Category: Houston, Texas Local News

Burger King is testing AI-powered headsets that can recite recipes, alert managers when inventories are low and even track how friendly employees are to customers.

Restaurant Brands International – the Miami-based company that owns Burger King, Popeyes and other brands – said Thursday it’s currently testing the OpenAI-powered headsets in 500 U.S. restaurants.

The system collects data on restaurant operations and shares it via “Patty,” a voice that talks to employees through their headsets. If the drink machine is low on Diet Coke, Patty will tell the store’s manager. If a customer uses a QR code to report a messy bathroom, the manager will be alerted.

Employees can ask Patty how to make various menu items or tell Patty to remove items from digital menus if they’ve run out of ingredients.

Burger King said it’s also exploring using Patty as a way to improve customer service. The system can track when employees say key words like “welcome,” “please” and “thank you” and share that with managers.

When asked about that capability Thursday by The Associated Press, Burger King said the intent is to use Patty as a coaching tool, not a tracker of individual employees.

“It’s not about scoring individuals or enforcing scripts. It’s about reinforcing great hospitality and giving managers helpful, real-time insights so they can recognize their teams more effectively,” Burger King said in a statement.

Burger King added that the key words are “one of many signals to help managers understand service patterns.”

“We believe hospitality is fundamentally human. The role of this technology is to support our teams so they can stay present with guests,” Burger King said.

Patty is part of a larger app-based BK Assistant platform that will be available to all U.S. restaurants later this year.

Burger King is one of several fast food chains experimenting with artificial intelligence. Yum Brands said last spring it was partnering with Nvidia to develop AI technologies for its brands, which include KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

McDonald’s ended a partnership with IBM in 2024 that was testing automated orders at its drive-thrus. The company is now working with Google on AI systems.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — After a lengthy and tense meeting, the Houston Independent School District is moving forward with a plan to close 12 of its campuses, citing declining enrollment and increasing maintenance costs.

In a meeting on Thursday, HISD’s Board of Managers decided to close the campuses in a unanimous 9-0 vote.

SEE ALSO: HISD parents brace for school closures, while some experts said more may be necessary

According to HISD, the district will implement a comprehensive transition plan to assist affected students, families, and staff. This involves direct outreach to affected families to discuss student placements, staff reassignment, transportation, and ongoing community engagement for a smooth transition into the 2026-2027 school year, HISD said.

Dozens of parents and community members showed up to speak out against the closures, many saying the decision was sudden and lacked sufficient community input.

After the first public comment period, several district officials presented findings, including enrollment data and facilities conditions, that they said justified the closures.

Then came a second public comment period, where more parents and community members spoke out.

During that time, one person was escorted from the building after standing on a podium after her time to speak ran out. The board declared a recess but soon returned.

Throughout the meeting, HISD Superintendent Mike Miles addressed the audience, sternly telling them to maintain decorum.

District officials said they held more than 20 meetings with parents of affected schools before the appointed board’s decision.

Officials added that contracted staff at affected schools will not be laid off and will be guaranteed a job at a different location in the district pending regular contract renewals.

Miles previously released a statement when the district first revealed its plan to close the 12 schools:

“I understand this news is difficult. Schools are more than buildings. They are places filled with history, relationships, and pride. This decision was not made lightly, and our focus remains on ensuring every student has access to a strong, supportive, and opportunity-rich learning environment.”

This is a list of the schools HISD said it will close:

• NQ Henderson Elementary School

• Port Houston Elementary School

• Franklin Elementary School

• Briscoe Elementary School

For more on the closures, visit HISD’s webpage.

Instagram said Thursday it will start alerting parents if their kids repeatedly search for terms clearly associated with suicide or self-harm. The alerts will only go to parents who are enrolled in Instagram’s parental supervision program.

The video featured in the media player above is the ABC7 Los Angeles 24/7 streaming channel

Instagram says it already blocks such content from showing up in teen accounts’ search results and directs people to helplines instead.

The announcement comes as Meta is in the midst of two trials over harms to children. A trial underway in Los Angeles questions whether Meta’s platforms deliberately addict and harm minors. Another, in New Mexico, seeks to determine whether Meta failed to protect kids from sexual exploitation on its platforms. Thousands of families – along with school districts and government entities – have sued Meta and other social media companies claiming they deliberately design their platforms to be addictive and fail to protect kids from content that can lead to depression, eating disorders and suicide.

Meta executives including CEO Mark Zuckerberg have disputed that the platforms cause addiction. During questioning by the plaintiff’s lawyer, in Los Angeles, Zuckerberg said he still agrees with a previous statement he made that the existing body of scientific work has not proved that social media causes mental health harms.

The alerts will be sent via email, text or WhatsApp, depending on the parent’s contact information available, as well as a notification through the parent’s Instagram account.

“Our goal is to empower parents to step in if their teen’s searches suggest they may need support. We also want to avoid sending these notifications unnecessarily, which, if done too much, could make the notifications less useful overall,” Meta said in a blog post.

Josh Golin, executive director of the nonprofit Fairplay, was skeptical of the new tool, saying Instagram “is clearly making this move now because the company is currently on trial in two different states for addicting and harming kids.”

“Once again, Meta is shifting the burden to parents rather than fixing the dangerous flaws in how it designs its algorithms and platforms,” Golin said. “And all children deserve to be protected, regardless of whether their parents have enrolled in and utilize Meta’s supervision tools. If a product is not safe for teens to use without parental intervention, it shouldn’t be marketed to teens at all.”

Meta said it is also working on similar notifications to parents about their kids’ interactions with artificial intelligence.

“These will notify parents if a teen attempts to engage in certain types of conversations related to suicide or self-harm with our AI,” Meta said. “This is important work and we’ll have more to share in the coming months.”

If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, or worried about a friend or loved one, help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 [TALK], or text TALK to 741-741 for free confidential emotional support 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The 6th annual Houston Reads Day will be here before we know it, and non-profit Literacy Now is looking for volunteers to join the mission in making a difference this February.

This year, the event is on Feb. 27, 2026, and schools across the area will again participate.

The day is dedicated to reading to and engaging with students to raise awareness about the literacy crisis in Houston, while also promoting the importance of reading.

Funds raised will go toward Literacy Now’s Reading Intervention Program, which supports young readers, the organization said.

Why is this a literacy crisis? Consider this. According to Literacy Now:

– 41% of young children are not ready for kindergarten
– 68% of 3rd graders do not read at grade level

And the above makes a lasting impact.

High school dropouts are not eligible for 90% of current jobs, Literacy Now says.

In addition, students who are not reading on grade level by 3rd grade are four times more likely not to graduate high school.

Among other ripple effects – 85% of youth in the juvenile justice system are functionally illiterate, and 70% of U.S. inmates cannot read above a 4th grade level.

During Houston Reads Day, volunteers are called to read to more than 17,000 Pre-K through 5th grade students across 45 area schools.

Volunteer readers are asked to read to classes for 20 minutes and may read to students multiple times in that duration.

If you’re ready to volunteer, register here.

Participating districts include Aldine ISD, Alief ISD, Clear Creek ISD, Houston ISD, Royal ISD, Sheldon ISD, Spring Branch ISD, and various charter schools.

ABC13 will once again partner with Literacy Now, with station volunteers stopping by classrooms to read to students.

And that reading time really adds up.

Just that one day of reading totals to over 13,000 minutes of reading.

But keep in mind, the goal is to encourage students to read all year long.

Literacy Now, formerly known as Making It Better, was founded in 2006 to help children rise above their circumstances through tutoring, mentoring, and other services, according to the non-profit.

It has since empowered more than 28,000 children and their parents.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A 20-year-old woman took the stand Thursday in a landmark trial accusing major tech companies of intentionally designing social media platforms to be addictive for children and teens.

The woman – identified in court as KGM – is the key plaintiff in the case, which alleges she began using social media as young as age 6 and became dependent on the apps.

Her lawyers say that dependence contributed to years of anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia.

In testimony Thursday in a downtown Los Angeles Superior Court courtroom, KGM described the emotional impact of not receiving likes, comments or subscribers on platforms like YouTube and Instagram.

“I would just get really upset and sad and feel like I wasn’t worthy I guess,” she said.

She added that the lack of online engagement made her feel “insecure,” and made her feel like she “looked ugly,” and “affected [her] self-worth.”

When asked by her lawyer why she continued using YouTube despite negative experiences, including bullying, she responded, “because being off of it bothered me more than the comments.”

A court observer noted that a female alternate juror began to cry, wiping away tears as KGM recounted her ongoing struggles with body dysmorphia.

Records presented in court showed that at one point, KGM spent 16 hours on Instagram in a single day.

She also testified that she would “scream and cry, throw a tantrum” if her mother tried to take away her phone.

“Without [her phone] I felt like a huge part of me was missing,” she said. “Without it, I couldn’t see who was liking my stuff.”

Earlier in the week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted it is difficult for Meta to enforce age restrictions on Instagram.

In a new statement about the trial, a Meta spokesperson said: “The question for the jury in Los Angeles is whether Instagram was a substantial factor in the plaintiff’s mental health struggles. The evidence will show she faced many significant, difficult challenges well before she ever used social media.”

TikTok and Snapchat were initially named as defendants in KGM’s case, but both companies reached undisclosed settlement agreements with the plaintiffs shortly before the trial began last month.

The terms of those settlements have not been publicly disclosed.

The trial continues.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A 26-year-old man is dead following a double shooting on Country Place near Memorial Drive in west Houston, police said.

The shooting happened a little after 9 p.m. Wednesday on the 700 block of Country Place. Officers with the Houston Police Department said they responded to a shots-fired call in the area.

HPD said that when officers arrived, they found a man lying in the breezeway of an apartment complex. Police said the victim appeared to have more than one gunshot wound and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police added that they found narcotics near his body, but it’s still unclear whose they belong to.

The victim’s identity is still unknown.

At that time, police said they received a call about a man at a nearby emergency clinic with a gunshot wound in his arm. Officers said that the man told police he was shot at a location on Bissonnet, but the emergency clinic personnel said a black car drove up to their clinic and pushed the man out of the car.

Residents in the area told HPD they saw two or three Black men in the area immediately prior to the shooting.

Police continue their investigation and urge anyone who heard or saw anything to call HPD at 713-308-8800 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — There is an unique and historic way America’s 250th birthday will be marked in Philadelphia.

“America’s Time Capsule” will be buried on July 4 at Independence National Historical Park near Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

It will remain sealed for 250 years, until 2276.

The America250 Commission, who is behind the project, describes it as a bell jar designed to create an air pocket and help prevent water intrusion underground.

It is expected to include items from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and five U.S. territories, as well as contributions from Congress, the Supreme Court and the White House.

States and territories must submit proposed items by March 15, with artifacts due in May. They will each get their own archival box inside the capsule.

A replica of the capsule is set to go on display April 1 at the White House Visitor Center, with a second planned for the Liberty Bell Center in Philadelphia.

Visitors will be able to leave handwritten notes to Americans in 2276.

Newly released police video shows former WWE executive Vince McMahon ram his luxury sportscar into the rear end of another vehicle on a Connecticut highway last summer as he was being followed by a state trooper.

McMahon, now 80, was driving his 2024 Bentley Continental GT at more than 100 mph (160 kph) on the Merritt Parkway when he crashed in the town of Westport, according to state police.

A trooper’s dashcam video shows McMahon accelerating away, then braking too late to avoid crashing into the back of a BMW. The Bentley then swerves into a guardrail and careens back across the highway, creating a cloud of dirt and car parts.

“Why were you driving all over 100 mph?” state police Detective Maxwell Robins asked McMahon after catching up to the wrecked Bentley, which can cost over $300,000.

“I got my granddaughter’s birthday” McMahon replied, explaining he was on his way to see her. The encounter was recorded on police bodycam video.

No one was seriously injured in the July 24 crash, which happened the same day that WWE legend Hulk Hogan died of a heart attack in Florida.

Besides damage to the rear of the BMW, another vehicle driving on the opposite side of the parkway was struck by flying debris. The driver of that third car happened to be wearing a WWE shirt, according to the police video.

McMahon was cited for reckless driving and following too closely. A state judge in October allowed McMahon to enter a pretrial probation program that will result in the charges being erased from his record next October if he successfully completes the program. He was also ordered to make a $1,000 charitable contribution.

McMahon’s lawyer, Mark Sherman, said the crash was just an accident.

“Not every car accident is a crime,” Sherman said. “Vince’s primary concern during this case was for the other drivers and is appreciative that the court saw this more of an accident than a crime that needed to be prosecuted.”

State police said Robins was trying to catch up to McMahon on the parkway and clock his speed before pulling him over. They said the incident was not a pursuit, which happens when police chase someone trying to flee officers. They also said it did not appear McMahon was trying to escape – though in the video the detective suggests otherwise.

“I’m trying to catch up to you and you keep taking off,” Robins says.

“No, no no. I’m not trying to outrun you,” McMahon says.

An accident information summary provided to the media shortly after the crash did not mention that a trooper was following McMahon.

The Associated Press obtained the videos Wednesday through a public records request. They were first obtained by The Sun newspaper.

The trooper’s bodycam video also shows him asking McMahon whether he was looking at his phone when the crash happened. McMahon said he was not and adds that he hadn’t driven his car in a long time.

After Robins tells McMahon that his car is fast, McMahon replies, “Yeah, too (expletive) fast.”

The videos also show McMahon talking to the driver he rear-ended. Barbara Doran, of New York City, told the AP last summer that McMahon expressed his concern for her and was glad she was OK. She said she was heading to a ferry to Martha’s Vineyard at the time of the crash.

After McMahon was given the traffic summons, he shook hands with Robins and another trooper and they wished him well.

McMahon stepped down as WWE’s CEO in 2022 amid a company investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. He also resigned as executive chairman of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE, in 2024, a day after a former WWE employee filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against him. McMahon has denied the allegations. The lawsuit remains pending.

McMahon bought what was then the World Wrestling Federation in 1982 and transformed it from a regional wrestling company into a worldwide phenomenon. Besides running the company with his wife, Linda, who is now the U.S. education secretary, he also performed at WWE events as himself.

CHICAGO — Cross-country memorial services for the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. are set to begin Thursday in Chicago, the city the late civil rights leader called home.

The protégé of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate will lie in repose for two days at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition before events in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where he was born.

“The outpouring of love and support received from around the globe has been abundant and deeply felt,” Jackson’s family members said in a recent statement.

Jackson died last week at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak in his later years.

Remembrances have already poured in from around the globe, and several U.S. states, including Minnesota, Iowa and North Carolina, are flying flags at half-staff in his honor.

But perhaps nowhere has his death been felt as strongly as in the nation’s third-largest city, where Jackson lived for decades and raised his six children, including a son who is a congressman.

Bouquets have been left outside the family’s Tudor-style home on the city’s South Side for days. Public schools have offered condolences, and city trains have used digital screens to display Jackson’s portrait and his well-known mantra, “I am Somebody!”

His causes, both in the United States and abroad, were countless: Advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues including voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.

“We honor him, and his hard-earned legacy as a freedom fighter, philosopher, and faithful shepherd of his family and community here in Chicago,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement.

Next week, Jackson will lie in honor at the South Carolina Statehouse, followed by public services with remarks from Gov. Henry McMaster and a wreath placement ceremony. Jackson spent his childhood and started his activism in South Carolina.

Details on services in Washington have not yet been made public. However, he will not lie in honor at the United States Capitol rotunda after a request for the commemoration was denied by the House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office.

The two weeks of events will wrap up next week with a large celebration of life gathering at a Chicago megachurch and finally, homegoing services at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

Family members said the services will be open to all.

“His life is broad enough to cover the full spectrum of what it means to be American,” his eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., told reporters recently. “We only ask people to come and be respectful in context of the extraordinary life he lived.”

NEW YORK — You certainly don’t have to tell Beyoncé this: Fashion, when deployed properly, is nothing less than art.

Now, the fashion-forward superstar will have another chance to make the point. When she co-chairs the Met Gala in May, all eyeballs will be glued to the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see how one of the most watched women on the planet, in her eighth gala appearance, interprets the dress code: “Fashion is art.”

The museum announced the dress code Monday, along with some gala-related details including new guest names. Joining the top co-chairs – Beyoncé, Nicole Kidman,tennis champ Venus Williams and Vogue’s Anna Wintour – is a “host committee” chaired by designer Anthony Vaccarello and filmmaker Zoë Kravitz, and featuring names from Sabrina Carpenter and Teyana Taylor to Lena Dunham and Misty Copeland. Additions include actor Angela Bassett and athlete Aimee Mullins.

They, and everyone else attending, will be figuring out what to wear come May 4. The code seems to have been chosen for maximum flexibility. And, quips Andrew Bolton, curator of the Met’s Costume Institute: “Hopefully, it will put an end to the rather obsolete ‘Is Fashion Art?’ debate once and for all.”

Looking at ‘the dressed body’ through the centuries
For Bolton, though, the show’s the thing, to paraphrase Hamlet. As gala-watchers know, the big party is not only a fundraiser for the institute – a self-funding department – but a launchpad for the annual spring fashion exhibit. Curated by Bolton and his team, this year’s show, “Costume Art,” seeks to present fashion as a through-line in the entire history of art.

The exhibit will be the biggest, in terms of objects, that the institute’s ever done: nearly 400 in total, or 200 garments and 200 artworks from around the museum, placed in pairs. “It’s a beast,” Bolton said, looking a tad exhausted as he guided a reporter around the beginnings of the exhibit on a recent visit.

The idea, he noted, is to examine “the dressed body” in all its aspects, and to make the point that not only is fashion art – something previous shows have shown – but that art is fashion. “It’s reversing what we’ve done before,” Bolton says. “Now we’re looking at art through the lens of fashion.”

What that means, in practice, is that you might see an art object in a glass case – say, a vase from ancient Greece. Displayed above the case will be a garment from the museum’s vast costume collection, echoing the fashion on figures in that vase.

For now, walls full of Post-it notes
Right now, that vase is represented by a small color snapshot, affixed with dozens of others to the walls of a small conference room in the bowels of the museum – along with countless Post-it notes. Bolton has been spending lots of time in this space, which looks rather like a teenager’s room (albeit a very cultured teenager.)

Bolton walks along the walls, pointing out each of 12 sections organized to show the range of bodies – and body types – in art. Some are pervasive, like the classical body or the naked body.

Others have been overlooked, like the disabled body, the aging body, or the corpulent body. Bolton notes that in art, the corpulent body has almost entirely been used as a fertility symbol. “It’s like the notion that corpulence does not exist without fertility,” he says.

Then there’s the pregnant body, also much overlooked in both art and fashion history. It’s represented here by the pairing of Edgar Degas’ “Pregnant Woman,” a naturalist sculpture that gives a rare look at 19th-century maternity, with designer Georgina Godley’s 1986 dress featuring exaggerated padded curves – defined as “a radical feminist critique” of traditional fashion.

The exhibit, which seeks to emphasize diversity in body types, also aims to enable viewers to see themselves in some of the fashions. Thus, mannequins will feature heads with polished steel surfaces – as in mirrors – designed by artist Samar Hejazi.

A splashy new home for fashion at the Met
Bolton, who’s curated the Met’s biggest costume shows, nonetheless says he felt special pressure here to do “something spectacular.” That’s because “Costume Art” is inaugurating, with fanfare, a prominent new home for the museum’s fashion exhibits. The new Conde M. Nast Galleries – created from what was formerly the museum’s retail store – will occupy nearly 12,000 square feet (1,115 square meters) off the museum’s Great Hall.

For one thing, that will mean gala guests now can conveniently view the exhibit and then stroll easily to the dinner portion of the evening at the Temple of Dendur – or toggle between the two. A more lasting result: it will prevent snaking lines elsewhere in the museum, once the show opens to the public May 10.

For “Costume Art,” the galleries, still being completed, consist of two main rooms with different heights – one with an 18-foot ceiling, one with a 9-foot ceiling. The idea is for viewers to weave in and out of each space. “There’s a permeability,” Bolton says.

He calls the new show, already, one of the highlights of his career – and a statement of intent.

“We’re trying to make a statement here – that this is something WE can do at the Met,” he explains. “We have access to 16 curatorial departments across the museum.” And, of course, access to the institute’s more than 33,000 garments. “Really, nobody else has this capacity,” Bolton says.

He hopes the show will inaugurate not only new galleries, but an era of collaboration with the rest of the museum – one that puts fashion, well, forward.

“Costume Art” will run from May 10 through Jan. 10, 2027.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A former NASA engineer has filed a federal lawsuit against four women who accused him of sexual assault, as well as the City of Houston and two Houston police detectives.

Eric Sim was fired from his job at NASA in 2024 after seven counts of sexual assault were filed against him. The charges were dismissed a year later.

At the time the charges were filed, investigators said they found video of sexual encounters on Sim’s electronic devices and a spreadsheet with the names of 437 women Sim allegedly had sex with.

One woman told police she thought she’d been drugged prior to an assault and contracted an STD.

“Once we got to the point where we determined we couldn’t prove the cases, we did what’s right and dismissed it,” Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told Eyewitness News after the charges were dropped.

In his lawsuit, Sim claims all of his sexual encounters were consensual and that his accusers concocted claims they’d been assaulted after learning they weren’t the only women in his life.

The suit also claims Houston police detectives prepared “false probable cause affidavits.”

“They were aware of inconsistencies in the stories that they were being told,” said Sim’s New York-based attorney Kimberly Lau.

In the suit, it’s also claimed that police withheld evidence exonerating Sim from the DA’s office, including video of one accuser describing her relationship with Sim as consensual.

“The police authorities had possession of that evidence for a year. What happened here was a miscarriage of justice,” said Lau.

While the charges were dropped, Amy Smith with the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council says that doesn’t mean the accusers weren’t being truthful.

“You kind of have to go back to what is consent? What does consent mean? And, you know, consent is different for each individual,” said Smith.

She worries the lawsuit could cause victims of sexual assault to think twice about coming forward.

“To go through the process as far as they’ve gone through the process and then have someone sue you for it, it’s scary. It is a scary thing to happen,” said Smith.

Lau said Sims has struggled to find work since his dismissal from NASA.

“The last few years of my life have been scarred by a justice department that was meant to protect me being turned against me,” Sim said in a written statement released through his attorney. “I look forward to justice being served for all.”

The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages.

The City of Houston has not responded to ABC13’s request for comment.

For news updates, follow Luke Jones on Facebook, X and Instagram.

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — A new audit found the Harris County Sheriff’s Office is not following state law. The Harris County Office of the Auditor released a report that showed as of last March, the sheriff’s office held nearly $890,000 in unclaimed inmate funds spread across more than 50,000 inmate accounts.

The audit said that it includes cash people had when arrested and funds sent by family.

According to state law that money is owed to the inmate upon release. The sheriff’s office said these account balances average less than $18.

“You’re talking about people who don’t have much resources to begin with,” said Krishnaveni Gundu, Executive Director of the Texas Jail Project.

Gundu said she’s been following this issue closely.

“This is somebody else’s money that by law needs to go back to them if it was not used,” Gundu said.

The audit said the sheriff’s office lacks formal procedures to routinely review and return funds.

It identified five problem areas, with repeat issues, like failing to regularly reconcile inmate accounts to ensure records match.

However, these concerns were raised before.

“It’s just deeply frustrating to keep watching this over and over again,” Gundu said. “They knew there was an issue. It was very clear what the issues were.”

A 2023 audit found more than $1 million in unclaimed funds.

“If you look at the current audit and compare it to the previous audit, it looks like no major substantial steps were actually taken to remedy anything,” Gundu said.

ABC13 asked the sheriff’s office what it’s done since then.

A spokesperson told ABC13 that they’ve taken steps, such as confirming that an inmate visited the bank before leaving the jail and sending letters if the money goes unclaimed.

“The sheriff’s office is committed to ensuring that all issues identified in the audit are addressed in a timely manner,” HCSO said in a statement.

According to the audit, the sheriff’s office said employee turnover in key financial positions contributed to these issues.

“The sheriff’s office itself looks like they are repeat offenders on this issue,” Gundu said.

Ultimately, auditors said the path forward requires the sheriff’s office to balance the books, repay what’s owed, and implement monthly reviews to prevent this from recurring.

For more news updates, follow Sarah Al-Shaikh on Facebook and Instagram.

U.S. childhood and teen obesity rates have reached record-highs while adult obesity rates may be slowing, according to two new reports published early Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Researchers used measured heights and weights from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) — run by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics — to track trends over more than six decades.

In the first report, the team found that, in the most recent survey conducted between August 2021 and August 2023, 40.3% of adults aged 20 and older were found to be obese, including 9.7% with severe obesity and another 31.7% classified as overweight.

By comparison, for the survey conducted between 1988 and 1994, 22.9% adults aged 20 and older were found to be obese including 2.8% with severe obesity and 33.1% classified as overweight.

However, some of the newest estimates suggest the rapid rise seen in earlier decades may be slowing slightly.

In the 2017-2018 survey, 42.4% of adults were classified as obese, which is the highest figure ever recorded. The decrease between the two most recent surveys could be indicative of a downward trend. Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor, noted that it aligns with observations of electronic medical record data.

“So, we’re seeing, for the first time in decades, that there’s like a leveling off and even maybe a slight decrease and I think this is like challenging a major shift from the long-held expectation that obesity would just be climbing year after year,” he said.

According to Brownstein, the decrease is likely due to many factors including public health policies and education about healthier lifestyles as well as medications such as GLP-1s.

GLP-1s, or glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, mimic the GLP-1 hormone that is produced in the gut after eating.

It can help produce more insulin, which reduces blood sugar and therefore helps control Type 2 diabetes. It can also interact with the brain and signal a person to feel full, which — when coupled with diet and exercise — can help reduce weight in those who are overweight or obese.

Many GLP-1s have become household names, including Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound and Trulicity.

“I do think the advent of the GLP-1s are absolutely playing a role,” Brownstein said. “At that point in 2023, they weren’t as widespread as they are today. So, we expect that these factors could play even more significant role in more recent times.”

Dr. Justin Ryder, an associate professor of surgery and pediatrics at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, said he’s cautiously optimistic about the slight decrease.

However, he added that it remains to be seen whether this is a blip or if the decrease is indicative of a longer-term trend.

“We’ve seen dips in the past and typically, when they do, in the next reporting period it goes right back up,” Ryder told ABC News. “And that’s because of how the sampling is done. This is a random sample of U.S. adults.”

He noted that the random sampling makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions.

“Could it just be the people who were sampled, or is it real?” he said. “And I think we won’t know that until we have another set or a larger set of data over either the same sampling period or a couple more years from now.”

Meanwhile, a second report found that more than one in five U.S. children and teenagers have obesity, which is the highest figure ever recorded.

The survey conducted between August 2021 and August 2023 found 21.1% of U.S. children and teenagers between ages 2 and 19 have obesity, up from 5.2% during the 1971-1974 survey.

Additionally, 7% of children live with severe obesity, an increase from the 1% seen 50 years ago, according to the report.

“This is exceptionally concerning,” Dr. David Ludwig, co-director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children’s Hospital and professor of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, told ABC News.

He added that in the 1970s, “children were certainly recognized (as obese) but it was the rare child, one in 20. And now we’re looking at one in five children with obesity.”

Ludwig said it had seemed for a short period of time that the prevalence of obesity was decreasing at least among 2-to-5-year-olds when rates declined from 12.1% in 2009-2010 to 9.4% in 2013-2014.

At the time, he viewed it as a “glimmer of hope” — but rates increased again and now sit at 14.9% for this age group.

“We saw that dip and we all got excited thinking that we were beginning to turn the tide,” Ludwig said. “In retrospect, that was more of a statistical aberration, more of mirage than a true glimmer of hope because the trend overall has continued upward.”

To reverse the trends among children, Ryder said the 2-to-5-year-old group will need lifestyle modifications such as healthier eating. The 6-to-11-year-old group will need similar methods although some medications are available, he said.

For children above age 12, Ryder said medications and bariatric surgery are options.

Nearly 23% of children ages 12 to 19 were considered obese in the most recent survey. Ryder said that means they meet the guidelines for intensive treatment, whether that’s lifestyle adjustments or in combination with medications or surgery.

“I think the only way that we’re going to see a downward trend in that number is if we take that adolescent group of 12- to 19-year-olds and actually start to apply the clinical practice guidelines and treat those kids seriously, offering them medications,” he said.

Ishani D. Premaratne, MD, is an integrated plastic & reconstructive surgery resident and member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Houston ISD officials are expected to finalize plans on Thursday to close 12 schools.

RELATED: Houston ISD to close 12 schools in upcoming 2026-27 school year, district says

This comes as multiple elected officials have asked the district to delay the decision, and, according to the district, 76 people have already signed up to speak at the HISD board meeting.

District officials told Eyewitness News that there have been 24 meetings with HISD families over the past two weeks.

ABC13 spoke with parents, teachers, and elected officials who say two weeks is not enough time for families to meaningfully participate in this process.

HISD provided a list of these schools as being slated to close:

• NQ Henderson Elementary School

• Port Houston Elementary School

• Franklin Elementary School

• Briscoe Elementary School

Superintendent Mike Miles, who was not elected but appointed by state officials, said he decided which schools to close based on facility conditions, enrollment, and how much building space was used.

On Wednesday, Texas state senators Carol Alvarado, Borris Miles, and Molly Cook sent a letter to the district, asking for the decision to be delayed.

The decision remains on the agenda for this week.

Superintendent Miles has said he’s still looking into what will happen to the closed buildings.

He has said teachers and staff members won’t get more information on their futures until April 17.

For more on this story, follow Pooja Lodhia on Facebook,X and Instagram.

Southeast Texas has experienced some severe drought conditions since last October. Pair our current drought conditions with gusty winds and low humidity, and the risk for wildfires to spread once they spark increases. ABC13 Meteorologist Elyse Smith describes when Houstonians should be on alert for potential fire weather conditions.

The risk of fire weather increases when there are gusty winds, low humidity, and dry soils (known as fuels). These conditions are often present when cold fronts move through this time of year. This is when Fire Weather Watches or Warnings could be issued, as well as county-specific Burn Bans.

It’s important to follow the guidance of local officials to help prevent any wildfires from starting or spreading. In the state of Texas, nine out of ten fires are human-caused, with 40% of them being related to outdoor burning.

Texas A&M Forest Service Public Information Officer Matthew Ford told ABC13 Meteorologist Elyse Smith that the kinds of fires we see in the Houston area, versus the Panhandle, are smaller but can be more frequent. There’s also a greater response time to a fire due to the region being more heavily populated.

This recent dry weather shouldn’t come as a surprise either, given the winter outlook for this year. A La Niña pattern has been in place, and that influence has been noticed this winter. A traditional La Niña typically leads to a warmer and drier than normal winter for the South and wetter winter for the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Northeast. Both of those have very much verified this winter with recent record snowfall across the Northeast and Florida witnessing its worst drought in 25 years.

Texas has seen drought conditions deteriorate this winter. Houston ended 2025 on a dry note with only 38.99 inches of rain falling that year. That’s nearly a foot of rain less than we typically pick up, which is around 52 inches of rain. Rain gauges at Bush Intercontinental and Hobby are also recording less rain than normal for the start of the year by nearly 2 to 3 inches, respectively. And with minimal rain in the forecast over the next 7 to 10 days, the current drought will persist, and fire weather risks will be present when conditions are right.

For more on this story, follow Elyse Smith on Facebook, X and Instagram.

Gang’s all here! “Scrubs” is returning to ABC primetime and On The Red Carpet’s Ashley Mackey visited the set in Vancouver, British Columbia to get some inside scoop.

The original ended on ABC 16 years ago. But Zach Braff, Donald Faison and Sarah Chalke are all returning to Sacred Heart.

“(JD) is older and wiser. He’s got a couple of kids and he’s now going to be set up to be the teacher, to be a great teacher to these young interns,” Braff said.

When asked why this is the right time to return, Faison had a very simple answer.

“Because the fans want it! And we’re all ready to do it again too,” he said. “When ‘Scrubs’ ended, we all went and did a bunch of different things. But nothing was ever like what it was here, you know what I mean?”

“I think it’s a time when everybody needs to laugh. And I think ‘Scrubs,’ one of my favorite things about it in the original form was that even though, you know, it’s a comedy, it always felt so real. And I think our goal was to make people really feel something,” Chalke added.

Other returning castmates include Judy Reyes, John C. McGinley and Phil Lewis, who was thrilled to get that call.

“It’s just been amazing. I’m so glad that I’m a part of this family. And that’s really what we are. We’re one big family here, and we’re having a great time,” he said.

Joining the family is Vanessa Bayer, who plays Sibi, the head of the wellness program.

“I’m a fan of the show, and it is such a beloved show. So it’s so fun to come in knowing that people already, like, love the show so much, and to be a part of something that I’ve always been a fan of is just really exciting,” Bayer explained.

The new season of “Scrubs” premieres February 25 on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of Hulu and this ABC station.