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LA PRYOR (AP) – U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins watched sterile flies being released to fight the New World screwworm on Thursday and visited the Texas ranch where one of the first cases of the pest was detected. The screwworm could devastate the nation’s cattle industry.

Later, she repeated her assertion that former President Joe Biden’s administration is responsible for the parasite’s return to the U.S. six decades after it was eradicated. Democratic leaders say cuts to the nation’s agriculture agency under President Donald Trump are to blame.

Screwworms are on their way to becoming a billion-dollar international problem, but can be contained if ranchers are vigilant, watch their herds and other wildlife, and quickly treat any infestations, Rollins said. She pointed to the calf where screwworms were found six days earlier in a wound where its umbilical cord had been attached.

“He couldn’t be happier. He’s bouncing around the pasture,” Rollins said.

Screwworms are flies that lay their eggs in the wounds of warm-blooded animals and feed on living flesh rather than dead tissues. Scientists say releasing sterile flies to mate with females is the most effective way to control the population, a strategy that has worked for decades. A warming planet is complicating efforts by giving screwworms, which thrive in hot, humid weather, more places to spread.

Billion-dollar response planned to fight screwworms

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is preparing an all-out assault on the screwworm, which had been contained in the narrow isthmus of Panama for decades.

No matter the cause, driving screwworms back south and keeping them out of the U.S. will be expensive. The USDA estimated it would spend over $1 billion on efforts to save cattle herds and other livestock.

About $750 million will go toward building and operating a plant capable of producing up to 300 million sterile flies a week. The technique has been used for decades, as female screwworms mate just once, and if they choose a sterile mate, their eggs don’t hatch, and the fly population dwindles.

The goal is to protect the U.S. cattle industry. Experts think the parasite shouldn’t cause an immediate increase in near-record-high beef prices as long as it doesn’t turn into an outbreak and large groups of cattle die. Screwworms don’t affect food safety.

The parasite has already disrupted the Mexican beef industry. The U.S. closed its southern ports to Mexican livestock last summer.

Mexico has had more than 28,000 cases of screwworms since the flies returned two years ago, mostly confined to its southern states. The Mexican government stopped the importation of almost all live animals from the U.S. after screwworms were discovered here.

Scientists aren’t sure how screwworms emerged again

The U.S. had been almost entirely rid of screwworms for 60 years, with scientists in North and Central America eventually driving it down to the containment zone in Panama. But in 2023, the flies emerged and began heading back north.

Experts say screwworms are here to stay at least for this summer. Seven cases have already been detected in Texas and New Mexico. A 12-mile (20-kilometer) quarantine zone goes up around every place a case is found.

As they work toward a solution, scientists say they aren’t sure exactly what led to screwworms leaving the area in Panama where they were boxed in.

“I don’t have the answer to that one, and I don’t know if anyone does. It doesn’t help us to speculate,” said Jonathan Cammack, a professor of livestock entomology and parasitology at Oklahoma State University.

The key now is to ramp up the sterile fly program and get international cooperation to get the pests back down to Panama, he said.

Climate change is also helping drive the spread of screwworms, said Lee Haines, an associate research professor of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame.

“The fly is a creature of warmth as its entire life cycle, from egg to adult, can complete in as little as three weeks under tropical conditions,” Haines said.

Even Canada has temporarily stopped importing cattle, horses or other livestock from Texas. The parasites prefer humid areas where temperatures are at least 77 F (25 C), and those days are increasing further north.

Democrats question cuts; Republicans blame immigration

As Rollins moves quickly to implement a billion-dollar response to the screwworm outbreak, she has also blamed the Biden administration, noting that it was in office as the parasite began moving north again.

She said without showing any evidence the flies were with animals that followed immigrants north as well as hitching rides with cattle and other animals being sold by Mexican cartels outside of regular markets.

“People moving north to America, bringing their livestock with them, the Mexican cartels with the illicit cattle traffic, we knew it was coming,” Rollins told the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee on Wednesday.

Nearly a dozen Democratic U.S. senators sent a letter to Rollins this week questioning whether job losses at the USDA have hurt food inspections and livestock safety programs.

Nearly 20% of the counties in the U.S. that started 2025 with at least one employee from the federal Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service ended the year with none, the letter said.

Rollins said she has moved over 100 USDA employees into the screwworm response. She said it has been one of her top priorities since Trump picked her to lead the USDA.

But Democratic U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu of California said blaming Biden is shortsighted and again shows the Trump administration creates problems through reckless spending cuts.

“The life cycle of a screwworm is about 14 to 54 days, depending on temperature and humidity. The Trump administration has been in office for over 500 days,” Lieu said earlier this week. “This is on the Trump administration. They need to own up to it, and they need to apologize.”

POLK COUNTY, Texas (KETK) — The discovery of an indoor marijuana farm in Polk County has led to the arrest of a man, and several others to follow, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday.

While conducting a search warrant at a Livingston residence off of FM 943 on Wednesday, investigators located a “sophisticated indoor marijuana grow operation” on the property. Investigators were able to recover over 50 but less than 2,000 pounds of marijuana from the farm, amounting to an estimated worth of $100,000.

At the home, one resident was identified as Alexander Vega, who admitted to growing the marijuana. He was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana, a second-degree felony, the sheriff’s office said. Currently at the Polk County Jail, his bond has been set at $100,000.

Several other names connected to the farm were discovered during the investigation, and more suspects may be charged in the future.

“Due to the potential risks associated with chemicals and materials commonly used in indoor marijuana grow operations, members of the State’s Methamphetamine Initiative Group (MIG), a Houston HIDTA initiative, responded to assist with the removal of the marijuana plants and to help identify chemicals located on the property,” the sheriff’s office said.

As for the land, residences and two vehicles, the sheriff’s office looks to seek seizure through forfeiture proceedings.

“This investigation is another example of the dedication and persistence of our Narcotics Division and our law enforcement partners. Indoor grow operations are not simple marijuana cases,” Sheriff Byron Lyons said. “These operations can involve large amounts of drugs, dangerous chemicals, electrical hazards, and organized criminal activity. Our office will continue to aggressively investigate narcotics trafficking in Polk County and hold those responsible accountable.”

LUFKIN — A man is in custody after a shots-fired call escalated into an hours-long standoff at a home in the 500 block of Hemlock Street, according to Lufkin police. A’Mario Gerbrekidan, 34, is charged with possession of body armor by a felon, felony possession of a controlled substance, possession of controlled substance, and an illegal weapon offense, according Police Chief Travis Brazil.

The serial number had been removed from the weapon, police said. Officers responded to the call at 5:30 a.m. Thursday to a report of shots fired. When officers heard a gunshot, that is when Gerbrekidan barricaded himself in the home. Lufkin SWAT team was called to assist, and began negotiations.

“Extensive negotiations were attempted, but were unsuccessful,” Brazil said.

Several gas canisters were deployed into the home, after several hours of failed negotiations. Gerbrekidan finally exited the residence, and surrendered without injury to himself or law enforcement, according to police. The SWAT team was assisted by the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Highway Patrol, and Texas Rangers.

“The Lufkin Police Department took this situation slow and methodical,” Brazil said. “Every step in these situations has to be well thought through to ensure the safety of citizens, officers and the suspects.

“Loss of life is never the answer, and we want to avoid that outcome if at all possible,” he said. “The officers of the Lufkin Police Department train for these situations, and it definitely paid off today.”

COLLIN COUNTY (ABC NEWS) – Karmelo Anthony, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of Austin Metcalf, filed a notice of appeal on Wednesday. In a one-page document filed with the court in Collin County, Texas, Anthony said he could not afford an attorney for the appeal and asked the court to appoint one.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice also released a new photo of Anthony, 19, in which he’s seen sporting a shaven head and wearing a sleeveless tunic.

He was transferred to the Wallace Pack Unit, a prison near Navasota, just outside of Houston, according to Texas officials, where he will begin his 35-year imprisonment sentence, as he is now in state custody.

Anthony was found guilty of murder over the fatal stabbing of Metcalf, another teen, at a high school track meet last year.

The deadly stabbing occurred at a Frisco Independent School District stadium on April 2, 2025, during a track and field competition involving multiple schools in the district.

Police said Metcalf, an 11th grader at Frisco Memorial High School, was stabbed during an altercation under his school’s tent in the stadium bleachers.

Witnesses told officers that the two got into an argument over Anthony, a then-17-year-old student at Frisco Centennial High School, being under Metcalf’s school tent during the rainy track meet, according to the arrest report.

Multiple current and former students recounted the incident during the trial. One witness testified that Anthony was asked to leave the tent about 15 times. Some witnesses recalled Anthony saying, “Touch me and see what happens,” during the altercation. Another witness quoted Metcalf as telling Anthony, “I’m not going to fight you.”

Witnesses recounted that Metcalf shoved or nudged Anthony, who was sitting on the bleachers, before Anthony stabbed him with a pocket knife. The blade perforated Metcalf’s right ventricle, and he was pronounced dead after being transported to an area hospital.

Prosecutors called the stabbing “senseless” and “plain and simple murder,” while the defense argued that Anthony acted in self-defense.

The jury began deliberating midday Tuesday before reaching the guilty murder verdict in three hours, according to a court spokesperson. The jurors also could have considered manslaughter, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years.

The same jury reached a decision on the sentence after several more hours of deliberation on Tuesday.