AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed two sweeping pieces of legislation Tuesday to overhaul the state’s power grid after the disastrous and deadly winter storm in February that left more than 4.8 million homes and businesses without electricity for days. The two bills are meant to improve the state’s main power grid and change the
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount told lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday it was the “right decision” to halt operations at one of the largest fuel pipelines in the United States after the ransomware attack last month. Blount faced lawmakers for the first time since a six-day shutdown of the pipeline in May led
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — The Biden administration is threatening to pursue legal action if Texas Gov. Greg Abbott doesn’t rescind his order shutting down federally funded shelters that house migrant children who cross the U.S.-Mexico border without their parents. The deputy general counsel for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent a letter obtained
Continue Reading VAN HORN, Texas — Jeff Bezos will be flying to space on the first crewed flight of the New Shepard, the rocket ship made by his space company, Blue Origin. The flight is scheduled for July 20th, just 15 days after he is set to resign as CEO of Amazon. Blue Origin said Bezos’ younger
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas — Texas businesses that require customers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 will be denied state contracts and could lose their licenses or operating permits under legislation Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law Monday. “Texas is open 100%, and we want to make sure you have the freedom to go where you want without limits,” Abbott
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Justice Department has recovered the majority of a multimillion-dollar ransom payment to hackers after a cyberattack that caused the operator of the nation’s largest fuel pipeline to halt its operations last month. The operation to recover the cryptocurrency from the Russia-based hacker group is the first undertaken by a specialized
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AUSTIN, Texas — There was hope in the air when state lawmakers from El Paso arrived in Austin for the 2021 Texas Legislature. For them, this was going to be the year they passed substantive firearm restrictions in gun-loving Texas — an unreachable, unfathomable goal for any other Legislative session. But this wasn’t just any
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EL PASO, Texas- – Dozens of El Paso women and men took to the streets of downtown El Paso this weekend to rally for reproductive rights. “It really attacks women’s rights and makes it a whole lot harder for abortion clinics to receive funding,” said Adan Saenz, a man protesting Texas’ new six-week abortion ban.
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MIDLAND/ODESSA, Texas — U.S. oil prices hit $70 a barrel on Sunday for the first time in nearly three years. While prices have since backed off a little from that milestone — West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil was last trading at $69.30 per barrel — it still underscores the dramatic rebound in energy prices after
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HOUSTON, Texas — The body of a newborn baby was found this week in a portable toilet at a Houston-area riverside park, authorities said. Maj. Susan Cotter of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said workers emptying the chemical toilet found the body on Thursday. She said the umbilical cord was still attached, and the baby
Continue Reading HOUSTON, Texas — Ransomware attackers gained access to Colonial Pipeline’s computer networks in April using a compromised password, according to the company and a cybersecurity firm it hired — leading to the deliberate shutdown of one of America’s most important fuel distribution companies and the panic gas buying that ensued for days. The password had
Continue Reading HOUSTON, Texas — A Houston woman who was charged with tampering with physical evidence in the case of a missing 6-year-old boy kept his body in a storage tote, court documents show. Theresa Balboa was arrested earlier this week after what is believed to be the body of Samuel Olson, who was reported missing May
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SAN ANTONIO, Texas — San Antonio police are looking for dozens of people who escaped from an 18-wheeler, parked on a road outside of town, in what’s believed to be a case of human smuggling. Residents said they opened the tractor-trailer after hearing loud banging about 2:30 a.m. on Friday and found 60-to-80 people inside
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UPDATE, June 4: U.S. Border Patrol officials now say a man who died after refusing to stop at the Sierra Blanca checkpoint earlier this week took his own life. In a statement issued Friday, the Border Patrol identified the man as a 19-year-old U.S. citizen and said he shot himself after crashing his car into
Continue Reading WHITEHOUSE, Texas — Allen West, the chair of the Texas Republican Party, announced his resignation on Friday as he teased a potential run for statewide office. He will remain chairman until his replacement is picked on July 11, the Texas GOP said in a statement. “It has been my distinct honor to serve as Chairman
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EL PASO, Texas — Texas counties on the U.S.-Mexico border that once dealt with the brunt of the load of Covid-19 are now outpacing the state vaccination rate. El Paso to date has a vaccination rate of 55.71% when dealing with those ages 12 and over, while the state is lagging behind at a vaccination
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AUSTIN, Texas — Texas families who relied on the Pandemic EBT card, which previously provided a one-time benefit of $285 for students receiving free and reduced-price meals, can apply for another round of food aid for the 2021-22 school year. The federal benefit helps provide for the approximately 3.7 million eligible, low-income children in Texas
Continue Reading DALLAS, Texas — A high school valedictorian exhaled as she pulled a piece of paper from underneath her graduation gown. Gathering her courage, Paxton Smith started the speech she had worked so hard on for her graduation on Sunday. But the speech the 18-year-old gave ended up being an entirely different speech than she had
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — A three-judge panel has struck down the federal cap on candidates using political contributions to repay personal loans they make to their campaigns, in a case that hands Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz a win and may have broader implications for campaign finance. The Federal Election Commission had argued the cap was
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AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush announced Wednesday night that he’s running for attorney general in Texas, setting up a GOP showdown with one of the most high-profile Republican attorneys general in the country, Ken Paxton. “I am proud to announce I am a Republican candidate to be the next Texas Attorney
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VAN HORN, Texas — An SUV that spun out of control along a rainy Interstate 10 in Culberson County over the holiday weekend triggered a three-vehicle fiery crash that claimed the lives of an Arizona truck driver and a central Texas woman, state troopers said Tuesday. The deadly wreck happened Sunday on I-10 eastbound about
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas — Democrats are intensifying their demands for Congress to pass sweeping voting rights legislation, but even with the party in control of the House and the Senate, major obstacles remain. Texas state Democratic lawmakers are calling for federal action after they derailed a restrictive voting bill, and President Joe Biden is sending a
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KERRVILLE, Texas — Authorities in Texas arrested a man accused of plotting to carry out a mass shooting at a Walmart, and a search of the suspect’s home turned up assault weapons, ammunition and materials officials described as “radical ideology paraphernalia.” Coleman Thomas Blevins, 28, was arrested late last week in Kerrville and has been charged
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AUSTIN, Texas – Former President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for re-election on Tuesday, giving him an early and crucial stamp of approval as he confronts a possibly competitive primary. Abbott has already drawn a challenge from former state Sen. Don Huffines of Dallas. Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller also has been considering a
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WASHINGTON, DC — The Biden administration plans to suspend oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a senior administration official confirmed Tuesday, undoing a move made by the Trump administration late last year. The decision comes after President Joe Biden issued an executive order earlier this year instructing the Interior secretary to
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Texas state officials want to make it easier for residents to get vaccinated. The state has launched a new call center to allow businesses and civic organizations to schedule visits from state mobile vaccine teams to vaccinate employees, visitors or members. Businesses and organizations qualify if they have at least
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Democrats on Monday cheered their derailment of a restrictive voting bill, while warning of the continued threat of the legislation that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has promised to bring back during a planned special session. “Today is a great day, but I can’t help but feeling bitter, disappointed, hurt,” Texas state
Continue Reading AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Republicans’ push to enact a slew of new voting restrictions was stymied — at least for now — by Democrats who walked off the state House floor late Sunday night, leaving majority Republicans without the quorum they needed to approve the bill in the final hours before a midnight deadline. Their
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday criticized the restrictive voting bill moving through the Texas Legislature as “shameful,” saying the legislation and efforts from Republicans in other states to impose strict election measures amount to a “voter suppression epidemic.” “Well the Texas law is shameful and Republicans clearly in Texas and
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AUSTIN, Texas — Republicans in the Texas Senate muscled one of the most restrictive new voting laws in the U.S. to the cusp of the governor’s desk early Sunday, approving fewer ways to cast a ballot and more criminal penalties after rushing the bill to the floor in the middle of the night. The sweeping
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