens.”
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Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.
HOUSTON (AP) — A North Texas man who claims he was not the shooter in a fatal robbery that killed two people nearly 18 years ago and who says prosecutors misused rap lyrics he wrote to secure his death sentence faced execution Thursday evening.
James Broadnax was sentenced to death for the 2008 shooting deaths of two men outside a suburban Dallas music studio. Prosecutors say Broadnax and his cousin, Demarius Cummings, fatally shot and robbed Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler in the parking lot of Butler’s recording studio in Garland. Cummings was sentenced to life without parole.
Prosecutors say Broadnax, 37, confessed to the shooting, telling reporters during jailhouse interviews that “I pulled the trigger” and that he had no remorse.
Broadnax was scheduled to receive a lethal injection after 6 p.m. CDT at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Houston.
His attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution, filing multiple final appeals after lower courts declined to stop the lethal injection.
His lawyers have focused his final appeals on two issues: Cummings has recently confessed to being the shooter; and Broadnax’s constitutional rights were violated because prosecutors eliminated potential jurors during his trial on the basis of race.
“I’m really gonna tell it like it’s supposed to be told, that it was me, that I was the killer. I shot Matthew Bullard, Steve Swann,” Cummings said recently from prison in a video created as part of the efforts to stop Broadnax’s execution.
Broadnax’s attorneys say in filings with the high court that Cummings’ confession is “corroborated by the fact that his DNA, and not Mr. Broadnax’s, was found on the murder weapon and in the pocket of one of the victims.”
In the video, Broadnax said his confession was false as at the time he didn’t care about his life. Broadnax’s lawyers say he was under the influence of drugs during the television interviews.
He also apologized to the families of Butler and Swan for taking part in the robbery.
“I wish I could show them my soul, so they could see just how sorry I am. I am very much remorseful for everything that happened,” Broadnax said.
His attorneys also allege prosecutors dismissed all seven potential Black jurors on the basis of their race, “utilizing a spreadsheet during jury selection that bolded only the names of every Black juror,” according to court documents. One Black juror was later reinstated to the jury. Broadnax is Black.
In a 1986 ruling known as Batson v. Kentucky, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that excluding jurors because of their race violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Broadnax’s attorneys had argued in an earlier appeal that prosecutors had violated his constitutional rights by using some of the rap lyrics he wrote to portray him as a violent and dangerous person in order to secure a death sentence. A number of A-list rappers, including Travis Scott,T.I. and Killer Mike, had filed briefs at the Supreme Court in support of Broadnax’s appeal.
But the high court rejected that appeal as well as another that focused on how forensic evidence was presented at his trial.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Tuesday denied Broadnax’s request for a 180-day reprieve or to commute his death sentence.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office has described Cummings’ confession as the shooter as “questionable new evidence.” It also said in court documents that Broadnax’s claims that potential Black jurors were targeted for removal are “entirely meritless” as these jurors were stricken not because of race but because of their answers during questioning, including that some opposed the death penalty.
Theresa Butler, Matthew Butler’s mother, has asked that the execution proceed.
“This so called confession from cummings is just a stall tactic by broadnax’s desperate defense team. Its all a lie,” Butler wrote in a post on social media.
If the execution is carried out, Broadnax would be the third person put to death this year in Texas, which has historically held more executions than any other state.
About an hour before Broadnax’s scheduled execution on Thursday, Florida is set to put to death James Ernest Hitchcock, 70, for beating and choking his 13-year-old step-niece to death.
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Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://x.com/juanlozano70
WASHINGTON (THE TEXAS TRIBUNE) – The U.S. Supreme Court weakened but did not eliminate a key provision of the Voting Rights Act on Wednesday, making it harder to bring voter discrimination claims against electoral maps while stopping short of a widely anticipated full strikedown.
The ruling will likely help Texas in its yearslong litigation over the electoral maps lawmakers drew in 2021, and opens the door to the state creating even more aggressively partisan maps going forward.
The 6-3 decision narrows how courts may interpret Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the seminal civil rights legislation signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. This provision, seen as the cornerstone of the law, outlaws practices denying or abridging the right of any citizen to vote based on their race, including political maps that dilute the electoral power of voters of color.
The upshot of Wednesday’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais is that plaintiffs will have to provide stronger proof to show that a state or county intentionally discriminated against voters of color. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, said the four-prong test used to assess whether a state has diluted the vote for people of color needed to be updated for modern times.
“Vast social change has occurred throughout the country and particularly in the South, which have made great strides in ending entrenched racial discrimination,” Alito wrote. He also noted that the court’s 2019 decision to allow partisan gerrymandering “creates an incentive” for litigants to repackage partisan claims under the guise of race-based challenges.
While Wednesday’s ruling did not eliminate Section 2 entirely, Justice Elena Kagan in her dissent said it “renders Section 2 all but a dead letter” that will “eliminate the lion’s share” of claims brought under that part of the Voting Rights Act.
“The Callais requirements have thus laid the groundwork for the largest reduction in minority representation since the era following Reconstruction,” Kagan wrote. “Under cover of ‘updat[ing]’ and ‘realign[ing]’ this greatest of statutes, the majority makes a nullity of Section 2 and threatens a half-century’s worth of gains in voting equality.”
Texas has had at least one of its political maps blocked under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act every decade since it went into effect. With this limitation narrowed significantly by the court, the state could push to reconsider its current congressional, state House and Senate, and State Board of Education maps, a possibility some Republicans have already teased. The maps have been under litigation since they went into effect in 2021.
The governor of Mississippi has said he would call a special session to rapidly redraw the state’s voting maps if the court struck down Section 2. Other states are expected to follow suit, especially amid the redistricting arms race Texas kicked off last summer. But with Texas’ unusually early primaries already in the rearview mirror, Lone Star lawmakers may wait until the next regular session begins in January to embark on any redraws.
The high court’s decision set off a wave of outrage from Democrats. Texas House Democratic Caucus chair Gene Wu, D-Houston, said the ruling gave state legislatures a “permission slip” to crack and pack Black and Latino voters into districts “where their voices won’t matter.”
“According to this Court, a century of voter suppression in places like Texas and Louisiana is ancient history, no longer relevant to lawmaking and redistricting today,” Wu said.
Mike Smith, the president of House Majority PAC — House Democrats’ top super PAC — said the ruling was a “green light to rig House elections.”
“With Democrats on track to retake the majority in November, Republicans and their allies on the Court are scrambling to protect the rich and powerful instead of lowering costs and making life more affordable for American families,” Smith said.
Brandon Herrera, the Republican nominee for Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, echoed the sentiment that the ruling will “likely have MAJOR implications for the midterms,” as he wrote on social media.
“Democrats are going to have to scramble to protect seats they thought were safe, kneecapping the momentum they thought they had to take the House,” Herrera said.
To see this original article go to The Texas Tribune.
LUFKIN (KETK) — Lufkin police are seeking suspects after a confrontation over loud music and parking spiraled into gunfire, damaging vehicles and blowing out apartment windows.
The Lufkin Police Department responded to multiple 911 calls on Tuesday at around 9:45 p.m. where they found residents in the area of the 200 block of Finley Street. The group reportedly told officers that an argument began over a parking space and loud music that escalated to gunfire.
Witnesses told the police department that suspects drove to the apartment and began shooting.
A man was detained but not arrested as he was suspected of being involved; other suspects had left before officers arrived.
“Bullet holes were found on the outside of the residence where one of the individuals in the argument is believed to live as well as bullet holes appearing to come from inside the residence,” the Lufkin Police Department said. “Numerous shell casings were found in the roadway and the grass.”
Windows of two vehicles and the window of an apartment had been shot. An AR-15 was identified as the weapon used in the altercation and has since been taken into evidence alongside other weapons found in one of the homes.
The Lufkin Police Department said no injuries were reported and the search for others involved is ongoing.
AUSTIN (AP)- The Texas Medical Board is proposing tighter regulations around ketamine, a popular fast-acting sedative used to treat mental illness, including more physician oversight during administration of the drug and banning in-home use of it.
The revised rules are expected to publish May 8, and the Texas Medical Board is scheduled to vote on the changes in June.
Supporters of ketamine regulations in Texas say the drug, which can cause comas and even death, has grown in popularity because it is easy to access. One of the most common ways people access ketamine is through telehealth prescriptions, which allows them to take it at home while a medical professional monitors them online.
Medical spas, which often do not have the stringent regulations of a medical clinic, also administer the highly addictive sedative, and night clubs promote it as a social drug instead of a potentially dangerous medication.
“People think ketamine is a wellness treatment when it’s not. Everyone wants a miracle cure. But the reality is this is a dangerous anesthetic,” said Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, an anesthesiologist and a former medical board member who helped pass rules on administering sedatives for things like cosmetic surgery and dental work. “So then the question is, who should be allowed to administer those things so that it’s done safely?”
Ketamine’s role in the death of actor Matthew Perry has increased the drug’s visibility, including its dangers. The most recent medical report examining data from poison centers across the country found that ketamine poisonings are at their highest point in recent history, more than doubling since 2019 to 414 in 2023.
Data provided by the Texas Poison Center Network confirms a steady increase in ketamine-related calls beginning in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, from 15 to 40 calls in 2024.
Of the 167 cumulative ketamine-related calls to poison centers from 2020 to 2025, two resulted in death, and 75 reported moderate effects.
Although ketamine clinics in Texas usually have a physician on staff to respond to bad reactions to the treatment, a physician is rarely on site. Advanced-practice registered nurses and certified registered nurse anesthetists primarily administer and oversee several ketamine treatments at a time in clinics.
The proposed rules, first released in January, include a requirement that if a physician is not on site, medical staff can’t administer ketamine to more than two patients at a time. It also prohibits ketamine treatments outside of a registered clinic, including in-home use. The rules also require health providers to complete training on mental health treatment before being allowed to administer ketamine.
“Due to its potency, proper administration methods are essential. Ketamine, unlike opioids, cannot be counteracted by other medications like Narcan,” said Spencer Miller-Payne, spokesperson for TMB. “Therefore, it can be dangerous if a patient accidentally moves into moderate or deep sedation from ketamine.”
Miller-Payne said the board doesn’t want to reduce access to care, but it also recognizes that the environment in which these ketamine treatments are being offered plays an important role in ensuring patient safety.
Industry leaders criticized the proposal, saying that forcing them to choose between hiring an on-site physician or seeing fewer patients will severely limit the number of people they can serve and will raise the price of treatment by $300 to $500.
APRNs and other non-physician medical providers say requiring a physician to oversee them is confusing, unnecessary and insulting because they know the same life-saving measures that medical doctors do. They say the current proposal is a power grab by physicians under the guise of patient safety and will force clinics to shutter.
“It doesn’t make sense. Nurse practitioners are running the entire intensive care units with 25 patients who are very sick, and they are comfortable with them doing that, but they can’t be in a space with a very safe drug?” said Alli Waddell, CEO and co-founder of Illumma, an Austin ketamine clinic. “They keep telling us it’s about patient safety, and it’s not.”
When used in a clinical setting, ketamine is considered one of the safest drugs to use. In low doses, ketamine creates an altered state of consciousness and, paired with counseling, can lead to rapid relief of severe mental illness for a period of time.
Mental health providers say a lot of ketamine clients are low-income and highly suicidal and can’t afford the cost — financially or mentally — of these new rules.
The regulatory framework that Texas creates is likely to become the model for other states, ketamine industry leaders say.
“This is going to radiate throughout the entire nation, and there’s literally only a handful of people fighting for it,” said Will Ratliff, a nurse and paramedic, and the director of operations at Transcend Health Solutions, an Austin ketamine clinic. “Physicians are actively shutting down the practice of something that saves a lot of lives just because of ignorance.”
Five years ago, Bradley Armendariz was studying to become a licensed provider when he decided to take a break for the day and try ketamine while listening to some contemplation audio tapes. He said what happened next was life-changing. The ketamine enhanced the words from the audio tapes and guided Armendariz through his self-doubts. By the end, he said he felt invigorated and determined about his next steps.
“It changed not only how I experienced ketamine, but also how I thought to help my clients,” said Armendariz, a licensed professional counselor in Big Sandy in East Texas who now provides ketamine treatments.
Ketamine is a synthetic compound that helps repair brain connections often damaged by mental illness. Mental health providers use ketamine to guide clients through deep-seated trauma without damaging their mental state, which can happen with talk therapy. Low-dose ketamine intravenous infusions, nasal sprays and oral medications are often used for treatment-resistant mental illnesses, such as depression, PTSD and suicidal ideation.
“Ketamine has some chemical effects that allow the brain to be more malleable for change, like when we were young children and could learn a new language or new instrument, without feeling down,” Ratliff said.
Ketamine has a high potential for dependency, which can lead to clients requesting higher doses to achieve the desired effect. The psychoactive drug can cause cardiovascular strain, respiratory depression and organ damage from long-term use.
Mental health providers say ketamine must be paired with ongoing mental health work.
“You can’t just take ketamine and fix your life. You will feel temporarily good and then go back down,” Armendariz said. “It still requires work and action on the client’s and the mental health providers’ part, too.”
Waddell said many ketamine industry leaders are grateful to see the state propose tighter restrictions.
“The industry is not against regulation. It just wants mindful regulation so that we can maintain access for people who are really struggling and use this tool to save their life,” Waddell said. “But these regulations will completely gut the industry because it will get rid of the model that makes this treatment possible.”
The main concern for many ketamine clinics is that they won’t be able to afford to pay for a physician to be on-site. Most clients are in severe mental distress and are either jobless or low-income, so they can’t pay high prices for treatment. Also, insurance doesn’t cover ketamine therapy treatments. Ketamine clinics said to make the drug affordable, they already have to break even on their profits.
Allowing two patients to undergo treatment at a time also will hurt their revenue, so these new regulations will force many clinics to close, ketamine advocates say. If at-home use is banned, rural users will be affected the most because the statewide physician shortage is worse in rural communities and many patients rely on in-home use.
“We have a lot of our patients from Texas. Most of them choose at-home. Not because they are choosing between us and in-person, but because we are their only option within a span of two hours,” said Leonardo Vando, the medical director of Mindbloom, one of the country’s largest telehealth programs.
Flavored ketamine nasal sprays advertised at parties and ketamine administered during massage therapy have given the drug a bad reputation, proponents of regulations say.
“It needs to be legitimized for insurance to get on board, but we can’t do that when you have a lot of bad actors out there running around giving it a bad name,” said Mary Moore, owner and clinical director of Lake Austin Psychotherapy, which provides ketamine treatments.
Oliverson said that under the current system, too many underqualified medical providers can administer a dangerous anesthetic, such as ketamine. He said paramedics and emergency medical technicians masquerading as nurses are administering the treatment.
“A lot of time, there wasn’t even a physician involved except on paper,” he said. “We have physicians who are only there via call or Zoom? I think that is a total joke. There’s no meaningful supervision actually going on there, and if something goes wrong, you are calling 911 because they can’t respond in time.”
Moore said she wants to see the state’s medical board require an on-site physician for every ketamine treatment because that is the safest way to conduct treatment.
“Is that more expensive? Yes. Does that hit their profit model? Yes. And I think that is part of the pushback,” she said. “The psychotherapy portion is really getting ignored in a lot of these clinics. It’s a conveyor belt model.”
Truman Milling Jr., medical director of Lake Austin Psychotherapy, suggested that the state medical board focus on the skills of the person administering the treatment rather than on whether they are a medical doctor. He said, for example, an APRN with ICU experience can meet the requirements of a physician, but not all medical providers have the same skill set.
“I think the demand (for ketamine) will go down somewhat, but if it’s done more appropriately, I think that’s the price you have to pay,” Milling said.
MINERAL WELLS (AP) — Thunderstorms tore through parts of Texas on Tuesday, sending at least two people to the hospital as powerful winds ripped roofs off homes, flattened buildings and tossed debris through the air.
Multiple homes and businesses were damaged and families were displaced in Mineral Wells, a small city about 45 miles west of Fort Worth. Two people were taken to the hospital and others with minor injuries were treated at the scene, according to Ryan Dunn, the city’s fire chief. There were no immediate reports of fatalities or people missing.
Dunn warned people to stay out of an industrial area where there’s “major damage and major hazards that are all across the roads.”
The wild weather came just days after a tornado-producing thunderstorm left at least two people dead in northern Texas and displaced at least 20 families.
Tuesday’s thunderstorms, including at least one unconfirmed tornado, were caused by large storm cells that were drifting southeast from north-central Texas, said Brian Hurley, a meteorologist with National Weather Service.
The storms continued Tuesday night as they moved across Texas and into Arkansas and Mississippi, according to the National Weather Service. The storms could produce hail larger than 2 inches, damaging winds and some tornadoes, according to the agency.
In Mineral Wells, where the streets were left littered with fallen trees and other debris, the mayor declared a local state of disaster. The city also instituted a 10 p.m. curfew that will be lifted around daylight as authorities continue to assess the damage, said Tim Denison, the city’s police chief.
He said the curfew was to “make sure that we keep people out of the areas and also try to help these victims out, and keep their personal belongings safe.”
Officials directed anyone who needed help to the local high school, where the Red Cross was setting up.
Ventamatic, a fans and ventilation manufacturer in Mineral Wells, said its facilities would be closed Wednesday “due to severe damage and ongoing safety hazards — including downed power lines.” The company announced on its website that all of its employees had been evacuated before the storms and everyone was safe.
AUSTIN, Texas ( Texas Tribune)– Democratic state Rep. James Talarico is leading both of his prospective Republican opponents in a new poll of Texas’ U.S. Senate race — though the result is within the margin of error in either scenario, suggesting a close contest in November.
The poll, conducted by Texas Public Opinion Research from April 17 to 20, found Talarico leading Sen. John Cornyn by three percentage points, 44% to 41%. The Austin Democrat leads Attorney General Ken Paxton by a margin of five percentage points, 46% to 41%. The survey included 1,865 likely general election voters and had a margin of error of +/-2.5 percentage points.
TPOR is a nonpartisan public opinion research group directed by Democratic strategist Luke Warford. No Democrat has won a statewide race in Texas since 1994, and in recent cycles, polls have routinely offered rosy projections for the minority party that are not borne out in November.
Still, Democrats are hopeful that President Donald Trump’s flagging approval ratings, paired with backlash from Latino voters over the economy and the White House’s immigration policies, will create an environment more akin to 2018, when Democrat Beto O’Rourke came within 3 points of unseating GOP Sen. Ted Cruz.
Cornyn and Paxton are competing in a May 26 runoff to be the Republican nominee for Senate and take on Talarico, who won a competitive primary of his own in early March. A handful of polls throughout the cycle, some nonpartisan and some sponsored by Democrats, have found Democratic candidates with narrow leads or within the margin of error in hypothetical general election matchups.
Closely watched by politicos around the country, Texas’ Senate contest already features the most expensive primary on record, with most of the money coming on the Republican side in support of Cornyn. The Cook Political Report considers the seat to be “likely Republican,” but the messy Senate Republican runoff, Talarico’s fundraising prowess and a wave of Democratic overperformances in special elections have both parties eyeing the race with heightened interest.
Cornyn and his supporters have argued the longtime senator would be a stronger general election candidate than Paxton in a cycle in which the national environment is expected to be tough for Republicans. The TPOR poll found little variance in how the two Republicans perform in hypothetical matchups with Democrats.
In both scenarios, Talarico’s support is heavily powered by voters of color, college-educated Texans and independents. Among Black voters, Talarico leads Cornyn by 51 percentage points and Paxton by 56 percentage points. Among Latino voters, Talarico leads Cornyn by a 32-point margin and Paxton by a 27-point margin.
Independents broke heavily for the Democrat in both matchups: Talarico leads 51% to 29% among the group against Cornyn, and 53% to 28% with independents against Paxton.
The poll also found that more voters had a favorable impression of Talarico than those with unfavorable views — 41% to 34%, with the rest saying they were unsure. Meanwhile, Paxton and Cornyn are underwater by 10 and 15 percentage points, respectively, the two lowest favorability marks among all candidates in the survey.
Most polling of the Republican runoff has found it to be a neck-and-neck contest or Paxton leading by single digits. A TPOR poll of the runoff, conducted April 6 to 7, found Paxton up by 8 percentage points.
Beyond the Senate race, the TPOR poll found Republicans leading in the high-profile contests for governor and attorney general — though the former race is also within the margin of error.
In the survey, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott led the Democratic nominee, state Rep. Gina Hinojosa of Austin, 48% to 43%.
The poll found that while Hinojosa is leading with both Latinos and independents, Abbott has stronger support than Cornyn and Paxton among those groups.
Paxton’s decision to run for Senate opened up the attorney general seat for the first time in over a decade, drawing crowded Democratic and Republican primaries that are both being decided by runoffs. On the Democratic side, Dallas state Sen. Nathan Johnson is facing former Galveston mayor Joe Jaworski. In the Republican runoff, voters will pick between Galveston state Sen. Mayes Middleton and Austin U.S. Rep. Chip Roy.
The TPOR poll asked voters whom they would pick between the Democrat and the Republican, rather than measuring each hypothetical general election matchup. It found Republicans leading the attorney general race, 45% to 39%.
POLK COUNTY (KETK) – Several East Texas law enforcement agencies, including the Texas Game Wardens, are continuing to search Lake Livingston for a missing 31-year-old man who has not been seen in the past 48 hours. According to officials, game wardens and an underwater search and recovery team, have been searching for the missing man since April 25 in the area below the Lake Livingston Dam near FM 3278.
During the search, the game wardens are utilizing side-scan and towable sonar technology, along with multiple vessels on the water, to help locate the missing person. The Texas Game Wardens said if the individual is not found on Tuesday, the department’s aviation team will join the search on Wednesday.
Accompanying the game wardens in their search includes the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Texas State Park police officers and several local fire departments in East Texas.
“Our thoughts are with the man’s family and friends during this difficult time,” the Texas Game Wardens said.
MARION COUNTY – The Northeast Texas Municipal Water District approved a water availability study for Lake O’ the Pines in Marion County on Monday, aimed at increasing water use and storage for local cities dealing East Texas’ growing population. According to our news partner KETK, this analysis also seeks to address public concerns that arose last year amid talks of selling water from Lake O’ the Pines to the DFW Metroplex.
Carollo Engineering, an Austin-based firm, was selected to conduct the study. This comprehensive review will explore how the district can more effectively utilize Lake O’ the Pines’ water resources in the future.
Osiris Brantley, general manager for the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District, noted the community’s apprehensions.
“There are a lot of concerned citizens who are concerned over us potentially selling water, so this is just a way to have experts look at everything, and hopefully, when the studies are done and presented to the public, that will ease public concerns so they can see the real numbers,” Brantley said.
Carollo Engineering indicated that the study could help protect the quality of water for East Texans. The firm stated that the study would enable those overseeing Lake O’ the Pines to make informed decisions for northeast Texas customers.
The study will employ various models to determine the best allocation of water to several cities within the district and to assess how much water can be stored at the lake throughout the year. Beyond water allocation and storage, the study will also address water supply needs during droughts or natural disasters that may disrupt normal operations.
The water availability study is expected to begin in approximately six months.