Texas

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Fire Crews Made 'Harrowing' Rescues in San Antonio Floods

At least 5 died after floodwaters swept cars away

(Newser) - Heavy rains in San Antonio rapidly flooded roads, swept away submerged cars, and sent some people scrambling up trees to escape fast-rising waters Thursday while firefighters made dozens of rescues across the nation's seventh-largest city. At least five people died and two are still missing, authorities said. The deaths all...

After Viral Video, Teens Charged With Sneaking Into Astrodome

Cops say they were taking photos; a mother of the accused says they never went inside

(Newser) - Three teenagers are accused of breaking into Houston's Astrodome days after a viral TikTok video exposed the abandoned stadium's darkened and dusty interior. "Sneaking into closed old historic buildings is dangerous," Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen says , per the Houston Chronicle . "You are...

Abbott Is Deploying National Guard in Texas

Protests against ICE crackdown surface in cities across the US

(Newser) - Los Angeles isn't the only city with protests about the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. NPR and the Washington Post report notable ones in cities including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Denver, and Philadelphia. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott is calling out...

Soros-Backed Initiative Aims to Make Texas a Blue State

But Democrats haven't won a statewide race since the 1990s

(Newser) - A figure much vilified on the right is funding a Democratic mission with the tall order of turning Texas into a blue state. The Texas Majority PAC, which is funded by billionaire George Soros, launched a "Blue Texas" initiative that will pour millions of dollars into the effort, reports...

Man Faces Murder Charges Over Using Abortion Drug

Authorities say Texas suspect spiked girlfriend's drink, causing her to lose pregnancy

(Newser) - A Texas man has been charged with capital murder after allegedly slipping an abortion drug into his pregnant girlfriend's drink without her knowledge, police say. Justin Anthony Banta, 38, was arrested on Friday following a monthslong probe into claims made by his ex-girlfriend, per the BBC . According to...

The Screwworm's Northern Creep Should Scare Us All
We Should All
Fear the Screwworm
Jun 1, 2025 6:30 AM CDT

We Should All Fear the Screwworm

The US managed to eradicate the parasitic fly, but it's inching back

(Newser) - The US has fought to keep the New World screwworm, a parasitic fly whose larvae "eat animals alive," out of North America since the 1950s—and has been wildly successful. That success is now in jeopardy. As Sarah Zhang reports for the Atlantic , the USDA's effective...

A Year After Losing in 'Spell-Off,' He Came Back to Win

Texas teen recovers from stumble to claim national spelling bee crown

(Newser) - Just one year after a narrow defeat, 13-year-old Faizan Zaki rebounded from a dramatic misstep Thursday night to claim victory at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, earning the title of America's best speller. Zaki of Allen, Texas, who was last year's runner-up, bested a field of nine...

Abbott on Fatal Jet Ski Crash: 'Here's Your Death Penalty'

Texas governor issues blunt message to undocumented immigrant accused of killing teen

(Newser) - An undocumented immigrant from Venezuela is accused of killing a Texas teenager in a Jet Ski hit-and-run over the weekend—a case that drew a blunt response from Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday. "Welcome to Texas. Here's your Death Penalty," he wrote on X . One commenter noted...

Fraudulent Diagnoses Financed Doctor's Posh Lifestyle

Jorge Zamora-Quezada collected millions from insurers while mistreating patients

(Newser) - Dr. Jorge Zamora-Quezada falsely diagnosed many of his patients, some as young as 13, with rheumatoid arthritis over the course of nearly 20 years—putting them through tests, hours of intravenous infusions, and what federal prosecutors described as other "excessive, repetitive and profit-driven" procedures. The more than $118 million...

Texas Executes Man Who Set Elderly Store Clerk on Fire

Matthew Lee Johnson was executed 13 years to the day of robbery in Dallas suburb

(Newser) - A Texas man was executed Tuesday evening, 13 years to the day of a convenience store robbery in which he set an elderly clerk on fire in a Dallas suburb. Matthew Lee Johnson , 49, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville and was pronounced dead at 6:...

9 Dead After 'Mass Casualty Event' in Kentucky

Tornadoes wreak havoc there, plus at least 7 more die in Missouri from severe storms

(Newser) - Storm systems sweeping across the Midwest have left at least 16 dead, including nine people killed after a tornado sparked a mass casualty event in southeastern Kentucky. Kentucky authorities said there were also severe injuries when a twister tore across Laurel County late Friday. "The search is continuing in...

Police: Boy's Mother Gave Him Ammunition for School Attack

Both face terrorism charges after grandmother finds weapons stash

(Newser) - A San Antonio woman faces terrorism charges after police said an investigation found she supplied her son with ammunition and tactical gear for an attack he was planning on his middle school. Ashley Pardo, 33, was arrested Monday, ABC News reports. Her son made an appearance Tuesday in juvenile court,...

Teen Fighting for Life After Playing Senior Assassin

Texas' Isaac Leal, 17, suffered serious head injury in fall from moving vehicle during water gun game

(Newser) - Weeks from graduation, a Texas teenager is fighting for his life after a lighthearted game of Senior Assassin took a tragic turn. High school seniors commonly take part in a game of chase, where the last one standing wins. In this case, 17-year-old Isaac Leal, a baseball star at South...

Argument About Cats Allegedly Led to Student's Murder

Elizabeth 'Tami' Odunsi, a UK citizen, killed before she could graduate from Texas nursing school

(Newser) - Texas police say an argument over pet cats led a man to fatally stab his roommate of two months. Chester Grant, 40, is held on suspicion of murdering 23-year-old Elizabeth Tamilore Odunsi, a British citizen who was attending nursing school in Houston. She was also a content creator who went...

New Wrinkle in American Inheritances: Guns

Michael Ward writes about the issue after his father makes him trustee of his collection

(Newser) - Last year, Michael Ward's 74-year-old father drew up a trust and named him as the trustee. Not so unusual. However, in this case, it was a gun trust, and Ward is not too thrilled about it, he writes in the Texas Observer . In short, his father loves guns, and...

Passenger's Phone Ignites, Delaying Southwest Flight

Plane returned to gate, passengers ended up on a different aircraft

(Newser) - As a Southwest Airlines plane was taxiing at El Paso International Airport Wednesday morning, preparing to depart for Houston, a passenger's cellphone apparently went up in flames. The plane returned to the gate, where everyone "disembarked normally" and eventually boarded a different plane and headed to Houston, an...

Truck Spills 8M Dimes on Texas Highway

Most were recovered, but they might not smell so good

(Newser) - A predawn crash Tuesday near Alvord, Texas, left a sea of dimes scattered across US Route 287 after an 18-wheeler hauling a load for the US Mint overturned about 50 miles north of Fort Worth. The truck, carrying $800,000 worth of freshly minted coins—8 million dimes—rolled...

Texas Hospitals Spent $122M on Migrant Care in November

Gov. Greg Abbott's order triggers new reporting on health care costs for those not lawfully in the US

(Newser) - Texas hospitals tallied nearly $122 million in health care costs incurred by undocumented migrants in one month in the state's first measure of those costs. The data was collected and released in the wake of an executive order signed in August by Gov. Greg Abbott that requires hospitals...

Carnival Bans 2 Dozen After Massive Brawl

Some disembarking in Galveston, Texas, won't be sailing on the cruise line again after altercation

(Newser) - Things got hairy over the weekend in Texas after a Caribbean cruise, with two dozen people now banned from vacationing on Carnival ships ever again. People reports that a "massive brawl" broke out at the port in Galveston after the cruise line's Jubilee ship docked Saturday morning following...

Bad Idea: Bringing Jell-O Shots to a 5th-Graders' Party

Teresa Isabel Bernal of Texas charged with felony injury to a child

(Newser) - A mother in Texas has been arrested after allegedly taking alcoholic Jell-O shots to her fifth-grader's school Christmas party. Fifteen students consumed the holiday-themed shots, which were laid out on a table with other treats at Jones Elementary School in Tyler on Dec. 20, and nearly all reported "...

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