April 19, 2024: All Newsclips

Lead Stories

Tumultuous Trump trial day ends with 12 jurors, 1 alternate selected

A 12-member jury was assembled for Donald Trump’s hush money trial on Thursday hours after two previously sworn-in jurors were removed, illustrating the intense scrutiny and potential public exposure that comes with sitting in judgment of the former president and likely 2024 Republican White House nominee. Seven men and five women have been picked, along with the first of what is expected to be a group of six alternates. Jury selection will resume Friday. While it is possible that additional sworn-in jurors will also drop out or be removed, requiring more to be screened and chosen, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan said he expected opening statements on Monday. Some of the selected jurors said during questioning that they have personal views of Trump or his presidency but could remain impartial in the case.

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One spoke favorably of him, saying she liked that he “speaks his mind.” Another told the court, “I don’t like his persona.” Overall, the jurors showed a range of knowledge about his court cases, with several saying they didn’t follow the news closely. Trump is the first former U.S. president to stand criminal trial. He faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with reimbursement of a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. Prosecutors have accused Trump of classifying the reimbursement as a legal expense, rather than a campaign expense, and of authorizing the payment to Daniels to keep her from publicly accusing him just before the 2016 election of a tryst she alleged happened years earlier. It is one of four criminal indictments against Trump; the other three trials are delayed and may not happen before the election. In addition to picking a jury, lawyers have been sparring in the courtroom this week over whether Trump has repeatedly violated a gag order by making public comments and social media posts related to witnesses and others Merchan has said should be protected.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick rules the Texas Senate. Now he seeks influence in the House

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wields vast power in the Texas Senate with a warm smile and a grandfatherly wit that belies the quietly relentless nature behind each gavel strike. Since taking office in 2015, the three-term, 74-year-old lieutenant governor has remade the Senate in his image, allowing his conservative agenda to fly through with little resistance. Patrick’s reign over the Senate puts him among the most powerful and successful policymakers in the history of Texas, but he isn’t stopping there. Breaking an unwritten rule against meddling in the affairs of another chamber in the Legislature, Patrick is vigorously campaigning against House Speaker Dade Phelan, who is in a fight for his political life in a primary runoff. If Phelan is defeated in the May 28 runoff against relative newcomer David Covey, Patrick would be rid of a rival he’s described as a failed Republican who ignores policies favored by conservatives.

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Patrick also would be a key step closer to changing the makeup of the House, which has not been welcoming to his priorities on border security, tax cuts, election fraud, school choice and other issues. The Dallas Morning News spoke to nearly a dozen current and former lawmakers, lobbyists and political experts for this story. The lieutenant governor’s office and Patrick’s campaign did not respond to multiple messages seeking comment, but Patrick has said his effort to oust Phelan is “not personal.” Mark Davis, a conservative talk radio host, said the deep rift between Phelan and Patrick was the natural result of the House’s role as a backstop against some of the conservative legislation that has sailed through the Senate. “The Paxton impeachment merely brought to the surface some procedural frustrations that have bubbled for years,” Davis said. “Phelan’s rush to impeach, featuring obvious pressure on many Republicans to get on board despite voters’ objections, led to a Senate trial that provided exhibit A on the differences between how each house is run.” Patrick’s frustration bubbled over at the end of a special session in December when a chief conservative policy goal — taxpayer-subsidized private school tuition — failed in the House. In a lengthy news conference, he questioned the speaker’s leadership, saying Phelan should not be in power and was not fit to be in the Republican Party.

Murder charge filed against man over deadly Brenham DPS semitruck crash

A Washington County man who last week was arrested after driving a truck into a DPS office has been charged with felony murder, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Clenard Parker, 42, of Chappell Hill, was charged with felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a public servant, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and criminal mischief, according to DPS.

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Parker had already been charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury, one count of evading arrest or detention causing serious bodily injury, and one count of unauthorized use of a vehicle, according to DPS. Parker was arrested moments after a semitruck crashed into the front of a feeder-road DPS Office in Brenham, which contained both licensing and highway patrol offices. Parker was accused of stealing the truck, leading Washington County deputies on a chase and then intentionally driving into the building. According to authorities, Parker had been turned away from the licensing office the day before, when he had tried to renew his commercial drivers license. The crash killed 78-year-old Bobby Huff, according to DPS. Five other people were injured and taken transported to the hospital, according to DPS.

Water facilities warned to improve cybersecurity as nation-state hackers pounce

The water sector is under pressure to improve cybersecurity protections as hacking threats grow. The Environmental Protection Agency and the White House met with governors last month and asked them to draw up plans by June 28 explaining how they plan to deal with major cybersecurity risks facing their state’s water and wastewater systems. Last week, Reps. Rick Crawford (R., Ark.) and John Duarte (R., Cal.) proposed a bill that would create a governing body to develop cybersecurity mandates for water systems and work with the EPA to enforce new rules. Many water facilities need help securing their systems because they don’t have the budget for tools or cybersecurity staff, said Kevin Morley, manager for federal relations at the American Water Works Association. The trade group was part of a lawsuit that fought a previous attempt by the EPA to mandate cyber protections for water systems, saying the cost of complying with the requirements would be out of reach for many facilities.

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Training on basic cybersecurity protections is lacking, he said. “We have the haves and the have nots,” Morley said. It can take several years and cost millions of dollars for utilities to upgrade old equipment, which is a big strain on many municipal systems, he said. Water and other critical infrastructure facilities use specialized technology for industrial processes that typically remain in use for decades and therefore lack modern cybersecurity protections. Frank Ury, president of the board of the Santa Margarita Water District in southern California, said a main concern is that hackers are lying dormant in water facilities’ systems but could eventually launch a coordinated attack that might affect multiple areas at once. The Santa Margarita facility doesn’t have a chief information security officer and spends around 15% of its technology budget on cybersecurity, he said. “Most agencies don’t know they’ve been compromised,” he said. Ury is also a senior client executive for CAI, a consulting firm that works with water utilities and other companies. Hackers, often including political activist groups that typically use low-level cyberattack techniques, are targeting water facilities more frequently and in many cases find them to be insufficiently protected, said Lior Frenkel, chief executive and founder of Waterfall Security Solutions, a cybersecurity company that focuses on critical infrastructure. Waterfall works with several hundred water facilities in the U.S.

State Stories

Harris County guaranteed income program can move forward, judge rules

A district judge on Thursday ruled Harris County's new guaranteed income program can proceed, denying the Texas Attorney General Office's request for a temporary injunction. The state sued Harris County earlier this month, arguing the initiative to provide financial assistance to low-income residents violated a Texas statute prohibiting gifts of public funds. Harris County Commissioners Court approved the plan last June to send $500 monthly payments to around 1,900 low-income households over the course of 18 months. The $20.5 million Uplift Harris program is funded by federal pandemic recovery dollars.

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Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis called the ruling a "victory for families struggling to make ends meet," while also acknowledging the legal battle likely isn't over. "We stand ready to take our fight all the way to the Texas Supreme Court to protect Uplift Harris," Ellis said in a statement. The Attorney General's Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Though Uplift Harris has the support of Commissioners Court's four Democratic members, Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey – the lone Republican serving on the court – has vocally opposed it.

Electricity demand from AI, data centers is skyrocketing in Texas. Can ERCOT keep up?

The rapid expansion of data centers, fueled by the rise of artificial intelligence platforms and the increasing digitization of the economy, is driving a surge in electricity demand in Texas and across the country that could soon be pushing the limits of what power grids can handle. Grid operators such as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas are rushing to adjust their demand forecasts amid projections by consulting firm McKinsey and the International Energy Agency that power load for data centers, which already consume 4% of the power on the U.S. grid, will double by the end of the decade.

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In a recent podcast interview, ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said the rapid speed at which data centers such as the $800 million facility Meta is building in Temple were coming online was “unheard of in terms of grid planning time scales.” “Historically, you’ve always been able to have years to contemplate a massive manufacturing facility coming online,” he said on the Energy Capital podcast. “Now we’re seeing 500- and 700-megawatt data centers being built in a year.” ERCOT reported earlier this month that peak power loads on its system would rise 6% by 2030 to 94.3 gigawatts — with the caveat there was an additional 62 gigawatts of additional load asking to connect to the grid. It didn’t detail where those load requests were coming from, and ERCOT declined to make officials available for this story. But Doug Lewin, an energy consultant in Austin, said data centers, along with new manufacturing facilities such as the semiconductor plants being built around Austin, crypto currency mining operations and growth in oil production in West Texas, were responsible for much of the new load requests. “Some of (the 62 gigawatts) will come, some of it won’t,” he said. “But even if it’s just one third of that, in five to six years time that’s shocking.”

Vatican orders Arlington nuns to rescind statement rejecting Fort Worth bishop’s authority

An association of Carmelite nuns will now direct day to day operations of the Arlington monastery where nuns rejected the bishop’s authority last summer over his investigation into reports their leader broke her chastity vow, according to a decree Thursday from the Vatican. Bishop Michael Olson of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth will oversee other matters at the monastery, including the election of the leadership. His authority remains intact. The nuns of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity were also told to rescind their August 2023 statement that rejected the bishop’s authority. The decree was issued after the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth and the Rev. Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach were in a dispute stemming from an investigation into a report that she violated her chastity vows with a priest. The nuns sued the diocese over invasion of privacy in May 2023, but the suit was dismissed in June after a judge ruled that the courts did not have jurisdiction over ecclesiastical matters.

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Texas appeals court agrees to toss ‘scattershot’ bar complaint against Trump lawyer Sidney Powell

A Dallas appeals court on Thursday upheld a decision not to discipline Sidney Powell, former lawyer for Donald Trump, for her role in seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election, saying the complaint against her was riddled with errors. In a scathing 25-page opinion, a panel of three Democratic judges criticized the state bar for filing a complaint against Powell with mislabeled evidence. A Collin County judge had tossed the case in early 2023, citing the disorganization. “The Bar employed a ‘scattershot’ approach to the case, which left this court and the trial court ‘with the task of sorting through the argument to determine what issue ha(d) actually been raised,’” wrote Judge Dennise Garcia. The appeals court agreed that the bar had not met its burden of proof to show Powell knowingly made a false statement or used false evidence when she filed lawsuits to overturn the election results.

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Texas Panhandle towns report cyberattacks that caused one water system to overflow

A hack that caused a small Texas town’s water system to overflow in January has been linked to a shadowy Russian hacktivist group, the latest case of a U.S. public utility becoming a target of foreign cyberattacks. The attack was one of three on small towns in the rural Texas Panhandle. Local officials said the public was not put in any danger and the attempts were reported to federal authorities. “There were 37,000 attempts in four days to log into our firewall,” said Mike Cypert, city manager of Hale Center, which is about 40 miles north of Lubbock and home to about 2,000 residents. The attempted hack failed as the city “unplugged” the system and operated it manually, he added.

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In Muleshoe, about 60 miles to the west in Bailey County and with a population of about 5,000, hackers caused the water system to overflow before it was shut down and taken over manually by officials, City Manager Ramon Sanchez told CNN. He did not immediately respond to phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment. “The incident was quickly addressed and resolved,” Sanchez said in a statement, according to Lubbock-based ABC affiliate KAMC-TV. “The city’s water disinfectant system was not affected, and the public water system nor the public was in any danger.” At least one of the attacks was linked this week by Mandiant, a U.S. cybersecurity firm, to a shadowy Russian hacktivist group that it said could be working with or part of a Russian military hacking unit.

Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare’s comments called racist

Residents and members of local civil rights organizations gathered Thursday to denounce Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare’s recent treatment of Commissioner Alisa Simmons, which they described as racist, misogynistic, and publicly intimidating. The news conference sprang from an exchange between O’Hare and Simmons at a meeting of the Commissioners Court on Tuesday, during which O’Hare told Simmons, “I’m the one talking now, so you’ll sit there and be quiet and listen to me talk.” O’Hare is white; Simmons is Black. A news conference was held Thursday morning in front of the Tarrant County Administration Building in downtown Fort Worth with about 20 people in attendance, including representatives of the Fort Worth and Arlington chapters of the NAACP and United Fort Worth.

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O’Hare did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Those in attendance said they want Tarrant County citizens to stand up against O’Hare’s disrespect of Simmons by speaking at the May 7 County Commissioners Court meeting. “In the wake of everything that’s been going on with the statement that he made, ‘Sit down and be quiet,’ You can’t say that to a woman in 2024,” Kennedy Jones, president of the Arlington NAACP chapter, said. Simmons approached the crowd at the end of the news conference. She said she didn’t expect such a response from residents but was appreciative that they recognized the inappropriateness of O’Hare’s behavior. “Because I was not going to be quiet does not mean that I’m out of order,” Simmons said. “I was speaking, I even attempted to answer his questions, and he didn’t like my question, so he didn’t answer so he would speak over me. I’m not tolerating that.” The exchange between O’Hare and Simmons came after Simmons voiced opposition to a five month, $5,000 contract with Noah Betz, the executive director of the Huffines Liberty Foundation, to work in O’Hare’s office. Speakers during the meeting criticized Betz’s conservative political record, calling it an ethical violation and misuse of taxpayer dollars for O’Hare to hire him. After Simmons shared her concerns about the contract, O’Hare questioned Simmons about whether her X (formerly Twitter) account is political in nature. At one point, as they were both talking, O’Hare told Simmons, “I’m the one talking now, so you’ll sit there and be quiet and listen to me talk.”

Texas small business owner goes to DC, speaks against potential TikTok ban

The debate around a potential TikTok ban hits close to home for some small businesses in Central Texas. The House passed a bill in March that could force the Chinese-based owner, ByteDance, to sell the app or lead to a nationwide ban. Some lawmakers are concerned TikTok shares user data with the Chinese government or that Chinese authorities have tinkered with the company’s algorithm, which influences what Americans see. To date, the U.S. government has not provided evidence showing that. On Wednesday, House Republican leaders included it in a package of bills that would send aid to Ukraine and Israel. The bill could be law as soon as next week if Congress moves quickly. Not only does it have bipartisan support in the House, but President Joe Biden said he would sign the legislation if it reaches his desk.

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A Leander business owner hopes that doesn’t happen. She took her frustrations to Washington, DC. Jordan Smith is the owner of The Elevated Closet. “I own a clothing brand, specifically for tall women,” Smith said. “It’s really difficult for us to find pants long enough, dresses long enough. I’m here to provide that for other tall women.” Smith said she constantly tries to grow her customer-base. A tool that helps her? TikTok. Through the app, Smith said her customers can shop. “They see me talking in the video, moving in the video,” Smith said. “They see the clothes on live, and they can immediately click a button and the product is purchased and it will be heading their direction.” At the same time she’s making a profit, Smith said she’s also spreading the word about her business to thousands per post. “It would really devastate me if this platform went away, just because it has been so helpful,” Smith said. “It’s been such a positive community builder for tall women all across the country.”

‘Worse than COVID’: 41% fewer Texas students completed FAFSA this year

Texas saw one of the most dramatic drops in high schoolers completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid as the nation contends with a rocky rollout of the new FAFSA. In the Dallas area, schools experienced significant decreases – some of them as large as 30 percentage-point drops, according to an analysis of federal data by The Dallas Morning News. In Dallas ISD, for example, only about 35% of seniors completed the form by April 5 compared to over 60% last year, according to the federal data. The U.S. Department of Education estimates show that Texas had about 41% fewer seniors finish the application by April 5 compared to this time last year, according to The News’ analysis. Now many educators and advocates worry that the troubled FAFSA rollout will disrupt students’ journey to college more than the pandemic.

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“This needs to be all hands on deck for states,” said Ellie Bruecker, interim director of research at The Institute for College Access and Success. “Students will fall out of the pipeline if we don’t get them to fill out the FAFSA.” These declines come as the U.S. Department of Education was tasked with redesigning FAFSA to be a simpler and more accessible form for students. However, the launch of the revamped application was marked by delays and technical difficulties, leaving millions of students confused and afraid they won’t get enough financial aid for the next academic year. Damian Salas, a senior at Uplift North Hills Preparatory in Irving, has been accepted to many Texas universities, including Texas Tech, as well as schools in Colorado and Oklahoma. He wants to study computer engineering. “I really like being hands-on with materials and building things. I like building PCs. I’ve always been fascinated by that,” he said. But he can’t decide where to attend and make plans for next year as he awaits news of financial aid. “It makes me stressed because I see him frustrated that he isn’t able to make a decision,” his mother Jessica Salas said. “He sees that dad and I are also stressed out because we’re not able to plan.”

Ted Cruz granted extension on FEC personal finance statement; Democrats pounce

Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, seeking a third term in the November election against well-financed Dallas Democratic U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, has been granted permission by the Federal Election Commission to extend his deadline to file his required personal financial statement from mid-May to Aug. 14. The extension, published on the FEC's website, comes as Cruz is attempting to fend off allegations that hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds from his podcast "Verdict with Ted Cruz" are being directed to a political action committee supporting his reelection. "Senator Cruz appears on Verdict three times a week for free,” the campaign told the American-Statesman in an email. Cruz does the podcast with co-host Ben Ferguson and according to its homepage offers a behind-the-scenes analysis "of the political debates that define our country."

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The Senate Ethics Committee in February found that Cruz did not violate federal law in connection with his podcast and the political action committee. But last week, two campaign finance watchdog groups asked the FEC to investigate their allegations that Cruz had violated the Federal Election Campaign Act after iHeartMedia, a San Antonio media company that publishes "Verdict," made deposits to a super PAC connected to Cruz's reelection campaign. The payments were reported as "digital revenue" or "digital income" as opposed to campaign contributions. The Cruz campaign did not directly address a question from the Statesman about whether the delay in filing the personal financial statement was related to the podcast controversy. Cruz has received 10 extensions during his time in the Senate. Allred has received four since entering Congress in 2019. But a spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party pounced on Cruz's latest delay, which means the details contained in the statement won't be available for public review until less than three months before the Nov. 5 election. “With his shady podcast scandal getting worse by the day, it’s no surprise that Ted Cruz wants to keep his finances out of Texans’ view for as long as possible," party spokesman Ryan Radulovacki said in an emailed statement. "Texans deserve answers, a full investigation, and a U.S. Senator — not a full-time podcaster — who’s committed to actually delivering for Texans."

Texas Education Agency must accommodate teachers during certification tests, DOJ says

The U.S. Department of Justice has reached a settlement with the Texas Education Agency over a 2022 complaint that accused the latter of not providing appropriate accommodations to a teacher taking a reading certification exam, the federal department announced Wednesday. The settlement requires the TEA to allow testers with dyslexia or dysgraphia to use alternative exam arrangements, such as text-to-speech technology, when taking a reading certification exam. The Justice Department opened the case after receiving a complaint alleging that the TEA had violated Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act in administering a Science of Teaching Reading exam, a regular test for issuing certain teaching certifications. The TEA didn’t respond to a request for comment Thursday.

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A 2019 law requires all Texas teacher candidates who teach students from prekindergarten through sixth grade to demonstrate proficiency in the Science of Teaching Reading program. In 2021, the TEA directed NCS Pearson Inc., which administers the exam, not to allow a reader for exam takers who weren’t blind on tests in which reading skills are measured, according to the settlement agreement. A reader in an exam will read out test materials for someone who needs accommodations. The TEA determined that such an accommodation “could fundamentally alter the accurate measurement of knowledge or skills intended to be measured by that exam,” according to the settlement. In 2022, a Science of Teaching Reading tester who had previously been diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia requested extra test time, a scribe and either someone to read the test or speech-to-text technology, according to the complaint. The TEA denied the tester’s request June 20, 2022, but the tester has received these same accommodations for at least three different teacher certification exams since then, according to the complaint.

Texas county celebrates helping 100,000 migrants reach destination in US

El Paso County officials are celebrating a milestone when it comes to dealing with the years-long humanitarian migrant crisis. Their Migrant Support Services Center has now helped 100,000 asylum-seekers reach their destination of choice. “This achievement underscores the critical role the center has played in the lives of tens of thousands, highlighting its pivotal position in the ongoing effort to humanely welcome and support those in desperate need,” the county said in a statement Wednesday. The center opened in October 2022 when more than 2,000 migrants were coming across the border every day in the El Paso region. Its primary role was to swiftly assist asylum-seekers make travel arrangements after their release from federal immigration custody. This contributed to keeping the migrant population in the city manageable, taking stress off nonprofit shelters during surges and preventing people from having to stay on the streets.

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Kinder Morgan takes 10,800 acres near Houston Ship Channel for CO2 storage

Kinder Morgan said Wednesday that it had leased nearly 11,000 acres near the Houston Ship Channel that the Houston-based pipeline giant would use as underground pore space as it expands its carbon storage business. Kinder Morgan Energy Transitions Ventures agreed last week to lease the 10,800 acres from TGS Cedar Port Partners, a rail service operator that oversees a 15,000-acre industrial park near the channel, the company said. The lease gives Kinder Morgan access to underground caverns capable of storing more than 300 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. Securing space along the channel paves the way for Kinder Morgan to offer solutions to nearby industrial facilities as they look for ways to capture and store carbon dioxide billowing from their smokestacks. It joins several big oil companies in a race to develop carbon storage projects in East Texas.

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City Stories

City Council OKs new utility plant at Austin airport; more steps in expansion to come

The Austin City Council on Thursday passed the first of many steps to address the "deficient" elements of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport this year, kicking off a spate of votes in the coming months to increase capacity at the overcrowded airport. The unanimous decision, the first of at least nine expansion-related votes planned this year, approves a $162 million construction contract to build a new utility plant for the city-run airport. Built in 1997, the existing plant powers the airport's heating and cooling and has reached its peak cooling capacity, meaning it could not accommodate further growth, according to airport officials. In addition to expanding the ceiling for the airport's growth, current plans for the new plant aim to cut down on the carbon footprint.

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National Stories

Israel retaliates against Iran, US official says

Israel, early Friday morning local time, launched a retaliatory strike against Iran, a senior U.S. official told ABC News. The strike follow Iran's attack last Saturday, where the country sent a volley of more than 300 uncrewed drones and missiles toward targets throughout the country, Israeli military officials previously said. All but a few were intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States, officials said. Iran's attack came more than six months after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel on Oct. 7, after which the Israeli military began its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country's war cabinet have met several times since the Iran strikes, and as ABC News previously reported, at least two strikes were previously aborted.

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A sheriff, a felon and a conspiracy theorist walk into a hotel. They’re there for the same conference.

A conference for a far-right sheriffs group this week drew a parade of felons, disgraced politicians, election deniers, conspiracy theorists and, in the end, a few sheriffs. The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, or CSPOA, met in Las Vegas’ Ahern Luxury Boutique Hotel conference center to publicly counter reports of extremism within the group and set a course for the coming election — one that involves sheriffs’ investigating what they claim, despite a lack of evidence, is rampant voter fraud. The group sees sheriffs as the highest authority in the U.S., more powerful than the federal government, and it wants these county officers to form posses to patrol polling places, seize voting machines and investigate the Democrats and foreign nations behind what they claim is a criminal effort to rig the vote by flooding the country with immigrants who vote illegally.

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Critics of the group — including voting rights advocates and extremism researchers — fear the CSPOA’s new focus will amount to interference and legitimize disinformation about U.S. elections. But the event Wednesday, which starred MAGA celebrities speaking to a half-empty audience made up of few actual sheriffs, pointed to just how fringe the group’s ideas are — and how what once seemed like a movement on its way into the mainstream has lost political pull. The conference opened a little behind schedule; the Pledge of Allegiance was delayed when organizers couldn’t find a flag. After he searched the conference center’s rooms, Tom Hamner, a Colorado man who served over two years in prison for the felony “interfering with law enforcement” on Jan. 6, 2021, came forward with the scarf from his wife’s neck. It wasn’t exactly a flag, but it was emblazoned with stars and stripes. “That’ll work!” emcee Alex Newman, an Epoch Times contributor, said before he led the crowd of dozens in the pledge. A smooth jazz rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” followed, sung by a Las Vegas man awaiting trial on multiple felony charges who is accused of fraudulently posing as a certified firearms instructor.

NM governor to call special session focused on crime

New Mexico lawmakers will be called up to Santa Fe this summer to consider bills related to criminal competency, gun charges and panhandling, a high-ranking lawmaker said. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will call the New Mexico Legislature into a special session on Thursday, July 18, her office announced in a news release on Wednesday morning. Lujan Grisham said she will call the special session “to allow lawmakers to finish what they started” during the regular session that ended in February. Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) said in a news release on Wednesday afternoon talks between Lujan Grisham and legislative leadership have so far focused on bills that didn’t pass during the 30-day session. Wirth said failed proposals related to gun safety and pre-trial detention will not be heard until the 2025 Legislature, which meets for 60 days.

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He said debate in July will focus on legislation that required more legal review, “namely: criminal competency, felon in possession of a firearm and panhandling.” “In the next several months, we will also focus on finding ways to expand the critical safety net of mental health and treatment services that are vital to the success of the legislation that will be considered,” Wirth said. While details on the proposals remain short for now, Jodi McGinnis Porter, a spokesperson for Lujan Grisham, said the goal of the competency proposal is to address a shortfall in mental health treatment. “We’re committed to reforming mental health laws and services for criminal and civil competency,” McGinnis Porter said. The special session is expected to last several days, Lujan Grisham said, based on her discussions with leadership in the House and Senate. While lawmakers made some progress on criminal legal policy during the 30-day session, “we agree that we must do more,” she said.

Could pharmacists in states with abortion bans go to prison for prescribing a legal drug?

Alarm bells ring in Matt Murray’s head when a prescription for misoprostol comes through his independent pharmacy in Boise, Idaho. “Are there directions on the prescription that show what it’s being used for?” said Murray, a pharmacist and director of operations for Customedica Pharmacy. “If not, then we would probably need to call the [doctor’s] office and confirm why it’s being prescribed.” The medication is legal — approved by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent stomach ulcers — but it can also be used for abortions, which became illegal in Idaho with few exceptions when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. When that happened, misoprostol went from “something that wasn’t on the radar but now sends up an alert in the pharmacy,” Murray said.

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Misoprostol, which works by contracting the uterus, is also commonly used ahead of gynecologic procedures, such as the insertion of intrauterine devices for birth control, or after miscarriages, when pregnancies end on their own. The drug helps speed up the time it takes for a woman's body to expel the failed pregnancy. Murray’s hesitation in dispensing misoprostol isn’t based on personal feelings about abortion. It’s the fear of legal action or jail time. Idaho’s “Defense of Life Act” says any person who performs or assists in an abortion could face felony criminal charges and up to five years in prison. Exceptions include to save the life of the woman and in cases of rape or incest. Does that mean pharmacists could be liable for dispensing a drug that could be used in an abortion — even if it’s not? Pharmacists like Murray in Idaho aren’t sure. “The law isn’t clear whether a pharmacist is committing a felony for dispensing the medication,” he said. “What level of due diligence are we expected to perform?”

Elon Musk’s Boring Company’s Vegas tunnel project fails due to monorail safety concerns

Las Vegas, a city famed for its vibrant nightlife and sprawling casinos, recently encountered an unexpected disruption. The Boring Company, spearheaded by visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk, faced significant setbacks as it continued its ambitious effort to revolutionize urban transportation with an underground tunnel network. Recent incidents involving the Las Vegas Monorail have cast a spotlight on the challenges and safety concerns associated with such innovative projects. In a bid to extend its tunnel system, which aims to alleviate surface traffic and provide a novel transit solution, The Boring Company inadvertently compromised the structural integrity of the Las Vegas Monorail. Reports from Fortune indicate that during the expansion work, the company’s excavation activities exposed the bases of several monorail pillars, triggering immediate safety concerns. This misstep led to a temporary halt of the monorail service, affecting the daily commute of numerous residents and tourists along the Vegas Strip.

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House foreign aid bills advance with Democrats' help; Johnson may still be in peril

The House Rules Committee has voted 9-3 to advance a package of bills providing aid to Israel, Ukraine, and other allies, after Democrats took the rare step of supporting a procedural vote for Republican bills. Republican Reps. Chip Roy, Thomas Massie and Ralph Norman voted against the rule, out of anger that assistance to Ukraine was not paired with conservative border security provisions, as House Speaker Mike Johnson had previously pushed to do. Thursday night's vote enables the full House to vote on the rule and begin debate on the foreign aid bills. Various pieces of the package are expected to pass with bipartisan coalitions this weekend. Ahead of the vote, Democratic leaders had not committed to supporting the rule, as text was not yet available. But they said they were open to the possibility and they were committed to getting foreign aid passed.

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"We're going to do what's necessary to make sure that the national security bill gets over the finish line," House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Thursday morning. Minority support of a majority rule virtually never happens. As a result, Johnson and his predecessor, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, have seen several rules fail on the floor, largely over objections from the right flank of the party. The rule does not raise the threshold to bring a motion to oust the speaker, which several members of the Republican conference had called for. Currently, it only takes one member to file such a motion. Johnson was reportedly considering the change Thursday morning, but he wrote on social media that the House "will continue to govern under the existing rules." Reps. Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have co-sponsored a motion to vacate the speakership, but so far have not brought it to the floor for a vote. Rep. Mike Lawler, a moderate Republican from a New York swing district, said Thursday morning the threshold should be changed "immediately." "However it needs to get done, it should get done," Lawler said. "If Mike Johnson is removed simply because he put aid to our allies on the floor, No. 1, it'll cause another prolonged amount of chaos. And No. 2, it will make it that much harder for the next speaker to do the right thing at the right time."

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