SEATTLE — Lawyers for an Oregon firefighter who was taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents while fighting a Washington state wildfire filed a petition in federal court Friday asking a judge to order his release from an immigration detention facility.
The Oregon man, Rigoberto Hernandez Hernandez, and one other firefighter were part of a 44-person crew fighting a blaze in the Olympic National Forest on Aug. 27 when the agents took them into custody during a multiagency criminal investigation into the two contractors for whom the men were employed.
Lawyers with the Innovation Law Lab said during a press conference that his arrest was illegal and violated U.S. Department of Homeland Security polices that say immigration enforcement must not be conducted at locations where emergency responses are happening.
The Bear Gulch Fire, one of the largest in the state, had burned 29 square miles by Friday and was 9% contained.
The Border Patrol said at the time that the two workers were in the U.S. illegally so they were detained. Federal authorities did not provide information about the investigation into the contractors.
Lawyer Rodrigo Fernandez-Ortega said they filed a petition for habeas corpus and a motion for a temporary restraining order that seeks the man’s release from the Northwest ICE detention center in Tacoma, Washington.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in an email to The Associated Press that the two men were not firefighters – they were working in a support role cutting logs into firewood.
“The firefighting response remained uninterrupted the entire time,” she said. “U.S. Border Patrol’s actions did not prevent or interfere with any personnel actively engaged in firefighting efforts.” A spokesperson for the Border Patrol declined to comment, saying they don’t comment on active or pending litigation.
Six Democratic Oregon Congressional leaders sent a press release late Friday calling on the release of the firefighter. “It’s outrageous for the Trump Administration to trample on the due process rights of emergency responders who put their lives on the line to protect Oregonians’ safety,” said Sen. Ron Wyden. Sen. Jeff Merkley and four representatives said the arrests put communities in danger and stoke fear.
After Hernandez was taken into custody in August, his lawyers were unable to locate him for 48 hours, which caused distress for his family, Fernandez-Ortega said. He has been in the Tacoma facility ever since, they said.
Hernandez, 23, was the son of migrant farmworkers, his lawyer said. He was raised in Oregon, Washington and California as they traveled for work. He moved to Oregon three years ago and began working as a wildland firefighter.
This was his third season working as a wildland firefighter, “doing the grueling and dangerous job of cutting down trees and clearing vegetation to manage the spread of wildfires and to protect homes, communities, and resources,” his lawyer said.
Hernandez had received a U-Visa certification from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oregon in 2017 and submitted his U-Visa application with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services the following year. The U-Visa program was established by Congress to protect victims of serious crimes who assist federal investigators.
He has been waiting since 2018 for the immigration agency to decide on his application and should be free during the process, his lawyers said.
Last September, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida, becoming the deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland U.S. since Katrina in 2005. As heavy rains swept through the Appalachian Mountains, homes near Asheville, North Carolina, and beyond were demolished.
“Seeing it on the news is one thing, but standing there amongst it is hard to get your head around,” Leicester resident John Saunby said about the debris from Helene.
Despite the damage, Saunby realized some parts might be worth salvaging.
He pulled his porch posts out of the wilderness, and found his kitchen floorboards inside an old cotton mill.
“The woods are full of treasure,” Saunby said.
The items he retrieved from the woods were “headed to the landfill,” but they have helped him build his dream house. Despite a history of home construction, he’s never had the resources to fulfill his own creative vision — including Black Locust bark siding and portions of tree trunks that support his roof.
With next week marking one year since Helene hit, Saunby is on the search for Wormy Chesnut lumber, a rare wood usually salvaged from old barns that comes from the American chestnut, a tree once plentiful in North Carolina.
He has some help on what he calls his “last hurrah” of home-building.
Jenny Kimmel, an Appalachian recording artist, is his partner and muse for the project. Kimmel strums her guitar and serenades while Saunby builds.
“This house has, like, the soul of the world in it, you know, it’s nice to be with somebody who sees that,” she says, tearing up.
Now, almost 20 years later, Cheryl L. West’s 2015 stage adaptation of writer-director Doug Atchison’s film is serving as The Ensemble Theatre’s season opener, and the question is, was it lightning in a bottle or does the story in Akeelah and the Bee still resonate today?
The play begins with 11-year-old Akeelah Anderson of Chicago, Illinois, waking up screaming after hearing gunshots outside her window. We quickly learn that Akeelah lives in a tough neighborhood, in an apartment with her mother, an overworked nursing assistant, and her older brother, an unemployed high school dropout, and attends a school, Southside Middle School, where, if the place ever had better days, they are now long gone.
Akeelah has an aptitude for spelling, a gift she traces back to her late father, but she wants no part of “that spelling thing” because kids at school make fun of her for it. When she wins the school spelling bee, however, the principal, desperate to change the school’s image, sees it as an opportunity. He believes she can go far – to district, then state, and maybe nationals – but she’ll need proper coaching. He encourages her to train with Dr. Joshua Larabee, a professor and former English department head at Northwestern. More importantly, though, Larabee once made it to the National Spelling Bee himself.
Bria Washington and Jason E. Carmichael in The Ensemble Theatre’s production of Akeelah and the Bee.
Photo by Jordan Guidry
Though they get off on the wrong foot, Dr. Larabee does agree to coach Akeelah, but the road to the national title in Washington, D.C. proves to be lined with obstacles, the least of which is that Akeelah’s navigating it all behind her mother’s back.
West’s adaptation premiered at the Minneapolis Children’s Theatre Company in 2015. As such, though relatively loyal to the 2006 film, it may be even more family-friendly. The big beats are all still present, as are the inherent themes (race and class, inner-city violence, grief, self-worth, the power of community). All together, they add up to a classic underdog story. It’s easy to root for Akeelah because, as conventional and fairly formulaic as the story is, it’s got a lot of heart.
Director Eileen J. Morris leans into that heart by emphasizing the community around Akeelah, which makes the lively production welcoming like a warm hug. Strong performances from the cast also keep the story from coming across as trite, starting with Bria Washington as Akeelah.
Washington is a terrific Akeelah. She is child-like in her enthusiasm, and the ease with which she can go from excitable and talkative to overwhelmed with emotion perfectly reflects the balancing act Akeelah often finds herself in as she tries to find her footing in the world. Washington has great chemistry with all of her castmates, but her interactions with Jason E. Carmichael are most memorable.
Carmichael puts his commanding presence and booming voice to good use as Dr. Larabee who, under the cold exterior and impeccable posture, is revealed to have a secret pain. As they warm up to each other, his relationship with Washington’s Akeelah becomes utterly charming, as in the scene where he introduces a jump rope into her spelling routine.
April Wheat, Bria Washington, and Konnor Sheppard in The Ensemble Theatre’s production of Akeelah and the Bee.
Photo by Jordan Guidry
As mom Gail, April Wheat is a foil, but an unintentional one. As such, in Wheat’s hands, she is never unlikable. As Reggie, Akeelah’s brother, Konnor Sheppard is the ideal mix of caring and troubled. Reggie is a sweetheart of a brother, and his relationship with Akeelah is the best drawn of all. Rounding out Akeelah’s initial support system is Kendal Thomas’s Georgia, who is loud in her support of her best friend and flashy in style.
James West III skillfully plays the perpetually “on it” building super Drunk Willie, a kindly older man who (as his name implies) takes more than his fair share of nips, and Principal Welch, a beleaguered man not afraid to blackmail a child, or plead on bended knee, if it might benefit his school. Joyce Anastasia Murray gets her share of laughs as Batty Ruth, a bigmouthed, nosy neighbor who shares an unexpected past with Drunk Willie.
When we first meet Joshua Nguyen as Dylan, he is frustratingly arrogant (you know he’s doing it right when the audience can’t help but groan and drop oh god’s when he speaks. Nguyen shows another side of Dylan as the play progresses, especially as Johnny Barton establishes his antagonistic role as Dylan’s Dad, a man who demands nothing less than excellence from his son and is aptly described as “a little Hitler” by Georgia.
Utility players in the cast include Helen Rios, who plays (among others) Akeelah’s nearly nonverbal schoolmate Izzy, seemingly too shy to speak or lift her head, and an over-polished reporter working nationals; Sannia Bell, as rich girl Trish and two spelling bee competitors (one offensively Texan and the other an early victim of the pressure the kids feel to win); and Aliyah Robinson, whose turn as Ratchet Rhonda, the attitudinal cheerleader who shakes down Akeelah for snacks, outshines her more prim role as a spelling bee judge. Johnny Kelley appears first as jokester Chucky, but settles into the character Javier, a dorky and considerate friend to Akeelah.
The cast of The Ensemble Theatre’s production of Akeelah and the Bee.
Photo by Jordan Guidry
With almost half the cast playing double (or triple or quadruple) duty, Costume Designers/Dressers Dawn Joyce Peterson and Ann Ridley, as well as Sharon Ransom’s hair and makeup, do yeoman’s work distinguishing character. Equally supportive is Liz Freese’s set, which is beautifully decorated with fun Pop Art, comic book-style illustrations, which pop under Kris Phelps’s lighting design.
Not only did the set have a three-dimensional quality, with its layered levels, the use of the theater’s entrances and exits, aisle, and seats gave the cast even more space to play. It is a nice touch having cast sit in the audience, as during the final, when Akeelah’s camp forms a cheering section on one side of the audience while Dylan’s dad takes a seat on the other.
Adrian Washington’s sound designs complete the world in both comedic (Reggie’s baby at the district bee) and serious (the ever-present threat of gun violence nearby) ways. They also establish joy, as when musical interludes and dance, with choreography from Monica Josette, erupt on stage. One sound-related quibble is that it seemed to dip in the second act, with the dialogue getting noticeably quieter, but I’ll assume that’s a fluke that will be fixed going forward.
The verdict is that Akeelah and the Bee is designed to make viewers feel good and, in that, it hits the mark. Though it has its overly sappy moments, it’s here to entertain and inspire, which it can do for the right audience – meaning those that are not grinchy about a good time and a happy ending. And these days, who wants to be a grinch about a good time and a happy ending? We can certainly use both wherever we can find them.
Genevieve Smith spent her summer compiling an application to study at a university in the Netherlands – a vague goal now solidified, she says, due to rising costs and political turmoil in the U.S. The California-based student spent two years studying at Santa Rosa Junior College after graduating high school, all the while plotting her next steps to complete her higher education.
At the top of her list was affordability. The 19-year-old said she had initially considered attending UC Santa Cruz, but after reviewing the costs and not exactly knowing what she wanted to do, she decided to live at home, study and save money. After the 2024 election, she said, she began to worry about her safety and that of her friends in the U.S.
She decided to leap. Smith searched for four-year colleges abroadand then, after narrowing her career focus to international law, she decided to study in Europe. She said she’s preparing applications for programs in Leiden University at The Hague and Utrecht University in Utrecht.
“I feel as though going overseas, I can make a bigger difference,” she said, adding that she wants to use an international perspective as a lawyer to combat future potential harms.
Political landscape shifts interest in colleges abroad
Smith joins a growing number of American students applying to colleges in Europe, the United Kingdom, Asia and beyond amid rising costs and political turmoil at U.S. universities.
Data collected by the International Institute of Education show a steady rise in U.S. students studying abroad over the past five years – from about 50,000 students in 2019 to more than 90,000 in 2024, the last year their numbers were available.
The rise can be attributed mostly to costs, experts say, but also to the political landscape. Campuses across the country have been rocked by protests. Thousands of international student visas have been canceled, and universities and the Trump administration have been embroiled in litigation.
James Edge, owner of Beyond the States, a consultancy and online resource helping students who want to study abroad, whose company worked with Smith, said interest has skyrocketed since the election.
“The shift is striking both in volume and in the kinds of families reaching out,” Edge wrote to CBS News.
He said from November 2024 through July 2025, website visits went from 600,990 to 1,534,929 and strategy calls went from 2,215 to 29,373 in the same period.
American student applications to the United Kingdom rose 14% this year, according to UCAS, the UK’s shared admissions service for higher education. This was the largest increase since UCAS started collecting the data in 2006.
Mounting costs and student debt shift focus
Other students were focused on costs — one in six Americans has federal student debt, which now exceeds $1.6 trillion, according to Congress. The median tuition rate in Europe and the U.K. costs roughly $9,000 per year, while in the U.S., tuition for a four-year public university averages $11,000 – $30,000.
Jyslodet Davis told CBS News her main motivation for studying abroad was that she didn’t want to pay “exorbitant fees for a degree.”
“I feel like education should be free and accessible,” Davis, 21, said, when she latched onto the idea after viewing a video on TikTok.
She didn’t know anyone in her high school interested in studying abroad, but since she grew up in a military family and moved around a lot, the leap didn’t feel insurmountable. She said she found Beyond the States after viewing a TikTok video and doing some research and used their database to search for schools.
She applied to and chose the Anglo-American University in Prague to study business, arriving in August 2023. Davis said she paid for her studies via a grant for military families, savings and some scholarships.
Davis said since she began university, she has experienced other cultures, and her best friends are from Brazil, Japan and all around the world.
“I’ve traveled to 21 countries total,” she said since moving to Prague.
She also spent a semester abroad at Sophia University in Tokyo, which she said, “ruined Europe for me, once I saw what school was like in Japan.”
Now in her senior year, Davis cautioned others on some of the downsides of studying abroad. She detailed the hassles of visas, international bureaucracy, and being far from family.
But her biggest concern was not feeling prepared to enter the U.S. job market without an American education, internships and networking opportunities – which so many of her friends who attended school in the U.S. had.
Davis said she felt her education in business marketing and communication was not “on par” with American schools, and she might have had more opportunities if she had studied international relations. She said she wasn’t sure if she was going to return to the U.S. or stay abroad for some time.
Regardless, Davis said she had “no regrets” about attending school in Prague and Japan and she would encourage other prospective students to explore a similar path.
“Definitely go for it a billion percent – you can always go further when you are younger,” she said.
Cara Tabachnick is a news editor at CBSNews.com. Cara began her career on the crime beat at Newsday. She has written for Marie Claire, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. She reports on justice and human rights issues. Contact her at cara.tabachnick@cbsinteractive.com
A large U.S.-made bomb left over from World War II was defused on Saturday after it was discovered at a construction site, police said.
Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes after a 1,000-pound bomb was found by construction workers in Quarry Bay, a bustling residential and business district on the west side of Hong Kong island. The bomb was nearly five feet long.
The shell of a bomb is seen after a disposal operation on Sept. 20, 2025, in Hong Kong.
Chen Ziyan/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images
“We have confirmed this object to be a bomb dating back to World War II,” said Andy Chan Tin-Chu, a police official, speaking to reporters ahead of the operation. He said that because of “the exceptionally high risks associated with its disposal,” approximately 1,900 households involving 6,000 individuals were “urged to evacuate swiftly.”
The operation to deactivate the bomb began late Friday and lasted until around 11:30 a.m. Saturday. No one was injured in the operation.
Bombs left over from World War II are discovered from time to time in Hong Kong and across Europe.
The entrance and exit of Quarry Bay Station adjacent to the bomb disposal site were temporarily closed on Sept. 20, 2025, in Hong Kong.
Hou Yu/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images
The city was occupied by Japanese forces during the war, when it became a base for the Japanese military and shipping. The United States, along with other Allied forces, targeted Hong Kong in air raids to disrupt Japanese supply lines and infrastructure.
WWII bombs found recently
Bombs from the war have triggered evacuations and emergency measures around the globe in recent months.
Earlier this month, a 500-pound bomb was discovered in Slovakia’s capital during construction work, prompting evacuations.
In August, large parts of Dresden, Germany, were evacuated so experts could defuse an unexploded World War II bomb found during clearance work for a collapsed bridge.
In June, over 20,000 people were evacuated from Cologne after three unexploded U.S. bombs from the war were found. City authorities said that the discovered unexploded ordnances were two American 20-ton bombs and one American 10-ton bomb, each with impact fuses.
In March, a World War II bomb was found near the tracks of Paris’ Gare du Nord station. In February, more than 170 bombs were found near a children’s playground in northern England. And in October 2024, a World War II bomb exploded at a Japanese airport.
How prescient is Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day, now rollicking and roiling at 4th Wall Theatre Company. And how present!
As if the play had been torn from the headlines – the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in a confusing and contentious meeting as of two days ago, Thursday, September 18, voted against vaccinating children under the age of four with a combination shot that protects against measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox – it’s amazing that Spector wrote this work pre-Covid in 2018. It’s so now.
At the Eureka Day School in Berkeley, California, perhaps the “wokest” place on the planet, five parents and administrators begin the school year with a hazy quote from the 13th-century Sufi mystic Jamal Rumi. Principal Don (Philip Lehl) leads the executive committee with as gentle a touch as he can manage. Everybody’s voice is respected, each opinion taken seriously. When he must intercede, which he is loathe to do, he does it with quiet restraint. He doesn’t want to make waves. He doesn’t even want to be in the water. One of his favorite refrains is, “I don’t wish to advocate, but…” He hates conflict and would rather change the subject as soon as possible. You know everything you need to know about him when you notice his beaded bracelet and numerous finger rings.
Along with Don, there’s Suzanne (Kim Tobin-Lehl), the president of the committee, whose sharp tongue withers the opposition; Eli (Nick Farco), a tech giant with mega bucks who loves to man-splain, and is having an affair with Meiko (Laine Chan), who knits throughout and whose daughter will bring contagion to the school; and Carina (Jasmine Renee Thomas), a new parent at the school who holds her own against the soft, not so subtle, prejudice from Suzanne who thinks Carina must be a charity case. Carina is the voice of the sane.
The ensemble quintet shines brilliantly in their own little arias, whether obtuse or deliberate, petty or catty. Tobin-Lehl delivers a poignant monologue on the death of her baby who may or may not have been accidentally killed by a vaccine; Thomas’ rich contralto grounds our focus, keeping her center stage throughout; Lehl dithers exceptionally as he desperately tries to maintain the peace; Farco, always on edge, fidgets precisely; while Chan, whose character is a bit underwritten, gets a deserved outburst, punctuated by a comic exit trailing her wayward ball of yarn. Exceptional work by all.
The elite private elementary school is as liberal and progressive as you can imagine in a land kindly derided as “Berserkley.” There are sweet, non-threatening slogans plastered on the classroom walls for the elucidation of the kiddies: Think Positive, Be Positive. Today a Reader, Tomorrow a Leader. Mistakes Happen, Keep Trying. Bromides abound. “No one is a villain” will be said later as the play heats up and sides are taken. The five will butt heads and quickly lose the up-tight demeanor so favored at the school and in the community. Eureka Day School is so neutral-centric that its students cheer the opposing soccer team when it scores against it.
Civilization will not break down as neatly as in Yasmina Reza’s classic God of Savage, but Spector’s theme is very near to the French playwright’s. He pricks the pretensions of these liberals with a thousand little stiletto cuts. The genteel affability, so phony on the surface, curdles; but the play, furiously funny, is not a screed. These characters are quite human. And when they preen their goodness and fairness and D.E.I. manners, we see ourselves.
What sets the plot spinning and the five on edge is an outbreak of mumps, started by Meiko’s daughter, who then spreads it to Eli’s son during their playdate, while Eli and Meiko play house together. To vax or not to vax gets heated debate as the concerns between school policy, their own safety worries, and the health of the community begin to pall. It’s lively, in one act, and moves swiftly under Jennifer Dean’s expert direction.
The best scene in the play, Scene 3, is also the most hilarious. How long should the school be shut down when the health department demands vaccinations for students to attend class. The five decide to hold a live stream where other parents can participate and share their views. A screen drops down where we read the comments which grow increasingly crass and obnoxious as is usual on any open thread. It doesn’t matter what the five are trying to say to the parents, the outside group has an intolerant life of its own, and the audience laughter drowns out the actors’ dialogue anyway. It’s perfect social media satire. Inappropriate, out of hell, and truly silly. Wait for Leslie Kaufman’s gold “thumbs up” emoji that gets gales of laughter each time she posts.
Spector’s play, which won a Tony Award for Best Revival last season, has become one of the most produced plays in the U.S. according to American Theater Magazine which documents such things. It’s easy to see why. Wicked and thought-provoking, immensely clever, it skewers the faux first-worlders as they navigate through a school pandemic without really knowing how to fix it…or themselves.
Note: Although Mark A. Lewis’ set design is a masterclass in elementary school detail, my guest at the theater pointed out that the panorama of the Bay Bridge and surroundings seen through the school’s window is wrong. If we’re in Berkeley, the view out the window should be a long shot of downtown San Francisco. The parents at Eureka Day may be woke, but they should know their directions.
Eureka Day continues through October 11 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; and 2:30 p.m. Sundays at 4th Wall Theatre Company, Silver Street Studios,1824 Spring Street. For more information, call 832-767-4991 or visit 4thwalltheatreco.com. $25-$70.
BRUSSELS — A cyberattack targeting check-in and boarding systems has disrupted air traffic and caused delays at several of Europe’s major airports, officials said Saturday.
Brussels airport reported that the attack means that only manual check-in and boarding was possible there, and the incident was having a “large impact” on flight schedules.
“There was a cyberattack on Friday night 19 September against the service provider for the check-in and boarding systems affecting several European airports including Brussels Airport,” it said in a statement.
Authorities at Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport said a service provider for passenger handling systems was attacked on Friday evening, prompting airport operators to cut off connections to the systems.
London Heathrow Airport, Europe’s busiest, said “a technical issue” affected a service provider for check-in and boarding systems.
“Collins Aerospace, which provides check-in and boarding systems for several airlines across multiple airports globally, is experiencing a technical issue that may cause delays for departing passengers,” Heathrow said in a statement.
The airports advised travelers to check their flight status and apologized for any inconvenience.
Formed in 2018, Collins is a U.S. aviation and defense technology company and a subsidiary of RTX Corp., which was formerly Raytheon Technologies.
Collins provides the technology that allows passengers to check themselves in, print boarding passes and bag tags, and dispatch their own luggage, all from a kiosk.
Collins said it was “aware of a cyber-related disruption” to its MUSE (Multi-User System Environment) software at “select airports” but that manual check-in operations could still be used.
“We are actively working to resolve the issue and restore full functionality to our customers as quickly as possible,” it said in a statement. “The impact is limited to electronic customer check-in and baggage drop and can be mitigated with manual check-in operations.”
The impact was felt only at some airports: the Roissy, Orly and Le Bourget airports in the Paris area reported no disruptions.
An investigation is underway after a television station building in Sacramento was struck by gunfire, police confirm.
No injuries were reported, police say.
Sacramento police say officers responded to the 400 block of Broadway, the ABC10 building, just after 1:30 p.m. Friday to investigate reports of shots fired.
At the scene, police say officers found that the building had been struck by gunfire. Police say at least three rounds struck the building, apparently hitting a window that faces Broadway.
The apparent bullet holes seen in the window of the ABC10 building.
Police are classifying the incident as a drive-by shooting as it appears a vehicle drove by the building, fired, then drove away.
“We haven’t had a lot of attacks on our media partners, and we’d like to keep it that way,” said Anthony Gamble, a public information officer for the Sacramento Police Department. “This is unacceptable behavior. And so you know, to those that may have been responsible for this, and I hope you see this, we’re not going to stop looking for you. This is unacceptable behavior. It’s not going to be tolerated in Sacramento.”
No suspect information has been released. Police say there is no known motive at this time.
KXTV Channel 10 is an ABC affiliate station owned by Tegna.
“While details are still limited, importantly all of our employees are safe and unharmed,” said Molly McMahon, a spokesperson for Tegna. “We are fully cooperating with law enforcement and have taken additional measures to ensure the continued safety of our employees.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office issued a statement on X after the governor was briefed on the shooting.
“While no injuries have been reported, any act of violence toward journalists is an attack on our democracy itself and must be condemned in the strongest terms,” Newsom’s office said. “We stand with reporters and staff who work every day to keep communities informed and safe!”
Cecilio Padilla is a digital producer for CBS Sacramento and a Sacramento-area native who has been covering Northern California for more than a decade.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — A woman has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for her involvement after her 7-year-old adoptive son was found dead in a washing machine in their Spring area home back in 2022, according to court records.
ABC13 has covered the extensive case since the news first broke on July 28, three years ago.
According to officials, little Troy Koehler was reported missing by his mother, Tiffany Thomas, after she returned home from work at 5 a.m. in the 400 block of Rosegate in the Birnamwood subdivision. Officers arrived and interviewed the child’s parents, 38-year-old Thomas and her husband, 45-year-old Jemaine Thomas.
Hours after the missing persons report was submitted and interviews, investigators searched the home, leading officers to make a gruesome discovery. The child’s body was found just before 8 a.m. inside a top-load washer in the garage.
An autopsy determined that Troy had been beaten, suffocated, and possibly drowned, allegedly by his father.
Both Tiffany and Jermaine were taken into custody and appeared in court the next day. Four months later, the parents were charged with the boy’s death after court records revealed graphic text messages detailing how Jemaine said he was going to kill the 7-year-old.
The text thread between them reportedly began after Tiffany said she was upset the child hadn’t confessed to allegedly stealing her snacks.
Prosecutors said Tiffany contributed to “chronic abuse” of Troy Koehler, 7, by not protecting him from Jemaine Thomas, the boy’s father, and/or mistreating and hurting him as well.
Texas Child Protective Services confirmed to Eyewitness News that Troy was a foster child who was adopted by the family in 2019. CPS investigated the family twice for physical abuse before the boy’s murder. Records reveal the school alerted officials after noticing facial bruises.
Jemaine was charged with capital murder and had his bond set at $2 million. Tiffany’s bond was set at $150,000, but was raised a year later to $300,000 following a charge of injury to a child by omission.
During the trial, Troy’s first-grade teacher delivered a victim impact statement on behalf of the little boy.
“It was my privilege to have him in my class,” Reed told ABC13. “He was special to me, and he mattered to me.”
Three years later, Jemaine pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 50 years in prison in the summer of 2025. Two months later, Tiffany pleaded guilty and was sentenced.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — TGIF, let’s talk about qué pasa Houston.
The inaugural Texas Cocktail Week is in full swing and it ends this weekend. It’s a celebration of the vibrant cocktail culture in the Lone Star State! Featuring tastings, classes, guest bartenders, and signature events. So all you have to do is grab a passport, sign up online for it for free, and then use that passport to enjoy $7.13 drink specials at participating bars there’s also non-alcoholic options too.
Over in Webster at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, The Texas Oncology cancer center is hosting its 3rd annual Celebrate Life Survivors 5K walk and run. You still have time to register before the event on Saturday or you can always show up and support the runners and walkers.
One of our very own here, Rudy Gallardo, is a cancer survivor who has been a part of this event since it started.
Then on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Meadow Lake Pet Resort is hosting a free event for pet parents and their pups. It’s a Fantasy Football puppy social. Be a part of Houston’s newest fantasy Football League for puppies. It’s full of fun events for your pup to get a chance to play with other dogs safely.
Finally, enjoy a free Sunset Bird Walk along Buffalo Bayou. Discover the diversity of birdlife in our urban environment through a guided walking tour along Buffalo Bayou for Houston Audubon’s Bird Week! Expert guides will help you spot and identify a variety of species and share fascinating insights and fun facts about their behavior and habitat.
In Louisiana, a disturbing video has emerged showing a brutal beating inside a detention center, six years after it happened. Back in 2019, cameras captured two Louisiana sheriff’s deputies beating a man named Jarius Brown in the laundry room. CBS News reporter Kati Weis has more.
Watch Eyewitness News and ABC13 originals around the clock
CHANNELVIEW, Texas (KTRK) — One person has been hospitalized after a deputy-involved shooting in Channelview on Friday evening, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a disturbance at 719 Sheldon Road on Friday.
Authorities say that the injured person was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
There are currently no reported injuries to the deputies.
Details are still limited to what led up to the shooting.
Eyewitness News is gathering the facts on this breaking news story.
President Trump on Thursday suggested that networks should have their licenses pulled for negative coverage of him. His comments come amid ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel over remarks about the Charlie Kirk shooting suspect. CBS News chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes has more.
NEW CANEY, Texas (KTRK) — Two people have been arrested and charged in connection with the firebombing of a New Caney Buddhist temple in 2023, authorities announced Friday.
FBI Houston said Austin Tanton and Kayla Thompson were taken into custody in Cleveland, Texas.
Federal officials said the two are charged with conspiracy to commit malicious use of explosive materials and using explosive materials in the commission of a felony, with Tanton also facing a possession of an unregistered destructive device charge.
On Nov. 15, 2023, Tanton allegedly threw a crude incendiary device, known as a Molotov cocktail, through a window of the Huyen Trang Buddhist Meditation Center, igniting the fire.
The Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s office is looking into why someone tried to burn down the Huyen Trang Buddhist Meditation Centre in New Caney on Sunday night.
Officials said the flames only damaged a rug and flooring inside the building after Monks who had been sleeping in the temple woke up and worked to quickly put out the fire.
In November of that year, the owner spoke to ABC13 and shared the video showing the moment a person was seen throwing a bottle on fire into the facility.
U.S. Department of Justice officials said surveillance video also captured a vehicle stopping near the property gate late at night before the alleged attack. Investigators said they later identified Tanton as the suspect and Thompson as the driver of that vehicle.
The two could face up to 20 years in federal prison, authorities added. They’re both expected to appear before a judge on Friday afternoon.
Few things are as exciting as when Houston Ballet stages a Rock, Roll & Tutus mixed repertory program, and it’s not just because rock music makes an appearance where some think it doesn’t belong. It’s because without fail, the rock ‘n’ roll spirit – with its promise of intimacy and spectacle, subtlety and bravado – will run through every work selected for the program, making for one exciting night at the ballet.
And last night was no exception.
The program opened with a bang in the form of Brett Ishida’s what i was thinking while i was waltzing, a Houston Ballet commission that originally premiered during last year’s Margaret Alkek Williams Jubilee of Dance.
The curtain rises to reveal five couples twirling around the stage like figurines in a music box. Between the women’s blood-red dresses and Ezio Bosso’s über dramatic String Quartet No. 5, music from a live score the Italian composer wrote for a 1927 Alfred Hitchcock thriller, we are immediately struck both visually and sonically. Then, one by one, the women, with arms outstretched and backs arched, appear to be, in turn, waking up, struggling against, and transforming, eventually disappearing into the drapey vermilion of their self-standing skirts only to crawl out, emerging from the cocoon of artifice somewhere darker.
what i was thinking while i was waltzing is seductive and gripping, unflinching and raw, like an exposed nerve. Ishida’s escape into the subconscious is sensuous and visceral, drawing on precision, slow and dream-like, and varied technique, from pointe work to kip-ups and bridge poses. The partnering is especially breathtaking, with Saul Newport and Brittany Stone delivering standout performances. By the time the women climb back into their dresses and the couples resume their waltz, the curtain closing on a whirl of spinning lifts sweeping across the stage, it was clear: This is a piece you’re guaranteed to want to see again, and again, and again.
Houston Ballet First Soloists Tyler Donatelli and Naazir Muhammad in Jacquelyn Long’s Illuminate.
Photo by Alana Campbell (2025). Courtesy of Houston Ballet
After a brief pause, another work that first premiered at a Margaret Alkek Williams Jubilee of Dance takes the stage. This time, it’s Houston Ballet Soloist Jacquelyn Long’s debut work, Illuminate.
Set to Oliver Davis’s Frontiers, Concerto for Violin and Strings, Illuminate is like sorbet, a palate cleanser, a refreshing and delightful contrast to the previous work. Choreographed for an ensemble of six, the short dance, set in three movements, is light and airy, and strong in its romanticism. Long displays strong musicality, the steps clean and accessible, with the dancers positively spritely to match the violin part played masterfully by Denise Tarrant.
If you’re the type to read the program given to you on the way in, you’ll read that themes of ideas and inspiration are embedded in the work, though the dance itself is quite ambiguous, the only real hint to those themes the lightbulb hanging stage left. Illuminate, however, is not at all ambiguous in its joy. It is bright and infectiously happy. Long also knows how to end on a high note, the ending pose with the dancers all reaching toward the light memorable all on its own.
One 25-minute intermission later, Christopher Bruce’s Rooster undeniably brought the rock star swag to the evening’s program.
Created in 1991 for Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve, and receiving its American premiere right here at Houston Ballet in 1995, Rooster is an irresistibly fun dance for ten, five men and five women, set to eight different songs by The Rolling Stones. Each song is its own little vignette, connected via the repeated gestures and motifs Bruce draws directly from the lyrics.
Houston Ballet Principal Connor Walsh, Demi Soloist Jack Wolff and Corps de Ballet Dancer Alejandro Molina León in Christopher Bruce’s Rooster.
Photo by Alana Campbell (2025). Courtesy of Houston Ballet.
Bruce starts the piece with the bluesy “Little Red Rooster,” and, as the song goes, the “little red rooster is on the prowl.” In this case, it’s Connor Walsh, who appears on stage, strutting, repeatedly fixing his hair and straightening his tie, and generally peacocking around, establishing a recurring theme for the men.
There seems to be a sexual tug-of-war at play, with the men certainly acting as though the power is on their side, as during “Lady Jane,” as male attention flits from one woman to another. The women, however, occasionally triumph, like during “Not Fade Away,” a punchy number that features a preening Jack Wolff, who certainly tries to embody the demands of Jagger’s words, though he still gets kicked down, stepped on, and eventually carried away.
Rooster is filled with memorable performances, including Karina González’s child-like outcast in “As Tears Go By”; the bop of a solo by Alejandro Molina León during “Paint It Black”; and Jessica Collado’s gentle portrayal in “Ruby Tuesday.”
Following a shorter, 15-minute intermission, the centerpiece of the evening, Vi et animo from Stanton Welch, commenced to impress the audience.
Houston Ballet Principals Yuriko Kajiya and Aaron Robison with Artists of Houston Ballet in Stanton Welch’s Vi et Animo.
Photo by Alana Campbell (2025). Courtesy of Houston Ballet.
After choreographing the first movement of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 for the Margaret Alkek Williams Jubilee of Dance in 2023, Welch expanded the work to encompass all three of Tchaikovsky’s movements, which now debut as part of the mixed rep program. And expanded it is, featuring nearly 50 dancers across its three movements.
Vi et animo evokes George Balanchine, with its classical vocabulary and a sea of tutus emphasizing the piece’s grandeur. The first movement is characterized by delicate footwork and gorgeous port a bras from the ensemble mixed with spotlight-demanding solos tailor-made for Welch’s dancers. Though all deserved their oohs and ahhs, the power and acrobatics of the men – Eric Best, Naazir Muhammad, and Simone Acri – juxtaposed too perfectly with the broader dance to not deserve a special mention. Welch marries the beautiful lyricism of Tchaikovsky’s second movement with a breakable pas de deux danced by Karina González and Harper Watters, before turning to Sayako Toku and Angelo Greco to lead the corps in a more playful, and quicker, third movement.
Mixed repertory programs are perfect starter packs for people who aren’t familiar with dance and special treats for those who are. One again, Houston Ballet is offering four contrasting pieces that show the breadth of what the company has to offer, and it’s nothing if not impressive.
After the tabled hep B vote, some liaison members from top medical organizations shared their agreement for holding off on making changes to the current recommendations. Some also urged more transparency in how decisions will be made on future potential recommendation changes.
“I would urge the committee to use the methodical scientific method to weigh the risks and benefits appropriately,” said Dr. Amy Middleman, a liaison for the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. She added, “This is important for all vaccine decisions, and this is what I think some of us are really concerned about in terms of the absence of it.”
ACIP member Retsef Levi said he appreciated the desire to keep scientific methods but took issue with the liaison member’s comments.
“I have to say that one thing that puzzles me is that many of the speakers that push for the scientific approach are speaking very confidently in the absence of the gold standard evidence of robust long-term clinical trials against placebo,” Levi added, who has been pushing for more research beyond what the CDC has presented during the meetings.
When ACIP chair Kulldorff began to move on from the hep B discussion, Dr. Jason Goldman, president of the American College of Physicians, chimed in asking for more explanation and to call out the committee for muting him.
“That is disrespectful. You want debate and discussion, but you’re muting people and silencing them,” Goldman said. “Please provide to the public so they can have trust, faith and confidence in vaccination as to what process we are going to be using to properly vet and discuss all future vaccines. … Tell the public how you are going to be analyzing all of these vaccine decisions so we can have confidence in this committee.”
Kulldorff responded that he previously responded to that comment already before moving on to the next agenda matter.
What was your most interesting job before going into lending? Working at the swap meet (flea market) with my grandfather.
What do you do to relax when you’re stressed? Relax with my wife, cook, play with my four rescue dogs, fish, read.
If you could meet any well-known figure (living or not), who would it be and why? Mark Twain. I would love to get his take on today, see what he thinks tomorrow would look like and enjoy his sense of humor.
Where is Houston’s best-kept secret? The willow waterhole. It’s a great nature preserve/park area in southwest Houston. Great area to walk dogs, relax and fish.
What do you love most about the industry? Real estate is the great equalizer We have the ability and the duty to use our skills to help pull people from generational poverty to generational wealth by virtue of our skills and talents. Acquisition of real estate is the first building block to gaining wealth and a semblance of control over your future … and the future of your family. It provides consistency, builds community and creates opportunity and is a major driver of wealth.
What is the most difficult aspect of your job? The most difficult aspect of my job is working with people who are close … just not there yet … and keeping them motivated to get there to where they can get their home.
What are you binge-watching/reading/listening to lately? I am binge reading everything that was written by James A. Michener(of course one book seems like a binge, the man was not at a loss for words).
What’s your favorite meal in Houston? I love chicken wings at Prime Grill. The brisket nachos at Casa are pretty special too.
Architecturally speaking, what is your favorite building in Houston? I love the water wall.
What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you? Despite my outgoing personality, I’m a bit of an introvert.
What’s your favorite vacation spot and why? I love road trips throughout the U.S. The ribbons of highway passing through this beautiful land have amazing views, stories and stops where we can experience almost everything.
In 10 words or less, what is your advice for someone new to the lending industry? Take 15 minutes each day and read guidelines. Learn how to find things.
New listings increased 7.6% in Houston during the week ended Sept. 15 as pending and closed listings dipped, according to the Weekly Activity Snapshot from the Houston Association of REALTORS®.
Realtors added 3,475 properties to the MLS — up from 3,229 during the same week in 2024.
Meanwhile, pending listings declined 6.3%, with 1,889 listings going under contract, and closings decreased 6.8%, with 1,366 home sales.
However, property showings increased by 2.8% year over year, indicating increased homebuyer interest.
CHANNELVIEW, Texas (KTRK) — The Harris County District Attorney’s Office has moved to dismiss a murder charge in a shooting death from last September.
The incident happened on Sept. 10, 2024, along Oakengates Drive in the Channelview area.
Family members say they feel disappointed and frustrated, and say they will use this as fuel to get justice for 28-year-old Jesus Lopez.
“We were just like every day, always together, always together,” the victim’s mother, Rose Rubalcava, said.
Like two peas in a pod, Rubalcava says she and her son, Lopez, were like best friends.
“Bright. He filled the room. He was always happy,” Rubalcava said. “He was always smiling.”
It’s a joy and smile she says she misses daily. This week marks a year since she lost her only child.
“It’s still hard, but I have to try my hardest to get justice for my family,” Rubalcava said.
And now, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office has moved to dismiss the murder charge against Jonathan Cruz.
Investigators told ABC13 last year that Lopez and his accused shooter, Cruz, got into an argument. They said Lopez shot Cruz in the leg, and that Cruz shot back as Lopez was running away, killing him.
Rubalcava says there’s more to the story. She claims Cruz was abusing her.
Rubalcava says Cruz and her son were arguing at their home because Lopez told him not to hurt her, and that’s when she says Cruz shot him and her son shot back — something investigators haven’t been able to verify.
Court records show Cruz was convicted of abusing Rubalcava in 2023 and then violating a protective order. It wasn’t the first time court records show he was charged for the same thing in 2020, and also violated a protective order then.
“They’re just like close the folder and that’s it. We have another person that got murdered. Close that folder,” Rubalcava said.
The DA’s office tells ABC13 their duty is to seek justice and not simply convictions. In their statement to our station, they said, “After careful review of the case involving Jonathan Cruz, we could not disprove his claim of self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. The decision to dismiss charges does not close the door entirely-we reserve the right to re-file charges should new evidence come to light.”
“Like I said, I’m not going to stop. I’m not going to stop here. I’m going to continue until I take my last breath to get justice for my family,” Rubalcava said.
Rubalcava says the news of the dismissal has been heart-wrenching.
ABC13 reached out to Cruz’s attorney for comment, but we have not heard back.
For updates on this story, follow Daniela Hurtado on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Courtesy of the National Association of REALTORS®.
Technology plays an increasingly important role in real estate, and many Realtors are willing to pay for it out of their own pockets if they have to, a new survey finds.
Twenty-four percent of respondents to the 2025 National Association of REALTORS® Technology Survey said they spend more than $500 per month on technology to conduct business, while 20% spend $251-$500, and 34% spend $50 to $250.
Nineteen percent reported spending over $500 per month on lead generation, while 15% spend $251-$500, and 27% spend $50 to $250.
These outlays come despite 67% of Realtors strongly agreeing or agreeing that their brokerages provide them with the technology they need to do their jobs, the survey found.
In July, NAR invited a random sample of 49,233 active Realtors to participate in the online survey, and 1,241 usable responses were received.
Courtesy of the National Association of REALTORS®.
Realtors were most likely to pay for their own social media tools (52%), cloud storage (48%), virtual tours (47%) and lockbox/showing tech (41%), while brokerages were most likely to cover transaction management (39%), eSignature (37%) and customer relationship management (CRM) tools (36%).
If customer satisfaction is any gauge, then the technology is worth it, the survey finds. Eighty-two percent of respondents said their clients responded very positively (45%) or positively (37%) to the integration of technology into the buying and selling process.
The main reason Realtors adopt new technology is to save time (66%), followed by improving the client experience (64%), closing more deals (51%), staying ahead of the competition (41%) and reducing overhead or team size (16%).
When it comes to generating leads, social media was the clear favorite, with 39% responding that it provided the highest number of quality leads, followed by CRM tools (23%), local MLSs (17%) and brokerage websites (13%).
Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed use emerging technology like AI but are still learning about it, while 8% consider themselves adept enough to teach others, 21% have heard of it but haven’t used it and 13% haven’t heard of it.
Courtesy of the National Association of REALTORS®.
AI is the clear favorite among those who use emerging tech, with 41% of respondents using it, followed by predictive consumer analytics at 6%, smart contracts (5%), smart homes/voice tech (3%) and augmented/virtual reality (2%).
A majority of Realtors use AI to some degree, either daily (20%), weekly (22%) or a few times a month (27%), while 32% have not actively used it for their business. Forty-six percent of Realtors said AI has had no noticeable impact on their business, while 40% said it has had a significantly positive impact (17%) or moderately positive impact (23%).
ChatGPT is the most popular choice among AI tools (58%), followed by Google’s Gemini (20%) and Microsoft’s Copilot (15%).
Despite Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte ordering Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to study the use of cryptocurrency as an asset for single-family loans, crypto does not play a significant role in Realtors’ business. Seventy-six percent of respondents had no plans to invest in it, while 92% have not discussed it with clients and 98% have not been involved in a transaction where it played a role.
Augmented/virtual reality also has yet to have much of an impact in Realtors’ lives, with 88% having never used it for business and 83% seeing no noticeable impact from it.
“These results show a profession that is adapting quickly to technological change while prioritizing client satisfaction,” NAR Deputy Chief Economist Jessica Lautz said. “Technology continues to be a powerful force in real estate, driving efficiency and marketing innovation.”
