Mike Morath, the Texas Commissioner of Education, interacts with students on their classwork in a science class at Lucyle Collins Middle School in Lake Worth on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025.
Christopher Torres
ctorres@star-telegram.com
The application deadline for the Lake Worth school district’s state-appointed board of managers passed Friday after it was extended 20 days due to a low number of applicants.
Just 14 people applied for the state-appointed board of managers, with more of those applicants living outside the district than inside of it, according to data provided by the Texas Education Agency.
Ten applicants reside outside the Lake Worth district, and four live in the district. Five applicants have a bachelor’s degree, three hold a master’s, three have a doctorate, and one holds an associate’s degree, TEA data shows.
Thirty-one percent of applications have or have had students who were enrolled at Lake Worth, and 31% are or were employed by the district.
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Lake Worth’s applicant total is significantly lower than other districts that had a state-appointed board of managers application period in recent months and years. Fort Worth, which closed applications for its state-appointed board of managers on Dec. 1, had 286 total applicants. Lake Worth is exceptionally smaller, with a student population of around 3,300, according to district data.
Lake Worth’s low application totals come after parents of students who attend the district told the Star-Telegram that one of the main issues plaguing the struggling district is parent apathy and a lack of overall involvement.
Lake Worth’s school board, which will be replaced by the state-appointed board after the interview process concludes, has seven seats. Half of those who applied will earn a seat on the board, if another application window is not opened.
Candidates will be interviewed for Lake Worth’s board March 2-13 and TEA Commissioner Mike Morath will decide who will be named to the board shortly thereafter. There is no official timeline for Morath’s decision.
TEA took over Lake Worth in December when Marilyn Miller Language Academy received a fifth consecutive F grade by the state in its yearly accountability ratings. That triggered a Texas law allowing Morath to replace the school board and superintendent and name a conservator to oversee the takeover process. Morath has already appointed Andrew Kim, a former superintendent who is a co-conservator at an El Paso area school district, as Lake Worth’s conservator.
Lake Worth’s seven school board members unanimously voted at a meeting last month not to appeal the TEA takeover, instead blaming itself for taking “too long” to name a superintendent when the search began in September 2024. The board did not hire Superintendent Mark Ramirez until May 2025.
Had the current board appealed, it would have delayed the state-appointed board of managers process even further.
Samuel O’Neal is a local news reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram covering higher education and local news in Fort Worth. He joined the team in December 2025 after previously working as a staff writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer. He graduated from Temple University, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the school’s student paper, The Temple News.
People gathered outside of the Texas Capitol on Feb. 23, calling for a special session on data center expansion in Texas.
Eleanor Dearman
Attendees of a Monday protest want Texas to Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session to address the effects of data centers on the state.
About 40 people — including visitors from the Paluxy Valley and a slate of speakers — rallied outside the Capitol on Monday, asking for the special session as data centers pop up across Texas. In North Texas and across the state, people have sounded the alarm over existing and planned sites, raising concerns over noise, water use and possible environmental impacts.
Attendees stood outside in front of the Austin building, holding signs in opposition of data centers. One read “you can’t drink data.” Another advocated for the protection of farmland. “Say no to data centers,” declared a sign, accompanied by a drawing of a microphone.
Only Texas Gov. Greg Abbott can call the Legislature into special session. The next regularly scheduled legislative session starts on Jan. 12.
“Our star filled skies will be gone,” said Brian Crawford, a retired Lockheed Martin employee who shares a fence line with a planned the Comanche Circle data center project. “Our quiet nights of only hearing wildlife will be gone. Our two lane farm-to-market roads will be incredibly dangerous.”
Crawford, whose property is in Somerville County, was representing Protect the Paluxy Valley Inc. as a speaker at the event. He said Abbott should take a “sober look” at the impact data centers and power plants on the state.
The governor should convene a special session where lawmakers could issue an immediate “statewide moratorium or rural industrialization” so that the effects of such projects can be analyzed, Crawford said. Legislators should also consider letting counties regulate industrial development to protect citizens, he said.
“My message is that we need a special session, and we need it now,” said Joanne Carcamo, a co-founder of the Paluxy Valley group who attended the protest. “We cannot wait. This is an invasion of rural Texas. This is an invasion in Hood County.”
Hood County commissioners recently rejected a proposal to put a six-month moratorium on industrial development, which would have given officials time to study the impact of data centers. Residents have raised concerns about the centers encroaching on their rural lifestyles.
Ahead of the vote, Hood county commissioners received a letter from Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican, that said the moratorium would have violated state law. The letter was also addressed to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The proposal is expected to be reconsidered on Tuesday, following the approval of a moratorium on “green energy” projects in northeast Texas’ Van Zandt County.
There are multiple planned projects in the Hood County area. Among them is a 2,600-acre data center complex called Comanche Circle that has gotten pushback from ranchers, landowners and conservationists near Glen Rose.
A $10 billion data center is also planned in southeast Fort Worth, though it hit a speed bump earlier this month when zoning requests for the project were put on pause as the city awaits a report on data centers from city staff.
Senate District 22 Republican candidate Rena Schroeder was among the speakers at the Monday protest. A campaign staff member helped organize the event in her capacity as an individual. The Senate district includes part of Tarrant County. Speakers from Round Rock and Waco area groups also addressed attendees.
“Our way of life in Texas is being torn apart by these data centers,” said Gary Oldham with Protect Round Rock. “Whether we’re in the suburbs, a small farm, a large working ranch, or even in the middle of Fort Worth or Houston, they’re impacting us all.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Abbott didn’t address whether Abbott would consider a data center related special session.
“Texas leads the nation in strategically and methodically attracting tech investments that create jobs and drive innovation,” spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said. “Governor Abbott was proud to sign Senate Bill 6 into law to support long-term grid planning, protect ratepayers from transmission costs, and ensure system reliability. Governor Abbott will continue to work with the Legislature to ensure Texas remains the nation’s leader in innovation while ensuring sustainable growth.”
He noted that governments and groundwater conservation districts have existing tools to regulate water usage, and that the Public Utility Commission has been tasked with studying how much water data centers use and what it’s used for.
A spokesperson for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment.
“Data centers have become an issue of national security,” Speaker Dustin Burrows said in a written statement. “The Texas House is committed to working to balance private property rights and economic growth while ensuring responsible planning that protects our communities. Given the statewide and long-term impacts of this issue, I look forward to engaging with members throughout the interim and next session.”
Staff Writers Elizabeth Campbell and Emily Holshousercontributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 4:51 PM.
Eleanor (Elly) Dearman is a Texas politics and government reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She’s based in Austin, covering the Legislature and its impact on North Texas. She grew up in Denton and has been a reporter for more than six years. Support my work with a digital subscription
Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez confidently walked to her green card appointment in downtown Sacramento on Wednesday morning.
She had seen the reports of other immigrants arrested at similar check-ins. Estrada Juarez believed her case would be different.
In her hands, she carried a white binder chronicling 27 years in California — her high school diploma, years of tax filings, vaccine records and paperwork showing she had repeatedly obtained federal permission to remain in the country.
But the appointment meant to secure her American future instead ended it. Federal agents arrested her less than one hour after she arrived in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Sacramento field office. By the next morning, she was in Mexico.
“Basically, my life was ended,” Estrada Juarez, 42, told The Sacramento Bee. “I have to reinvent myself in a country that, even though it’s mine, I don’t know.”
The deportation underscores how aggressively President Donald Trump’s administration has moved to crackdown on immigrants, including those without criminal records and following the established legal pathway to live in the country. Still, several immigration lawyers and experts said Estrada Juarez’s swift removal is particularly unusual and likely has the grounds for a legal challenge.
“It sounds like this poor woman was basically railroaded out of the country in the dead of night with barely a whimper,” said Kevin Johnson, the former dean of UC Davis’ School of Law and a legal leader in immigration law.
Estrada Juarez is a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program that began under President Barack Obama’s administration that has shielded people from deportation if they arrived in the U.S. as children and have not been convicted of a crime. In 2014, the federal government also granted her permission to leave and re-enter the country to visit a sick family member in Mexico.
Last year, after her daughter turned 21 — the minimum age at which a U.S. citizen can sponsor a parent — Estrada Juarez applied for lawful permanent residency, or a green card. She has no criminal history and is a regional manager for Motel 6.
“We tried to do things the right way,” said her daughter Damaris Bello, who also attended Wednesday’s appointment.
During the appointment, Estrada Juarez and her daughter said immigration agents cited a prior expedited removal order issued in 1998 when she entered the country alone at 15. Estrada Juarez said she was unaware of the order and would have not applied for permanent residency or attended the appointment if she had known about it.
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, in a written statement on Sunday, said “DACA does not confer any form of legal status in this country” and encouraged those with the status to self-deport. She added that Estrada Juarez received “full due process,” was previously issued “a final order of removal from a judge” in 1998 and “illegally re-entered” the U.S.
Estrada Juarez denied ever standing in front of a judge or receiving an order of removal.
DHS did not respond to follow up questions attempting to clarify the discrepancy, including a request for documentation of the removal order. A search of Estrada’s Juarez’s record in a federal immigration database did not garner any results. The Sacramento Bee reviewed her available immigration documents, including DACA renewals, her legal residency application and a previous approval to re-enter the country.
DACA recipients, at least publicly, have largely avoided the brunt of the Trump administration’s anti-immigration agenda. The president, who tried to end the program in his first term, has more recently said he would seek ways to spare these immigrants from deportation.
Last year, the Home is Here campaign — a coalition to protect DACA recipients — documented 65 cases of detentions by immigration agents nationwide. Deportations of people with the status, particularly without due process, are less common. One DACA recipient deported last year returned to the country weeks later.
Per USCIS’s own definition, DACA is an exercise of prosecutorial discretion “to not pursue the removal of an individual.” The agency is also required to follow a process for terminating DACA that includes a “notice of intent to terminate” and “an opportunity to respond,” according to federal regulations. DHS did not respond to a question asking why this process was not followed.
“This is mandatory by a clear and unambiguous reading of the regulations,” said Sacramento immigration attorney Brian Lopez.
‘Person with determination’
Estrada Juarez was born in Atlixco, a city in the Mexican state of Puebla. She spent much of childhood helping her mother work a fruit stand and her grandparents in the fields.
At 15, she decided to leave her hometown and travel to Southern California where some of her family had immigrated.
“I’ve always been a person with determination,” Estrada Juarez said.
She arranged her travel with a coyote, people who escort immigrants across the border and often control every part of the journey, including when people eat, sleep and what they do and say.
Estrada Juarez said she arrived at the border in December 1998. What happened next could have led to her deportation 27 years later, Lopez said.
On her first time trying to cross the border, she was stopped by a federal agent and detained for roughly a few hours. Estrada Juarez recalled the agent asking a few questions and then letting her go. She remembers no mention of an expedited removal, an order issued by immigration officers that allows for a fast-track deportation without a court hearing.
Soon after, she reconnected with the coyote. They crossed the border successfully a few days later.
Lopez said expedited removals are a permanent mark on an individual’s immigration record, except in rare circumstances.
The order, which carries a five-year bar on re-entry, is often up to the discretion of the federal immigration agent at the border. In other instances, Lopez said agents will issue a voluntary return which sends the person to Mexico but comes with no legal punishment.
Lopez said it’s common that people are unaware that they have been given expedited removal orders. These conversations are sometimes not explained well or completed in a language that the immigrants are not fluent in, Lopez added.
“It could be that it was done, and she just didn’t understand what was going on, especially given her age, or it wasn’t explained to her,” Lopez said.
Estrada Juarez initially planned to return to Mexico. Then, she began working.
She secured jobs at a Los Angeles swap meet, a pizzeria and a 7-Eleven. Most years, she worked multiple jobs at the same time.
Estrada Juarez said she soon realized that the U.S. offered “opportunities for every type of person” as long as they took advantage of them. She decided that the country offered her the best chance to succeed in life.
“In Mexico, you will be born poor and always be poor,” she said. “In the United States, you can have a decent life.”
At 20, Estrada Juarez gave birth to her only daughter. In 2005, the two moved to Sacramento where again she picked up several jobs — from a gas station cashier to auto insurance seller. She now helps manage multiple motels in California and Oregon.
‘Immigration history is clearly available’
Estrada Juarez was granted DACA in 2014, two years after the program launched. It intended to protect undocumented children, often referred to as Dreamers, who arrived in the country before turning 16 and prior to 2007. Recipients must renew the status every two years. Participation in the program comes with a range of benefits including authorization to remain in the country, work permits and health insurance from employers who offer it.
Trump has provided mixed messaging on the program over the years.
He moved to revoke the program just months after taking office in 2016 — a decision that faced immediate pushback with several states, including California, suing over the directive. As of 2023, roughly 160,000 DACA recipients lived in California, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute.
The case made its way to the Supreme Court. In 2019, the court sided with DACA recipients and found that the Trump administration failed to provide a reasoned explanation for ending the program.
More recently, Trump has been publicly supportive of the program. A poll in 2020 showed nearly 75% of Americans support providing a legal status to undocumented immigrants who arrived to the country as children.
“In many cases, they become successful,” Trump said in December 2024 on NBC’s Meet The Press. “They have great jobs. In some cases, they have small businesses, in some cases they might have large businesses. And we’re going to have to do something with them.”
When asked if he wanted DACA recipients to stay, Trump said “I do.”
“I want to be able to work something out,” he added.
Despite Trump’s comments, César Cuauthémoc García Hernández, an immigration law professor at Ohio State University, said the administration remains hostile to DACA and other immigrants seeking legal pathways. He noted that this administration has ended several protections previously given to migrants and arrested people attending routine immigration check-ins across the country.
“DACA is yet another example in which the Trump administration is quite clear that they’re not only concerned about people who are violating immigration law,” he said. “They’re concerned about migrants, generally.”
For her part, Estrada Juarez has renewed her DACA five times. She used the status in 2014 to request advance parole, a USCIS-issued travel document that allows foreigners to leave and re-enter the country. Estrada Juarez visited her mother who was recovering from surgery for three weeks before returning through a border checkpoint where she said no official mentioned her expedited removal order.
“We’re talking about an expedited removal that occurred in the computer age, so that immigration history is clearly available to DHS… The reason for that as a legal matter is that people rely on promises that the government makes,” García Hernández said.
Last April, Estrada Juarez applied for her legal residency in part for the desire to travel more with daughter. The two had hoped to plan a trip to Vatican City in Italy following the issuance of her green card. They received notice of the appointment last month.
‘Never had a chance’
Estrada Juarez woke up Wednesday feeling optimistic.
The nerves from the days prior had calmed after a conversation with Bello who assured her mother that she was a taxpaying resident without a criminal record who had already left the country once.
With that in mind, Estrada Juarez prepared for what she called an “achievement.”
“Today calls for a good-looking woman,” Estrada Juarez recalled thinking. She put on makeup for the first time in years and had her daughter pick out a formal outfit. Together, they arrived at the appointment at 10:30 a.m.
The first few minutes of the interview went well, they recalled. At one point, an immigration official brought up an expedited removal order on her record. Estrada Juarez responded by saying she was unaware of the order.
At the end of the interview, the official handed her a form that stated “USCIS is unable to complete your case at this time. Your case is being continued until a final decision is made.” The official then explained that the order would likely bar her from ever securing residency, but he would like to “double check” with his supervisor, Estrada and Bello said.
He left and, within minutes, three immigration agents arrived. They called her name and said she would be deported because of her expedited removal order.
The mother and daughter, both in tears, exchanged a quick hug before Estrada Juarez was taken away.
“It felt like truly she never had a chance, like she walked into this and deported herself,” said Bello, who is attending Sierra College.
Bello, who said the experience left her feeling like she “couldn’t breathe,” headed outside the Capitol Mall building. Once there, a federal agent came to inform her that Estrada Juarez had requested Bello head to their house and return with clothing and her medication for diabetes.
Her van to Mexico would leave later that afternoon.
Johnson compared Estrada’s Juarez swift removal to that of Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, a Salvadoran man illegally deported last March in what was later called an administrative error. He came back to the country months later after the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government must facilitate his return.
DACA recipients wrongfully deported have returned as well. In March, a DACA recipient in Missouri was allowed to return two weeks after he was deported.
“This administration seems to push the legal envelope whenever they get a chance,” Johnson said.
Estrada Juarez texted her daughter at 8:14 a.m. Thursday.
“Hello, sweetheart,” she wrote in Spanish. “I’ve arrived in Mexico. Don’t call me. I’ll call you. I can’t use my phone where I’m at right now. How are you?”
Back at their Natomas home, Bello was still reeling from the day before. She woke up to traces of her mother everywhere.
The makeup Estrada Juarez had carefully applied for what she thought would be her crowning American achievement still sat on the bathroom counter. Her Wednesday morning pot of coffee remained on the stove.
In the living room, the walls were plastered with photos of the mother and daughter. One is from Bello’s quinceañera and another was gifted by Estrada Juarez’s on her 16th birthday. The frame reads “My dear Damaris, I love you to the moon and back.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 3:35 PM.
Mathew Miranda reports on City Hall for The Sacramento Bee. He is a proud son of Salvadoran immigrants and earned degrees from Chico State and UC Berkeley.
FW – September 15, 2004 – Burleson High School students pray together outside the school early Wednesday morning, at the national student prayer event, See You At the Pole, which began in Burleson in 1990. (Special to the Star-Telegram/Jessica Kourkounis)
Jessica Kourkounis
Special to the Star-Telegram/Jes
A new state law requiring Texas school boards to vote on whether they will allow students to pray and read religious texts during the school day is up for consideration in Fort Worth on Tuesday night.
Fort Worth ISD staff is recommending the board vote no, because the district already has a policy allowing students to pray and engage in religious expression during the school day and on school property.
Senate Bill 11, passed during last year’s legislative session, requires Texas school boards to weigh a decision on creating a prayer policy by March 1.
Fort Worth ISD’s existing policy says “a public school student has an absolute right to individually, voluntarily, and silently pray or meditate in school in a manner that does not disrupt the instructional or other activities of the school. A student shall not be required or coerced to engage in or refrain from such prayer or meditation during any school activity.”
The policy also allows students to organize prayer groups and religious clubs or gatherings before, during and after the school day. A student’s religious viewpoint must be treated the same way as a student’s secular viewpoint, and district officials are barred from discriminating against a student based on their religious views.
The restrictions of a new policy, as outlined in Senate Bill 11, require parents to submit a consent form waiving their right to take legal action against the district in regards to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prevents the government from establishing a religion. Students must also engage in the prayer or reading outside the presence of a student who doesn’t have a signed consent form.
The Fort Worth ISD school board meets at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Members of the Grapevine Parks and Recreation team, the dispatch alarm team, and members of the fire department were recognized by Assistant Fire Chief, Wes Williams at the Feb 3 city council meeting for saving the life of Zach Smith (left gray sweater) who went into cardiac arrest at The REC in Grapevine on December 15.
Fousia Abdullahi
fousia.abdullahi@star-telegram.com
Grapevine city employees and the fire department are credited for saving the life of a 17-year-old who went into cardiac arrest at a recreation center in December.
Assistant Fire Chief Wes Williams recognized both teams during a City Council meeting earlier in February for saving the life of Zach Smith.
“Their dedication and care made a real difference, and I’m proud to recognize their extraordinary efforts today.” Williams said.
Members of the Grapevine Parks and Recreation team, the dispatch alarm team, and members of the fire department were recognized by Assistant Fire Chief, Wes Williams at the Feb 3 city council meeting for saving the life of Zach Smith (left gray sweater) who went into cardiac arrest at The REC in Grapevine on December 15. Fousia Abdullahi fousia.abdullahi@star-telegram.com
On Dec. 15, the Grapevine emergency alarm office got a 911 call at 4:05 p.m. for an unconscious person on the second floor of The REC of Grapevine.
The RECs aquatic team were quick to respond to the incident before the fire department could arrive, Williams said. They told the emergency operator the person was no longer breathing and started CPR.
Jennifer Kashner, the recreation manager at Grapevine Parks and Recreation, told the Star-Telegram that Smith was in one of the studios doing some lifting when he went into cardiac arrest.
Kashner was the first on the scene and started CPR while the rest of the team joined in to assist by giving oxygen and preparing to use a defibrillator.
“We are incredibly thankful that we were in the right place at the right time to help Zach,” Kashner said in a statement. “We’re proud to work for a city that prioritizes staff training, so when incidents occur, our team is confident and prepared to respond. We couldn’t be more proud of our team, and we are so happy to see Zachary healthy and recovering so well.”
Aquatic operations coordinator Shannon Paterson and Emily Marecle, an aquatic supervisor, shared with the Star-Telegram what it was like seeing Smith again after the incident.
“We’re all moms and have a son about his age,” Paterson said, “and it was really emotional to know that he gets a second chance, specifically because of the training that happens here, and people who know what they’re doing, and the amazing first responders, they’re just phenomenal.”
Marecle said it’s important for people to learn CPR, and she attributes Smith not having brain damage to how quickly they performed CPR, gave oxygen and used the AED on him.
Grapevine Mayor William D. Tate said that he was at The REC the day of the incident.
“I was outside by the elevator working some weights when it all happened, but I witnessed the staff and the paramedics, and they were very calm and very professional and did a wonderful job and saved that man’s life,” Tate said at the council meeting.
City leaders gave citations to The REC staff, dispatcher Liz Pickett, captains from the fire department, driver engineers, firefighter paramedics, firefighter EMT and others.
Williams said The REC team completed the first three steps in what’s called the “Chain of Survival” in the seven minutes before the fire department arrived at The REC. The six steps are:
Advanced resuscitation by emergency medical services.
Post cardiac arrest care
Recovery
According to the American Heart Association of Texas, 90% of the 350,000 sudden cardiac arrests that happen outside a hospital setting each year are fatal.
“Their continued training had prepared them to act and save a young man’s life,” Williams said.
Smith attended the city council meeting where he signed a train ticket that was placed on Grapevine’s cardiac arrest survivors train. He was the 15th survivor to sign a ticket.
“This ticket stands as a powerful reminder of a life saved and the importance of quick action and teamwork in critical moments,” Williams said.
Fousia Abdullahi is a Fort Worth Star-Telegram news reporter who covers suburban cities including Southlake, Colleyville, Grapevine and Keller. She enjoys reading and attending local events. Send tips by email or phone.
Country music singer Koe Wetzel is heading to Fort Worth to celebrate a big anniversary.
The native of Pittsburg, Texas, is performing two shows this week in support of his song “February 28, 2016.” . Wetzel will be at his Riot Room locations in Houston on Feb. 26 and in Fort Worth’s West 7th district on Feb. 28.
Fans can register online for a chance to attend the Fort Worth show at Wetzel’s bar and restaurant.
Wetzel’s song is a favorite among his fans and was written after spending a few nights in Erath County Jail for public intoxication in Stephenville.
The lyrics from the tune reference hiding marijuana and a bottle of whiskey from the police after being pulled over. He also thanks God for keeping him safe as he drives around town inebriated.
There are also several references to stopping by Taco Bell for some grub.
More on Wetzel
Wetzel has been making music since the early 2010s.
His debut album “Out on Parole” released in 2015, and he’s released a few more over the past decade. His latest album “9 Lives” released in 2024.
Wetzel has played several times in Fort Worth over the years, including at Panther Island Pavilion, Billy Bob’s Texas, Dickies Arena and Texas Motor Speedway.
Brayden Garcia is a service journalism reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He is part of a team of local journalists who answer reader questions and write about life in North Texas. Brayden mainly writes about weather and all things Taylor Sheridan-related.
Arlington police officers responded to the shooting in the 4600 block of Sausalito Drive, near West Arkansas Lane, police said Saturday in a news release.
Officers found Jordan unresponsive in one of the bedrooms. First responders tried to save him, but he died at the scene, according to police.
Investigators determined Jordan and several of his friends had a gun and were playing with it right before the weapon went off, the release states.
“Riley was truly a blessing to everyone who knew him. He lived with an undeniable passion for football, music and working out – pursuits that fueled his energy and brought him so much joy. Above all, he loved his family and friends unconditionally, with a loyalty and warmth that touched every heart he met,” the Jordan family said in a statement sent to NBC DFW.
“Riley had an incredible gift for lighting up any room the moment he walked in, his smile and spirit instantly lifting those around him. He will be deeply and forever missed by all of us who were fortunate enough to share in his light,” the statement read.
In a letter sent to families on Saturday morning, Martin High School’s principal wrote, “Our hearts are with the student’s family and loved ones, and with every student and staff member who is hurting today.”
The school will have grief counselors available for students on Monday and parents were asked to encourage their children to seek help if they were struggling, according to the letter.
Police said the teen accused of firing the gun was arrested and faces a manslaughter charge. He was taken to the Tarrant County Juvenile Detention Center. Authorities haven’t released the suspect’s name or age.
Police said they’re continuing to investigate how the juveniles got the weapon.
Shambhavi covers crime, law enforcement and other breaking news in Fort Worth and Tarrant County. She graduated from the University of North Texas and previously covered a variety of general assignment topics in West Texas. She grew up in Nepal.
Protestors across America, here’s your new chant (in 2/4 time):
“Fuck ‘Ice’ / Do I have to say it twice? / No one wants you here / So, fuck you, ‘Ice’ / There will not be any peace until the ‘Ice’ gets off our streets / Get out of our cities / Fuck you, ‘Ice.’ ”
Fort Worth pop singer-songwriter Jeff Zero just released the song after not being asleep, getting pissed off at the news, putting out a social-media call for artists, gathering them, and performing and recording the track (at a studio that shall not be named out of fear of backlash) — quickly but not sloppily. “Fuck ‘Ice’ ” is quite the tight, rousing acoustic guitar-forward ditty. Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie would definitely approve.
“Ostensibly,” Zero said, “ ‘Fuck “Ice” ’ is a protest song about the weather — obviously *cough, cough* — although I suppose that under the right lighting, from a certain angle, and with a particular mindset, one might somehow interpret it differently.
“ ‘Ice’ can be dangerous,” Zero went on. “Nobody likes when ‘Ice’ spreads across the land. It can cause people to slip and fall. Cars can slide off the road and crash. ‘Ice’ even sunk the Titanic. ‘Ice’ lingers in the shadows and melts in the light. The weather is changing, and hopefully we will soon get ‘Ice’ off our streets and out of our cities.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE/Ice) has become a scourge in the hands of the current occupant of the White House. Once Donald Trump assumed office, his administration said ICE would target “the worst of the worst,” but analysis by the Cato Institute and others found that 73% of ICE detainees had no serious criminal convictions. The same person who described Mexicans and other immigrants south of the border as murderers and rapists probably has no idea that only 5% of all ICE detainees have been convicted of violent crimes like murder and rape. The White House’s goal is not to make our world safer. It’s to terrorize mostly Democratic-voting communities to scare them from voting. Or even living.
Why’d you do it, Jeff?
“The short version is that I oppose the American gestapo that is ICE,” he said. “Masked agents without cameras or nametags/identification snatching people off streets was dystopian on its own, but the occupation of Minneapolis, coupled with the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were the final straws. To remain silent is to be complicit.
“When I was a younger man,” Zero continued, “I was taught that ‘if you ever find yourself saying, “Somebody should do something,” remember that you are ‘somebody.’ So, I did.”
Zero is hoping for a chain reaction among local singer-songwriters from his track and the recent, earlier release of an anti-fascist song by a Fort Worth friend of his.
If you know indie-rock singer-songwriter Denver Williams, Zero said, “he is not the type of person to be political or to cause friction. He’s just about the easiest person to get along with as you’ll ever meet. We’d had some private discussions about the state of things, but then he wrote, recorded, and shot a video for ‘Now that All of Your Secret Racist Dreams Are Coming True.’ That was my wakeup call.”
Zero deflects credit for his new track. “I’m not sure I did anything. I was angry and frustrated and felt I needed to pick up my guitar to deal with my thoughts, and ‘Fuck “Ice” ’ came to me almost fully formed in about 20 minutes.”
Gathering all the musicians, performing and recording the song, and shooting the video took about a week, Zero said.
“I am beyond happy with the results and with the support of my circle of friends, who all came out and sang, played, and helped,” he said. “It turned out better than I dared hope, and it was all 100% unscripted and spontaneous once we got [to the studio]. It was an amazing day, and I am blessed beyond measure to have the support of some amazing people, all of whom volunteered their time and effort.”
The patriots who responded to Zero’s call with gusto include percussionist Mike McMurray, pianist/accordionist Tommy Henson, guitarist Stin Hudson, and harmonica player CKB, along with lead guitarist Williams and the angelic “Fuck ‘Ice’ ” choir: Sonny Votolato, BK, Itchy Richie, Sarah Savage, and Faith Thompson, along with Henson and Hudson.
Zero hopes the song raises awareness “in an indirect allegorical way with enough plausible deniability to spark debate and inspire someone else to write Protest Songs Nos. 3 to 1,000.”
“Fuck ‘Ice’ ” is available for free streaming and downloading via Bandcamp.
This column reflects the opinions of the editorial board and not the Fort Worth Weekly. To submit a column, please email Editor Anthony Mariani at Anthony@FWWeekly.com. He will gently edit it for clarity and concision.
TCU head coach Kirk Saarloos sits in the back of the dugout during game two of the NCAA super regional between TCU and Indiana State at Lupton Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday June 10, 2023. Indiana State led 2-0 going into the fourth inning. The game was delayed two hours due to weather. TCU defeated Indians State 6-4 to move on to the College World Series in Omaha.
It was a back-and-forth game for much of the day at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles, but the Bruins broke the game open in the sixth with a four-run inning — three of those runs coming off Noah Franco in his first pitching appearance since the team’s second game against Arkansas — that gave them a 9-4 lead .
TCU’s Sawyer Strosnider came into the game hitting 3 for 8 with and RBI, a run scored and a walk through the first two games with UCLA and had his best game of the series on Sunday going 2 for 2 with two RBIs and three runs scored with a home run, a triple and two walks.
Strosnider helped spark an offense that scored more runs by the fifth inning of Sunday’s game (4) than they had in the previous two games combined (3).
The Horned Frogs bucked that trend on Sunday chasing UCLA’s Landon Stump from the game before the third inning’s conclusion and having their most successful offensive game of the series.
Stump gave up three runs off four hits with two walks in 2.1 innings of work. In Stump’s final inning Sawyer Strosnider got the scoring going with a triple that scored Cole Cramer. The next batter, Chase Brunson, would hit a single, scoring Strosnider — which would be Stump’s last batter faced of the day.
This was the first multi-run inning in the series for the Horned Frogs offense.
Fernsler gave up three runs off three hits with one strikeout in two innings of work, with the Bruins using the long ball to attack the young pitcher.
The runs Fernsler gave up came when Will Gasparino, with a man on base, and Dominic Cadiz had back-to-back home runs in the second which put the Bruins up 3-1 when he exited the game.
TCU bats wake up
Sunday’s game was by far the liveliest of the series with the Horned Frogs and Bruins both taking leads and each side tying the game and the Horned Frogs offense having their best showing.
TCU took the early lead after Strosnider and Nolan Traeger executed a double steal which caused the UCLA defender to fumble with the ball allowing the Horned Frogs to take the early lead in the first inning.
TCU ended the game with seven hits and five runs scored and was a step in the right direction for an offense that had been scuttling over the past few games.
TCU will be back in action against Loyola Marymount at 3 p.m. on Monday at Page Stadium.
Lawrence Dow is a digital sports reporter from Philadelphia. He graduated with a master’s degree in journalism from USC. He’s passionate about movies and is always looking for a great book. He covers the Texas Rangers and other sports.
Luzerne County government added 24 new employees in January, while four prior workers were rehired, according to the latest monthly personnel report.
Ten of the new workers are prison correctional officers hired at $19.05 per hour to fill vacancies that have accrued, the report said: Brandon Adams, Justin Dolman, Keith Gilligan, Joy Henry, Ashley Lyons, Eric Masters, Lindsey Place, Jonathan Rivera, Christopher Rodriguez, and Alec Todd.
The other new employees, their positions and hourly compensation, the report said, are: Molly Banks, court judicial assistant, $24.78; Stacy DeAngelis, 911 PSAP supervisor, $25.64; Liam Frederick, Treasurer’s Office clerk 3, $15; Irakli Gjergji, court law clerk, $43.34; Laura Hatem, Children, Youth and Families (CYF) caseworker 1, $20.91; Bradley Keeler, Budget and Finance senior accountant, $26.37; Karissa Kross, solicitor executive secretary, $20.51; Kathleen Lockman, Area Agency on Aging senior center director 2, $21.39; Edward Macrae, District Attorney’s Office gun violence reduction agent, $35.90; Lauren Moritz, Controller’s Office internal auditor, $20.51; Ann Pedana, courts executive secretary, $31.08; Theresa Porter, Aging Agency case aide 2, $17.16; Mikayla Sofchak, DA’s Office clerk 2, $15.53; and Madison Wickkiser, Magisterial District Court clerk 5, $17.61.
The four rehired workers, their positions, and hourly compensation are: Tyler Gates, assistant public defender, $36.69; Sara Kolmansperger, Magisterial District Court clerk 5, $17.61; Landon Leshko, part-time assistant district attorney, $42.45; and Caitlyn Tallarico, court law clerk, $43.34.
Departures
Ten workers resigned in January, the report said. They are: Amanda Adams, DA’s Office administrative assistant; Jamie Greech, court administrative trial specialist; Jessica Hart-Shover, Veteran Affairs administrative assistant; Stephen Hughes, sheriff deputy; Nicole Litostansky, court executive secretary; Hope Littzi, CYF clerk typist; Erik Miller, court law clerk; Amy Newhart and Veranda Brown Stritzinger, CYF caseworker 2s; and Yanceys Nunez Santos, CYF caseworker 1.
Transfers
Seven employees changed positions through the internal merit hiring process, the report said.
These workers, their new positions and hourly compensation: Mark Keyes, detective, $35.90; Brittany Sarosky, courts executive secretary, $31.08; Carly Snyder, CYF caseworker 2, $23.33; Cheryl Sobeski-Reedy, court law clerk, $43.34; Sean Patton and Marie Richardson, corrections officers, $19.05; and Aria Wight, court administrative trial specialist, $20.88.
Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge
County Council is set to vote Tuesday on a formal agreement with Modjeski and Masters Inc. to perform design and engineering for the county-owned Nanticoke/West Nanticoke Bridge over the Susquehanna River.
County Manager Romilda Crocamo closed the bridge in March 2025 after engineers performing an inspection found further deterioration and section loss of primary, load-carrying components. The alternate route is the Route 29/South Cross Valley Expressway crossing, officially called the John S. Fine Bridge.
Totaling 2,072 feet, the bridge connects Nanticoke and the West Nanticoke section of Plymouth Township. The crossing was constructed in 1914 and last rehabilitated in 1987.
County Council selected Modjeski and Masters Inc. as the engineer in August 2025.
In addition to $10 million in federal funding allocated through the state for this project, the county has access to a $55 million casino gambling fund established for county infrastructure. Because federal funding is involved, the engineer must first develop three options for the bridge, officials said.
The contract with Modjeski and Masters would be capped at $1 million. A copy of the proposed agreement is posted in the agenda packet at luzernecounty.org.
Tuesday’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. Instructions for the remote attendance option will be posted in council’s online public meetings section at luzernecounty.org.
Purchasing, new division
Council will hold a public hearing on a proposed purchasing policy update at 5:45 p.m. before voting on the matter at the 6 p.m. meeting.
Another public hearing is set for 5:50 p.m. to seek comment on a proposed new economic development division, which is also scheduled for a council decision during the voting meeting.
Council won’t be voting on a proposed immigration resolution that prompted significant public comment earlier this month. Council Chairman Jimmy Sabatino said he checked with his colleagues, and there was “no appetite to put this particular resolution on the agenda for a vote.”
Public comment
Council is also set to vote Tuesday on a policy change for emailed public comments.
Instead of publicly reading each email during meetings, the proposed change would require council to publicly announce the names of the senders and post copies of the emails to the online agenda.
The change was prompted by an influx of emailed comments — some similar templates recommended by advocacy groups online.
Citizens will still have an opportunity to voice public comments in person and through the remote platform during meetings.
Introduced by Councilman Chris Belles, the proposal said it “preserves the reasonable opportunity for residents or taxpayers of Luzerne County to participate in County Council meetings and recognizes that reading all written correspondence is unreasonable and not required or provided by the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act.”
State of the county
Crocamo will present the required annual state of the county address to council in the work session following Tuesday’s voting meeting.
County zoning
The county GIS, Planning and Zoning Department scheduled a public forum from 5 to 7 p.m. on March 5 in the county courthouse for residents to learn more about a draft county zoning ordinance amendment that would regulate data centers.
Department representatives and county attorneys will be on hand to provide information and answer questions.
If approved, the ordinance will take effect in 20 municipalities that rely on county zoning instead of handling it on their own: the boroughs of Avoca, Courtdale, Dupont, Duryea, Hughestown, Jeddo, Laflin, New Columbus, Pringle, Warrior Run, West Wyoming, and Yatesville, and the townships of Conyngham, Fairmount, Hunlock, Huntington, Lake, Newport, Ross, and Union.
“The growing need for this ordinance is evident in the amount of data center proposals that are appearing across the county,” Dan Reese, county GIS, Planning and Zoning director, said in the announcement. “We want to hear from residents about the county’s plan to regulate the centers and make sure their concerns are addressed.”
The draft is under review by the county administration and county Planning Commission. County Council approval is necessary for the amendment to take effect. A copy of the draft is posted in the GIS, Planning and Zoning section at luzernecounty.org.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on X @TLJenLearnAndes.
No. 12 TCU women’s basketball overcame a 12-point fourth quarter deficit to knock off Iowa State 80-73 Sunday at Schollmaier Arena.
“That was a heavyweight fight, that’s an incredible basketball team and an incredible basketball game,” TCU coach Mark Campbell said. “That had a Sweet Sixteen vibe and feel to it. I could not be more proud of our group for battling and being resilient and staying in the fight and giving our team a chance in the fourth quarter.”
It was the 41st straight victory at home for the Horned Frogs, but the lengthy winning streak was in jeopardy deep into the fourth quarter.
TCU (25-4, 13-3) trailed for most of the game as Iowa State’s defense gave guards Olivia Miles and Donovyn Hunter fits, leading to the Cyclones (21-7, 9-7) being up 66-53 with 7:35 remaining in the game. However, despite their struggles the Horned Frogs still had a chance to preserve the winning streak as they only trailed 68-62 with 4:22 remaining.
Miles finally started to come alive in the fourth with six straight points and an assist to Taylor Bigby on a 3-pointer that cut Iowa State’s lead to 70-69 with 2:44 remaining.
With the game hanging in the balance, Miles put the Horned Frogs on her back and went on a 7-0 run. Leading 73-70, Miles delivered the dagger with a nice dribble and then a pull-up jumper with 54 seconds remaining.
Miles scored 17 points in the fourth as she recorded a triple-double with 26 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
“It was just not caring, not wanting to lose,” Miles said of her approach in the fourth. “There’s a will you have to bring, who wants it more? Marta (Suarez) ignited me, and I was just like ‘F it’ let me do it for her, let me do it for our team. It was the same looks I was getting all night, and they were just falling.”
The victory also moves the Horned Frogs closer to a regular season Big 12 title as TCU sits a full game ahead of West Virginia (22-6, 12-4) and Baylor (23-6, 12-4) in the league standings with just two games remaining.
TCU will travel to face Cincinnati at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Point guard battle
Miles got off to an extremely slow start against the Cyclones as she went 1-of-9 in the first half and missed her first six shots. Some of that was unlucky bounces as she had multiple shots rim in and out, but most of the credit for her slow start has to go to Iowa State’s Jada Williams.
A pesky defender and underrated playmaker, Williams made Miles work to get to her spots while also orchestrating an offense that shot nearly 50% in the first half. Williams was on a triple-double pace at halftime with nine points, six assists and five rebounds. And she hit an important 3-pointer to stave off a TCU run and help the Cyclones take a 40-34 lead at the half.
Neither point guard played well in the third, but they both picked up their games in the fourth. Williams showed off her impressive shot making with multiple pull-up jumpers over defenders while Miles got downhill to get TCU back in the game. Williams struggled to stay in front of Miles when it mattered most as Miles showed why she’ll likely be an All-American once again.
Williams scored 15 points and added 11 assists but only shot 6-of-23 from the field.
A massive challenge
TCU’s primary task was finding a way to slow down the nation’s leading scorer Iowa State center Audi Crooks. A viral sensation, Crooks has become a popular name in college basketball due to her unique play style. Listed at 6-foot-3 ponds, Crooks hovers around 300 pounds and uses that size to her advantage in the post.
Crooks bullied TCU’s 6-7 frontline of Clara Silva and Kennedy Basham early as she scored eight points in the first quarter while drawing two fouls on Silva. Crooks finished with 12 in the first half as the Cyclones led by as many as 13 at one point. Her size makes her an obvious mismatch, but Crooks also showed underrated agility with how quick her shot releases were. That helped her avoid TCU’s shot-blocking early on.
Crooks also was a surprise defensively as Iowa State kept her in the lane and her size made it difficult for TCU to slash to the basket. But in the fourth, the Horned Frogs finally opted to go right at Crooks with Miles having multiple drives finishing over Crooks. Basham also began to hold her own in the fourth with multiple stops and also drawing Crooks’ fourth foul with less than three minutes remaining.
Crooks fouled out with 1:35 remaining as she finished with 22 points and six rebounds.
“It was just about making every shot as tough as possible for her,” Basham said. “She’s a great player, and she’s going to score so it was just about making it as hard as possible and then getting her tired. You just got to push her out as far as you can before she gets position.”
Suarez shows up
While Miles and Hunter were struggling to find their shots in the first three quarters, starting forward Marta Suarez was the one keeping TCU in the game. The two experienced guards were a combined 3-of-23 entering the fourth quarter as the Horned Frogs trailed 58-49.
Suarez was the only reason the game was that close as she did her best to will the comeback attempt. Suarez was the only Horned Frog that could consistently create her own shot in the half-court as she used bully ball to get to the rim and also crashed the glass for multiple put-back opportunities.
Suarez’s early work was rewarded in the fourth as Miles finally came alive and took over the scoring load. Suarez recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds while also showing up on the defensive end. The comeback wouldn’t have been possible without Suarez’s early contributions.
Post game Suarez said the crowd of over 5,300 fans inspired her to keep pushing the Horned Frogs despite the deficit.
“Today, the way the people showed up for us the Scholl looked amazing,” Suarez said. “It was our sixth player. One of the reasons I was able to keep going is because I knew once we had a little momentum all those people were going to jump with us. Iowa State could not guard that.
“I was just excited to keep going and for it to happen and I knew it was going to happen because we’re that type of team. We’re relentless.”
This story was originally published February 22, 2026 at 5:22 PM.
Team USA hockey players celebrate winning the Olympic gold on Sunday in Italy
(L-R) Dylan Larkin #21, Charlie McAvoy #25, Brock Nelson #29, Jake Oettinger #30, Auston Matthews #34, Connor Hellebuyck #37, Quinn Hughes #43 and Jake Guentzel #59.
Jared C. Tilton
Getty Images
A niche sport that is mostly beloved by the hard core rather than the casual fan unified a nation at 9 a.m. on Sunday, something that America’s most popular game — football — can never achieve.
Hockey, a sport that most Americans don’t completely understand and only a few have actually played, bonded a nation because for all of our money and our might, this is a game where Team USA is often the underdog. It’s always more fun to cheer for the team that shouldn’t win.
On the same day 46 years after the U.S. enjoyed its greatest sporting moment — a 4-3 win against the U.S.S.R in the hockey semifinals of the 1980 Winter Olympics — its team won gold with a 2-1 overtime win over the Canadians of the 2026 Games in Italy.
Just as Team USA should not have won the gold medal in 1980, it needed a miracle against the best team in the world, Canada.
There are so many obvious comparisons to be made between Team USA’s win over Canada, and its victory against the Soviet Union with one glaring distinction. Unlike the win in ‘80 that brought together a nation for an extended period in the face of foreign enemies, now those adversaries are our neighbors, or family members.
The similarities between Lake Placid & Milan
In 1999, I interviewed the captain of that 1980 USA team, Mike Eruzione for a story on a team, and a tournament, that has been celebrated and documented like few ever have. He delivered an answer that by now he has uttered no less than 10,000 times.
“We touched a whole country,” Eruzione said. “That was the nicest part of the victory. So many people felt good about themselves and where they lived. We added a great deal of excitement to a nation, that’s what the Olympics are about. It’s about a nation and people felt that pride …
“The pride that we were Americans.”
When USA forward Jack Hughes beat Canadian goalie Jordan Binnington at the 1:41 mark of overtime on Sunday for the golden goal, it was hard not to feel that same sense of pride. Money has tainted so much of sports these days, but the ideal of the Olympics, and playing for your country, still has not lost its power to convince fans that sports can be pure.
The Olympics, more than World Cup in soccer or any other international game, is the one event where Americans are on the same page, united by a flag we share.
That particular game against the Soviet Union was an easy unifier; a team comprised of amateurs playing against glorified professionals during the Cold War.
For that story in 1999, I interviewed one of the Soviet’s defenseman, Viacheslav Fetisov, who said, “Before we left (Moscow) we had a meeting with a high communist official from the Kremlin who told us how important this Olympics was.
“It was important to show the rest of the world how good the system is. And jokingly at the end they said we can’t lose in hockey, especially to the U.S. It was almost impossible to lose to them. Not even in a bad dream did we think we would lose. That was probably the best team in the history of Russian hockey.”
That game was hockey, but the riding on the outcome was the American way versus communism.
The sad differences between Lake Placid & Milan
In February 1980, America’s economy was in recession, unemployment was at eight million, and there was still lingering anger over the Vietnam War, and the Watergate scandal.
As fractured as Americans were, they were unified in their feelings over the 52 hostages taken in Iran, where they would be for 444 days. There was unification in the anger at the Soviets, who had recently invaded Afghanistan, a move that led President Jimmy Carter to announce that the U.S. would boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
Here in 2026, most of our national disgust is not against an overseas opponent, but the guy across the street because they refuse to agree with our latest point of view. On any topic.
Unlike in 1980, when our media consumption menu was radio, three TV channels and print, we now have so many options competing for our decreased attention spans that we no longer know what is true, a lie, or AI.
The discourse, and disagreements, have made much of our daily routine so toxic that we don’t realize the poison we drink daily.
At least for a few hours on Sunday, Americans put aside those differences in agreement to support a USA hockey team where most couldn’t name more than two players.
These days, that’s a miracle.
This story was originally published February 22, 2026 at 4:59 PM.
Mac Engel is an award-winning columnist who has covered sports since the dawn of man; Cowboys, TCU, Stars, Rangers, Mavericks, etc. Olympics. Movies. Concerts. Books. He combines dry wit with 1st-person reporting to complement an annoying personality. Support my work with a digital subscription
Get breaking news alerts at star-telegram.com/newsletters.
Pexels
One person was hospitalized after being shot at an apartment complex in Fort Worth early Sunday, police said.
Fort Worth police officers responded to the shooting shortly before 3 a.m. in the 2000 block of East 4th Street, police said in a statement.
When officers arrived they found one person with a gunshot wound. The person was taken to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.
One suspected shooter has been taken into custody, police said.
Police said officers are investigating the circumstances of the shooting.
Shambhavi covers crime, law enforcement and other breaking news in Fort Worth and Tarrant County. She graduated from the University of North Texas and previously covered a variety of general assignment topics in West Texas. She grew up in Nepal.
ESPN’s College GameDays will be in Fort Worth on March 1 for No. 12 TCU women’s basketball season finale vs. rival No. 15 Baylor.
The show will be live on ESPN from Schollmaier Arena beginning at 10 a.m. The Horned Frogs and Bears will play at 3 p.m.
“In college basketball that’s the biggest platform,” TCU coach Mark Campbell said on Sunday. “They pick the biggest games in the country. So for them to come and allow us to showcase our athletic department, our women’s program, I’ll tell you what, we need our student body to have the best turnout we’ve ever had in our program.”
Christine Williamson is set to host the hourlong show along with basketball analyst Andraya Carter and former two-time WNBA All-Star Chiney Ogwumike.
It’s the first time in program history that TCU will host GameDay for basketball. Admission is free and no tickets will be required.
The season finale will also decide the regular season championship for the Big 12. The Horned Frogs (25-4, 13-3) currently sit in first place but Baylor (23-6, 14-4) is right behind them in a tie for second with West Virginia. TCU owns the tiebreaker over the Mountaineers after sweeping the season series.
TCU defeated Baylor 83-67 on Feb. 12 as Olivia Miles scored 40 points and made 10 3-pointers.
After Sunday’s 80-73 win over Iowa State, the Horned Frogs can clinch the Big 12 championship with another win over the Bears. TCU also faces Cincinnati at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“How cool (is it) to go against Baylor with College GameDay in town and a chance to win a league title,” Campbell said. “Can you write a better script? It’s been surreal, what a journey we’ve been on for the last 2.5 years.”
This story was originally published February 22, 2026 at 11:24 AM.
The U.S. Secret Service said their agents and a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputy shot a man by the north gate of the Mar-a-Lago club who had a shotgun and fuel can.
Steve Helber
AP
An armed man who got onto the property of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach was shot dead overnight by U.S. Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputy, the agencies said.
A federal source familiar with the investigation identified the man as Austin Tucker Martin, a 21-year-old from North Carolina.
Rafael Barros, special agent in charge of the Secret Service in Florida, said President Trump wasn’t at Mar-a-Lago. According to the White House’s weekend schedule, the president remained in Washington this weekend.
The shooting happened around 1:30 a.m., Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said, when two Secret Service agents and a sheriff’s deputy discovered a man in his early 20s was just inside Mar-a-Lago’s front gate carrying a gas can and a shotgun.
“The only words we said to him were, ‘Drop the items,’ which means the gas can and the shotgun,” Bradshaw said during a Sunday morning news conference. “He put the gas can down and pointed the shotgun at the officers.”
The agents and deputy fired, Bradshaw said. The suspect was dead at the scene.
Bradshaw said he didn’t know how many shots were fired or whether the shotgun was loaded. He did say the deputy was wearing a bodycam.
No motive was given for Sunday’s suspect, who joins a growing list of Mar-a-Lago intruders since Trump first took office in January 2017. Businesswoman Yujing Zhang got deported to her native China after a trespass conviction and eight months in federal prison. Anthony Reyes came over a Mar-a-Lago outer wall in June, police said, for the purpose of proposing to Kai Trump, granddaughter of the president and daughter of Donald Trump Jr.
Earlier this month, Ryan Wesley Routh was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of an assassination attempt in September 2024 at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
The FBI is leading the investigation into all aspects of the shooting — the suspect’s background, the trespass and the shooting — with Secret Service and PBSO backup. The Secret Service agents will be put on administrative leave during the investigation, as is standard.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles asked any neighbors with surveillance video showing anything that “looks suspicious or out of place” to contact the FBI at 800-225-5324 or PBSO.
This story was originally published February 22, 2026 at 8:30 AM.
Since 1989, David J. Neal’s domain at the Miami Herald has expanded to include writing about Panthers (NHL and FIU), Dolphins, old school animation, food safety, fraud, naughty lawyers, bad doctors and all manner of breaking news. He drinks coladas whole. He does not work Indianapolis 500 Race Day.
SMU lost the Iron Skillet to TCU in 2025, but a recent gift of $50 million from alums ensured that it will be a factor in college athletics.
Christopher Torres
ctorres@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH
The insanity and absurdity will one day slow down, or stop, but SMU is making sure rather than join the family of schools in search of a “solution,” it will play by a series of regulations that exist in the land of make believe.
SMU bought its way into power college sports, and now the Mustangs will attempt to buy its way to national titles.
On Friday, SMU announced that four families donated $50 million, as well as an initiative to raise an additional $50 million by the end of the year. All of these millions are designated to fund “scholarships, NIL advancement and revenue sharing,” SMU said in a statement.
(If you are part of the group that believes $100 million could do so much for groups that desperately need it, you are correct, but we can’t lose sight on the importance of beating Wake Forest in football).
The statement did not specify how much of this potential $100 million will go to football players, but 85 to 90 percent feels about right. Misplaced priorities aside, this type of money will be felt immediately in recruiting, and in the 2027 season on the field.
Where does TCU matchup with SMU?
Whatever margin between TCU and SMU that existed for the majority of this century is gone. These are two private schools in the same major metro area that compete in the third and fourth most visible conferences in college sports. Flip a coin as to which one – the ACC or Big 12 – is “superior.”
For years TCU justifiably didn’t give SMU much thought because there was no need, a line of thinking that now is out-dated. There is no way to slalom around what $100 million that is dedicated to the recruitment of players will do to an athletic department, and university.
A winning football team does a lot for a school. Ask TCU.
The momentum SMU created since it joined the ACC two years ago is undeniable, and this sort of donation ensures it won’t fade. That type of spending will find the most talented players available. And the players who aren’t immediately available. At least the players who like money.
The announcement in the summer of 2025 that schools could pay a maximum of $20.5 million to all of its students athletes was greeted with relief. That relief lasted a good four weeks. Turns out that $20.5 million is not a ceiling but a floor, and looking for more millions is putting a tremendous strain on all athletic departments.
The challenge for TCU, and so many other schools in major college sports, is finding more money to keep up with the money. This requires a few wealthy boosters who do not mind giving away their millions in return for the hope that their alma mater can win sporting events, usually football.
Fishing for NIL dollars has become the priority for coaches, athletic directors and university leaders all over the country. All parties agree it’s insane, and no one is doing much to change it.
A school like TCU has plenty of money, but a smaller number of boosters. Eventually, even the wealthiest, most able and eager donor tires of seeing the same number pop on their caller ID. According to some of the influential TCU types, they are done fielding these calls. At least one prominent booster has made it clear their donations are not to be used for NIL.
“Donor fatigue” is a common expression in power four athletic departments, not just TCU. This includes the big ones in TheBIGSEC10.
At least for now, SMU is not going through this.
SMU’s efforts will factor nationally
The money that SMU is receiving can do for the Mustangs what it did for Miami. From 2006 to 2023, Miami was a damaged, outdated brand. Didn’t matter the head coach, Miami was well behind ‘Bama, Ohio State and the rest of the teams it once routinely beat.
The transfer portal plus NIL brought back The U, and made Miami ACC proof. Miami is 23-6 in the last two seasons, and reached the national title game in January where it lost to Indiana. It was Miami’s first appearance in a national title game since 2002.
Miami plays in a “lesser conference” but the type of money it reportedly spent made the ‘Canes attractive to any player who is being courted by Texas, Ohio State, LSU, USC or any of the behemoth brands from the SEC and Big 10 that are the premier destination for the top players.
As long as you have access to the playoffs, and are offering top dollar, the talent will follow.
That is what the gift to SMU could potentially do for the Mustangs, and everyone in college football has to deal with it.
Mac Engel is an award-winning columnist who has covered sports since the dawn of man; Cowboys, TCU, Stars, Rangers, Mavericks, etc. Olympics. Movies. Concerts. Books. He combines dry wit with 1st-person reporting to complement an annoying personality. Support my work with a digital subscription
Two people who led Fort Worth police on a pursuit Saturday afternoon have been taken into custody.
Star-Telegram illustration/Ricky Moon photo
Two people were arrested after refusing to stop and leading Fort Worth police on a pursuit on Saturday afternoon.
Someone called 911 about 2:40 p.m. and said that a man in a white Ford Explorer had pointed an AR-15 rifle at him near the 3400 block of Avenue E, according to the call sheet.
Officers patrolling the area spotted a vehicle matching the description and attempted to stop it. The driver refused to comply and took off, police said. The officers pursued the suspects until the 3100 block of Well Springs Drive.
Two people were arrested, and police recovered a gun that had been thrown out of the SUV during the pursuit. Officers and 911 tried to contact the original caller, but he didn’t respond to callback attempts, according to police.
Authorities haven’t yet identified the suspects or what charges they may be facing.
This story was originally published February 21, 2026 at 7:32 PM.
Snow falls in downtown Truckee on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026.
HECTOR AMEZCUA
hamezcua@sacbee.com
All the people were presumed dead, but rescuers didn’t want to wait another day. The risk of an avalanche hitting the area near Lake Tahoe was less than it was just days earlier, when the state’s deadliest snowslide killed nine people.
Officials also faced the threat of additional storms.
On Tuesday, search-and-rescue crews reached the rugged, ungroomed terrain near Castle Peak and retrieved six survivors from the football field-long avalanche. The snow struck 15 people — four guides and 11 clients — on an overnight backcountry skiing trip that morning.
But the threat of another slide and heavy snow forced crews to wait three days before returning to the area, a popular backcountry skiing destination about 30 miles west of Reno, Nevada.
On Friday, they saw an opportunity to go back in and get those who did not survive, Dennis Haack, a Nevada County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant who oversaw the response, said during a news conference Saturday in Truckee.
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and California Highway Patrol officers dropped buckets of water onto the snowpack to reduce avalanche risk. The company had offered to help in what Haack said was a “pretty narrow” timeline.
“PG&E uses this type of avalanche mitigation themselves around their resources throughout the state of California, and they reached out with this as an avalanche mitigation technique, and we accepted it,” he said.
A PG&E helicopter drops water onto a snow-covered slope near Castle Peak on Saturday. The water drops were part of an avalanche mitigation effort conducted to reduce the risk of additional slides before search-and-rescue crews recovered victims of a deadly backcountry avalanche. Nevada County Sheriff’s Office
Search-and-rescue teams then entered the area.
Using a snow vehicle or skis to reach the site remained too dangerous, Haack said, so CHP officers were flown in by helicopter.
They found five people, including a person who authorities had presumed, but not yet confirmed, was dead. One by one, they were hoisted up and taken to the Frog Lake huts by a snow vehicle.
The backcountry lodge, about 10 miles west of Truckee, was where the group had spent three days enjoying its kitchen, sleeping quarters and nearby fresh powder. It was also where most of them last woke up.
Haack declined Saturday to provide certain details, including the route the group took Tuesday morning as they left the huts.
Also unclear was the decision by Blackbird Mountain Guides, which organized the trip, to travel despite conditions known to carry a high avalanche risk. Haack said investigators needed to conduct more interviews. The company is also under investigation by the state’s workplace safety organization.
Rescuers were not finished when the sun set just before 5:45 p.m. Friday. The fading light caused another delay.
Dozens of search and rescue volunteers returned to help Saturday morning.
Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon reacts during a press conference at the Eric Rood Government Center in Nevada City on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, regarding an avalanche that took place the day prior in the backcountry. HANNAH RUHOFF hruhoff@sacbee.com
“When we ask them to leave their houses and help their communities, they do so willingly,” said Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon.
So did a CHP helicopter, which removed the six person who died.
Then, the California National Guard took over. They used a military helicopter to lift the last four people from the snow.
“While we wish we could have saved them all, we are grateful that we can bring them home,” Moon said.
The final person was picked up just before 11 a.m. and taken to the huts.
There, a Nevada County deputy coroner provided official confirmation to what family and loved ones had already known: Carrie Atkin, Liz Clabaugh, Kate Morse, Caroline Sekar, Kate Vitt, Andrew Alissandratos, Michael Henry, Danielle Keatley and Nicole Choo had died.
The demand for language interpreters continues to increase in Luzerne County’s court system — a trend officials have been observing for years, statistics show.
In 2023, the courts logged 4,369 instances requiring interpreters, which it calls “events.”
That number grew approximately 30% in 2024, when there were 5,661 interpreter events, said county Court Administrator Paul Hindmarsh.
Court administration is still gathering documentation for all events in 2025, but Hindmarsh said he is confident it will exceed the previous year.
Looking back for comparison, the courts provided interpreters 1,137 times in 2016, when court officials started highlighting the emerging dynamic. By 2018, the number had increased to 2,065.
By law, courts must provide interpreters in all civil and criminal proceedings and for court preparations and over-the-counter interactions in all court branches, Hindmarsh said. This mandate applies beyond the county Court of Common Pleas to include 16 magisterial district court offices, central court, probation services, domestic relations, and protection-from-abuse, or PFA, services, he said.
Assistance ranges from in-court language translation to help filling out forms, Hindmarsh said.
“It really runs the gamut. It hits everywhere,” he said.
An estimated 15.9% of the county’s 331,379 residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, according to the latest U.S. Census data.
But residents are not the only ones with language barriers interacting with the court, Hindmarsh pointed out. Court cases also involve people passing through the county, which has two major interstates and the turnpike, he said.
Interpreter expenses totaled $560,468 in 2024. That figure includes both two in-house staff Spanish interpreters and outside translators necessary due to the workload or when the language involved is not Spanish, he said.
Last year’s total cost is still being finalized through billing, but Hindmarsh estimates it will exceed $640,000.
The state covers a portion of the expense, but this reimbursement has not kept pace with rising costs, Hindmarsh said.
For 2024, the state reimbursement was approximately 33%, covering $184,548 of the $560,468 in expenses, his statistics show.
Hindmarsh had informed County Council of the rising interpreter costs during his budget presentation last October
Outside interpreters of all languages are freelance and procured through the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, or AOPC. These interpreters regularly travel from other areas of Pennsylvania, particularly the Philadelphia area, and from several neighboring states, officials said.
Freelance interpreter rates are set by the state and based on their level of state certification. The rates currently range from $45 to $80 per hour, $140 to $260 for a half day, and $270 to $475 for a full day, Hindmarsh said.
“It is a very expensive endeavor,” he told council in October.
The county is “very privileged” to have the two full-time staff Spanish interpreters, which “helps ease the burden just a little bit,” Hindmarsh said.
County Councilman Harry Haas noted at the time that this certification is “intense and very important.” Hindmarsh concurred, saying the testing is “extremely difficult.”
Both staff interpreters have completed the grueling written and oral state certification test required to provide Spanish translation in major court proceedings, with one only recently achieving that certification to be “fully utilized” as needed in court, Hindmarsh said.
Spanish translation is the most in demand, followed by American Sign Language interpreters, the county said.
The eight remaining languages requested in 2024, from highest to lowest, according to the county court: Haitian Creole, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Ukrainian, Swahili, and Bengali. Rarer languages included Hindi, Georgian, Uzbek, Gujarati, and Guinean Fulani, it said.
According to a county court summary, equal access to the courts is “fundamental to the legitimacy” of the justice system and necessary to maintain public trust and confidence.
“Language services for individuals who speak limited English or are deaf or hard of hearing are essential to ensure that they are able to fully participate in judicial proceedings and court services, programs, and activities in which their rights and interests are at stake,” it said. “Without these services, they are effectively denied the protection of our laws.”
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
TCU men’s basketball bounced back from its lackluster showing at UCF with a crucial 60-54 win over West Virginia on Saturday at Schollmaier Arena.
The matchup had the feel of a first-round matchup in the NCAA Tournament with both teams trying to make late runs to sneak into March Madness.
After trailing by six, the Horned Frogs (17-10, 7-7) battled back and cut the deficit to 52-50 with 4 minutes, 15 seconds remaining on a layup from Brock Harding. Harding continued to put pressure on the West Virginia (16-11, 7-7) as he tied the game with another basket and then found a cutting David Punch for a bucket that put TCU ahead 54-52 with 2:26 remaining.
Punch scored another clutch basket when he battled through contact and knocked down a runner that increased the lead to 56-52 with 1:36 to go. The Horned Frogs forced a turnover and had a chance to potentially ice the game, but Jayden Pierre’s turnaround jumper fell short.
That allowed the Mountaineers to cut it to 56-54 with 25.4 seconds remaining. But Harding kept up his heroics. He made two free throws with 17 seconds left that increased the lead to 58-54.
TCU forced a turnover on the Mountaineers’ next possession, and Pierre iced the game with 7 seconds remaining with a pair of free throws.
The Horned Frogs closed the game on a 12-2 run.
TCU is set to host Arizona State at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Here are three more takeaways from Saturday’s game:
Putting the win in perspective
Both teams entered Saturday firmly on the bubble with the Horned Frogs being the first team out of the tournament according to ESPN, and the Mountaineers being among the next four out. It wouldn’t be an overexaggeration to consider this an elimination game of sorts.
But with the win, TCU may have inched closer to locking up an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament with its fourth win in the last five games. During this pivotal stretch TCU collected Quad 1 wins over Iowa State and Oklahoma State and now also own a quality Quad 2 win over the Mountaineers, who now likely need to make a run in the Big 12 Tournament to make the field of 68.
As clutch as the victory was, there’s still more to be done for TCU. The biggest key for the Horned Frogs will be avoiding a bad loss in their next two games vs. Arizona State and at Kansas State. The penultimate matchup at Texas Tech on March 3 could also be the game where the Horned Frogs lock up a bid if they can pull off the upset.
Edmonds continues to excel
Over the last month TCU center Xavier Edmonds has been one of the most productive big men in the Big 12 and that continued against West Virginia. Edmonds got off to a slow start, like the rest of TCU’s offense in the first half, as he missed numerous free throws and had just one field goal in the first 15 minutes of the game.
But Edmonds started to find his groove thanks to his connection with Brock Harding in the pick-and-roll. On one sequence Harding made a perfect bounce pass to a cutting Edmonds, who dunked over a West Virginia defender. The two connected on another pick-and-roll play a few possessions later as Edmonds put TCU ahead 30-23 with a layup.
Edmonds continued to make key plays in the second half, including one sequence where he knocked down a 3-pointer and then blocked a shot on the next defensive possessions. Edmonds finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, recording his eighth double-double in the last nine games.
A model teammate
The first eight minutes were a tough watch as TCU fell behind West Virginia due to countless unforced errors. TCU had seven turnovers during that stretch including missed alley-oops and lackadaisical passing that the Mountaineers had no problem intercepting. TCU also had a near six-minute stretch where it went scoreless, but despite the early struggles TCU led 30-25 at halftime thanks to Liutauras Lelevicius.
Lelevicius scored all of his 14 points in the first half off the bench and completely changed the complexion of the game with his 3-point shooting. With the Horned Frogs trailing 12-6, Lelevicius would score 11 of the next 13 points for the Horned Frogs as they cut West Virginia’s lead to 21-19.
Lelevicius knocked down two 3s during that decisive stretch, but there was still more to come. Lelevicius gave TCU its first lead since the 19:41 mark as he nailed his third 3 to put TCU ahead 23-21. TCU closed the half on a 14-4 run thanks to Lelevicius, who was recently taken out of the starting lineup on Feb. 10 against Iowa State.
It would’ve been easy for Lelevicius to sulk after losing his starting position, but Lelevicius stayed engaged and delivered his best performance since he scored 23 against Kansas on Jan. 6.
.JPG "Mike Morath, the Texas Commissioner of Education, interacts with students on their classwork in a science class at Lucyle Collins Middle School in Lake Worth on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025.")
