[ad_1]
new video loaded: The Web of Companies Owned by Elon Musk
By Kirsten Grind, Melanie Bencosme, James Surdam and Sean Havey
February 27, 2026
[ad_2]
Kirsten Grind, Melanie Bencosme, James Surdam and Sean Havey
Source link
[ad_1]
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — A ground-dwelling bird known for elaborate mating dances on the southern Great Plains will no longer be federally protected after the Trump administration agreed with arguments by three states and the beef and petroleum industries that the species was listed improperly.
Thursday’s delisting by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service formalized a recent court ruling that acknowledged the federal agency has now sided with opponents of federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken.
The ruling by a federal judge in Midland, Texas, in effect ended Endangered Species Act protections for the bird last summer. The protections required the energy industry and ranchers to take steps to avoid disrupting the birds’ habitat and especially their mating areas, called leks.
The crow-sized birds once numbered in the millions. Habitat loss from energy and agriculture development has shrunk their population to about 30,000 across parts of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
Wildlife watchers delight in the male birds’ spring dances and their warbling, clucking and stomping ruckus to attract mates. Native American tribes mimic the flamboyant displays — also a behavior of the more common greater prairie chicken — in some of their dances.
The lesser prairie chicken has been federally protected twice in recent years. In 2015, a federal judge in U.S. District Court in Midland reversed the bird’s listing as a threatened species the year before, siding with petroleum developers who argued that sufficient protections were already in place.
In 2022, President Joe Biden’s administration listed the lesser prairie chicken as threatened in the northern part of its range in Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, and as endangered in a “distinct population segment” to the south in New Mexico and Texas.
The listing prompted a lawsuit filed by Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas and groups including the Permian Basin Petroleum Association and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.
After President Donald Trump took office last year, the Fish and Wildlife Service reevaluated the bird and agreed with the states and groups that it lacked justification to classify the lesser prairie chicken into two distinctly different populations.
Last August, another judge in U.S. District Court in Midland granted a Fish and Wildlife Service motion to reverse its Biden-era listings for the lesser prairie chicken.
“Fish and Wildlife’s concession points to serious error at the very foundation of its rule,” District Judge David Counts wrote in his Aug. 12 ruling praised by Texas officials.
Texas oil and gas regulatory officials including Texas Railroad Commission spokesperson Bryce Dubee and Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham welcomed the delisting.
“It will ensure American oil and gas production in the Permian Basin remains robust and our economy steadfast,” Buckingham said in an emailed statement.
Environmentalists vowed to fight on in court.
“It’s shameful that the Trump administration sees fit to sacrifice these magnificent birds for oil and gas industry profit,” Jason Rylander, legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, said in a statement. “Lesser prairie chickens may be lost forever without Endangered Species Act protections.”
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
[ad_2]
Associated Press
Source link
[ad_1]
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge in Texas has ruled that ExxonMobil can bring a defamation lawsuit against California’s attorney general over comments about the company’s plastic recycling efforts.
U.S. District Judge Michael J. Truncale in the Eastern District of Texas said in a ruling earlier this month that California Attorney General Rob Bonta cannot claim official immunity in regards to several statements he made, including one in a campaign email sent to Texas residents.
Bonta sued Exxon in September 2024, saying that the oil giant encouraged consumers to purchase plastics products with the promise that the products would be recycled. He said less than 5% of plastic is recycled into another plastic product, and that recycling processes touted by Exxon don’t work. Exxon said the problem is with California’s recycling system.
Exxon later sued Bonta in his individual capacity and environmental groups for defamation, saying that the comments harmed current and future business contracts. The lawsuit was filed in Texas, near its principal place of business.
Truncale dismissed the lawsuit against the environmental groups but allowed it to proceed against Bonta.
The judge pointed to a campaign email Bonta sent to Texas residents saying that only 5% is recycled and the rest ends up in the environment and in our bodies: “Exxon Mobil knew, and Exxon Mobil lied.” Bonta, a Democrat, argued he was simply updating email recipients on his office’s activities.
But Truncale said a campaign contribution link on the email turned the communication into a campaign activity not protected by immunity in Bonta’s official capacity as attorney general.
“Here, the contribution request betrays the email’s true nature: a campaign promotion. Campaigning is not within Bonta’s scope of employment,” the judge wrote.
Bonta’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ExxonMobil said in a statement that the “campaign of lies designed to derail our advanced recycling business must stop.”
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
[ad_2]
Associated Press
Source link
[ad_1]
Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas said he will not resign amid questions about alleged sexually explicit text messages and a relationship with a former staffer, telling CNN’s Manu Raju that “what you have seen are not all the facts.”
Several House Republicans have now called on their colleague to resign over the reported sexual texts from the U.S. representative to an aide with whom he is alleged to have had an affair. The aide later died by suicide.
“I will not resign,” he said. “I work every day for the people of Texas.”
Gonzales declined to directly confirm the authenticity of alleged text messages asking the former staffer or whether an affair occurred.
When asked to provide the details to his constituents, now, the Republican replied, “My constituents are not here in D.C., my constituents are back home in Texas.”
Raju also reported that Gonzales plans to speak with House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana later Tuesday.
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A federal judge in Minnesota ruled on Monday to hold government officials in civil contempt for violating a judicial order that prohibited the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from transferring detainee Fernando Gutierrez Torres, a Mexican national.
U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2018, found that despite an earlier order prohibiting Torres’ transfer out of Minnesota, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) moved him to Texas without notifying his attorney.
A judge granted Torres’ habeas petition and ordered ICE to release him from custody “as soon as practicable, but not later than 48 hours” after the order was entered, according to court documents.
Filings state a major winter storm in Texas led to a state of emergency declaration, and Torres’ ICE-scheduled flight was canceled.
Drivers navigate icy road conditions on a major roadway Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, in Carrollton, Texas, as a winter storm moved through the region. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
The agency realized the earliest they could reschedule his return to Minnesota was Jan. 27, which would be past the 48-hour release deadline mandated by the court.
In a rush to comply with that 48-hour deadline, the agency decided to release him immediately in El Paso, Texas, rather than waiting to fly him back to Minnesota.
His belongings were allegedly withheld when he was freed, according to court documents.
Ice covers a South Congress neighborhood after a winter storm brought rain, sleet and freezing temperatures to Austin on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (Aaron E. Martinez/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
JUDGE THREATENS CONTEMPT FOR ICE LEADER, ORDERS HIM TO APPEAR IN COURT
Tostrud ruled the haste to meet the deadline did not excuse the agency’s contempt because ICE should not have violated the original court order by transferring Torres to Texas in the first place, and ordered the government to pay for Torres’ nearly $570 flight home, which was initially covered by his attorney.
The government claimed the decision to transfer Torres was not made in “willful disregard for [sic] the Court’s order.”
Snow-covered streets and buildings are seen during a winter storm Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, in Dallas, Texas. Brutal cold and icy conditions followed the storm across parts of the region. (Mark Felix/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“It is undisputable the Agency needed to consult with the undersigned counsel before making the decision to release Petitioner in Texas,” attorneys wrote. “That did not happen. Respondent acknowledges [his] release in Texas was not in compliance with the expectations and Order of this Court.”
FEDERAL JUDGE BACKS AWAY FROM THREAT TO HOLD ICE LEADER IN CONTEMPT
Government lawyers added they are “deeply remorseful” and offered their “sincere apologies for the situation.”
Tostrud gave the administration an opportunity to file a motion for an evidentiary hearing before March 1, after which the judgment will go into effect.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
In addition, the government can identify the specific person or entity that violated the order.
Court documents did not note what led to Torres’ initial arrest, with the administration citing “alleged immigration-law violations.”
DHS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
A Fort Bend County grand jury returned a “no bill,” finding insufficient evidence to support felony charge stemming from alleged 2025 incident involving Beverley’s teenage sister
A Texas grand jury declined to indict former NBA player Patrick Beverley in connection with a November 2025 incident at his home, returning what is known as a “no bill,” meaning jurors found insufficient evidence to support criminal charges.
The decision came earlier Monday in Fort Bend County, outside Houston, where prosecutors had presented evidence related to a felony assault allegation. Beverley’s attorneys, Rusty Hardin and Letitia Quinones-Hollins, said the grand jury’s decision enforces that the charges are now behind him, and issued a statement following the outcome.
“Several months ago, we said that when all the information was in – when a grand jury could hear all the facts of this case – Patrick Beverley would be cleared of all charges. That is what happened today, when a grand jury sitting in Fort Bend County no-billed Patrick, effectively ending the case. Patrick wants everyone to know that he would never do anything to harm his sister and that he is very grateful that the grand jury has recognized that with their no-bill. He is thankful for all who prayed for him and supported him during this time. He is glad that the process was allowed to work as it did and his hope is that with these charges behind him now, his name and reputation will be restored.”
Beverley also took to his X account to write, “I am deeply grateful for all thoughts and prayers for the family. We must continue to protect our children, especially our young girls. This ordeal has truly made our family stronger. Thank you for your continued support and prayers.”
I am deeply grateful for all thoughts and prayers 🙏🏾🙏🏾 for the family. We must continue to protect our children, especially our young girls. This ordeal has truly made our family stronger. ❤️Thank you for your continued support and prayers. 🙏🏾❤️
— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) February 24, 2026
Beverley, 37, had been arrested early November 14, 2025, and charged with third-degree felony assault of a family or household member by impeding breath or circulation, according to law enforcement.
A probable cause affidavit signed by Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Deputy Miguel Ramirez alleged the incident began around 3:50 a.m., when Beverley’s 15-year-old sister returned home after sneaking out to meet her boyfriend. Their mother, Lisa Beverley, called Beverley to the residence, the affidavit said. The affidavit alleged that Beverley assaulted his sister by grabbing her by the neck and carrying her into another room, then punching her in the eye.
Beverley was initially taken into custody following the incident and charged with the felony offense. Again, a grand jury’s decision to return a no bill means jurors determined prosecutors did not present sufficient probable cause to formally indict Beverley, effectively halting the criminal case against him.
Scroll to continue reading
Beverley, a Chicago native, played 12 seasons in the NBA and was known for his defensive intensity, with stints including the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers and Chicago Bulls. He later joined Barstool Sports, where he hosted a podcast beginning in 2022, though his role with the company was placed on hold following his 2025 arrest.
[ad_2]
Lauren Conlin
Source link
[ad_1]
People gathered outside of the Texas Capitol on Feb. 23, calling for a special session on data center expansion in Texas.
Attendees of a Monday protest want Texas to Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special session to address the effects of data centers on the state.
About 40 people — including visitors from the Paluxy Valley and a slate of speakers — rallied outside the Capitol on Monday, asking for the special session as data centers pop up across Texas. In North Texas and across the state, people have sounded the alarm over existing and planned sites, raising concerns over noise, water use and possible environmental impacts.
Attendees stood outside in front of the Austin building, holding signs in opposition of data centers. One read “you can’t drink data.” Another advocated for the protection of farmland. “Say no to data centers,” declared a sign, accompanied by a drawing of a microphone.
Only Texas Gov. Greg Abbott can call the Legislature into special session. The next regularly scheduled legislative session starts on Jan. 12.
“Our star filled skies will be gone,” said Brian Crawford, a retired Lockheed Martin employee who shares a fence line with a planned the Comanche Circle data center project. “Our quiet nights of only hearing wildlife will be gone. Our two lane farm-to-market roads will be incredibly dangerous.”
Crawford, whose property is in Somerville County, was representing Protect the Paluxy Valley Inc. as a speaker at the event. He said Abbott should take a “sober look” at the impact data centers and power plants on the state.
The governor should convene a special session where lawmakers could issue an immediate “statewide moratorium or rural industrialization” so that the effects of such projects can be analyzed, Crawford said. Legislators should also consider letting counties regulate industrial development to protect citizens, he said.
“My message is that we need a special session, and we need it now,” said Joanne Carcamo, a co-founder of the Paluxy Valley group who attended the protest. “We cannot wait. This is an invasion of rural Texas. This is an invasion in Hood County.”
Hood County commissioners recently rejected a proposal to put a six-month moratorium on industrial development, which would have given officials time to study the impact of data centers. Residents have raised concerns about the centers encroaching on their rural lifestyles.
Ahead of the vote, Hood county commissioners received a letter from Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican, that said the moratorium would have violated state law. The letter was also addressed to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The proposal is expected to be reconsidered on Tuesday, following the approval of a moratorium on “green energy” projects in northeast Texas’ Van Zandt County.
There are multiple planned projects in the Hood County area. Among them is a 2,600-acre data center complex called Comanche Circle that has gotten pushback from ranchers, landowners and conservationists near Glen Rose.
A $10 billion data center is also planned in southeast Fort Worth, though it hit a speed bump earlier this month when zoning requests for the project were put on pause as the city awaits a report on data centers from city staff.
Senate District 22 Republican candidate Rena Schroeder was among the speakers at the Monday protest. A campaign staff member helped organize the event in her capacity as an individual. The Senate district includes part of Tarrant County. Speakers from Round Rock and Waco area groups also addressed attendees.
“Our way of life in Texas is being torn apart by these data centers,” said Gary Oldham with Protect Round Rock. “Whether we’re in the suburbs, a small farm, a large working ranch, or even in the middle of Fort Worth or Houston, they’re impacting us all.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for Abbott didn’t address whether Abbott would consider a data center related special session.
“Texas leads the nation in strategically and methodically attracting tech investments that create jobs and drive innovation,” spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said. “Governor Abbott was proud to sign Senate Bill 6 into law to support long-term grid planning, protect ratepayers from transmission costs, and ensure system reliability. Governor Abbott will continue to work with the Legislature to ensure Texas remains the nation’s leader in innovation while ensuring sustainable growth.”
He noted that governments and groundwater conservation districts have existing tools to regulate water usage, and that the Public Utility Commission has been tasked with studying how much water data centers use and what it’s used for.
A spokesperson for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment.
“Data centers have become an issue of national security,” Speaker Dustin Burrows said in a written statement. “The Texas House is committed to working to balance private property rights and economic growth while ensuring responsible planning that protects our communities. Given the statewide and long-term impacts of this issue, I look forward to engaging with members throughout the interim and next session.”
Staff Writers Elizabeth Campbell and Emily Holshouser contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 4:51 PM.
[ad_2]
Eleanor Dearman
Source link
[ad_1]
A Texas Democratic lawmaker is invoking a newly created state legislative rule to force a public hearing into the March 2025 fatal shooting of a 23-year-old U.S. citizen by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, CBS News has learned, a case raising further transparency and oversight questions about the officials enforcing President Trump’s deportation crackdown.
The proposed hearing would examine the shooting death of Ruben Ray Martinez in South Padre Island, Texas, on March 15, 2025. While his death was reported at the time, ICE’s involvement in the shooting was not disclosed until this week, over 11 months after the shooting.
Democratic Texas state Rep. Ray Lopez, who serves as vice chair of the Texas House Committee on Homeland Security, Public Safety and Veterans’ Affairs, said he formally exercised authority under Rule 4, Section 6A of the Texas House Rules to compel Committee Chairman Cole Hefner, a Republican, to schedule a hearing on Martinez’s death.
Rachel Reyes
Lopez said it is the first public use of the provision, which was adopted during the 89th Legislative Session that concluded last June. The rule requires a committee chair to “promptly schedule” a hearing designated by the vice chair. Lopez requested a written response from Hefner by the end of business on Feb. 23. It was not immediately clear when a hearing might be scheduled.
Local news outlets in Texas reported on Martinez’ killing last year, but the involvement of federal immigration agents in the fatal shooting was first revealed earlier this week by Newsweek, which used government documents recently released by the American Oversight Project, a nonprofit ethics watchdog, to connect the death with an internal ICE report.
The internal ICE report, which redacts Martinez’s name, stated that the March 15 incident involved agents from Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of ICE, who were helping South Padre Island police officers control traffic in the late night hours following a major car accident.
The report describes a blue Ford approaching the area where the ICE agents were directing traffic. The driver of the vehicle “failed to follow instructions,” the internal report reads, and tried to continue driving. After commands from the agents, the report said the vehicle “slowed to a stop.” The agents surrounded the car and directed the driver to exit the vehicle, the report said.
The driver then “accelerated forward” and struck one of the ICE agents, according to the report, which said the federal officer “wound up on the hood of the vehicle.” At that point, according to the report, another ICE agent fired “multiple rounds” at the driver through an open side window. The driver was given first aid and then transferred to a hospital in Brownsville, where the report said he was pronounced dead.
A passenger who was in the vehicle, also a U.S. citizen whose name was redacted, was taken into custody at the scene by South Padre Island police, the report states.
The agent who was struck by the vehicle was taken to an area hospital with a knee injury, where they were treated and released, ICE said in its report.
In a statement provided to CBS News, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, confirmed the fatal shooting, alleging that the driver “intentionally ran over a Homeland Security Investigation special agent resulting in him being on the hood of the vehicle. Upon witnessing this, another agent fired defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public.”
DHS said the incident is under investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Ranger Division, and deferred questions to Texas DPS.
Christopher Olivarez, a Texas DPS spokesperson, confirmed to CBS News Saturday that an investigation was underway, adding, “We have no further information to provide.”
Lopez argued that federal and state authorities failed to publicly disclose ICE’s involvement in the shooting for nearly a year. He said Martinez’s family learned of the federal agent’s role through news reports.
“When anyone in authority in any level of policing, federal, state, or local, decides to take the most drastic measure and that’s ending someone’s life, you need to be sure that you’re doing it as a last resort,” Lopez told CBS News in an interview Saturday. “I don’t feel that the information that I’ve read implies to me that it was a last resort and I want to get to the bottom of it.”
In a statement to CBS News, Martinez’s mother, Rachel Reyes, said her family has been looking for accountability.
“Since Ruben’s death a year ago, all we have wanted is justice for him and we have struggled with the silence surrounding his killing,” Reyes said. “Now, the country is in crisis — and, terribly, heartbreakingly, other families are enduring what we have…It’s my hope that attention being raised now into Ruben’s death will help bring the justice we want for him and the answers we haven’t had.”
Charles M. Stam and Alex Stamm, attorneys for Ruben’s family, said in a statement that “Ruben’s family has been pursuing transparency and accountability for nearly a year now and will continue to do so for as long as it takes. It is critical that there is a full and fair investigation into why HSI was present at the scene of a traffic collision and why a federal officer shot and killed a US citizen as he was trying to comply with instructions from the local law enforcement officers directing traffic.”
Reyes told The Associated Press that her son had just turned 23 days before he and his best friend drove from San Antonio to South Padre Island for a weekend trip to celebrate. South Padre Island, located along the Gulf Coast near the U.S.-Mexican border, is a popular spring break destination that draws thousands of college-aged visitors.
Reyes told the AP that her son worked at an Amazon warehouse, enjoyed playing video games and spending time with friends, and had never previously had any run-ins with law enforcement.
“He was a typical young guy,” Reyes said. “He never really got a chance to go out and experience things. It was his first time getting to go out of town. He was a nice guy, humble guy. And he wasn’t a violent person at all.”
Martinez’s death is one of several fatal shootings of U.S. citizens involving federal immigration agents over the past year. In Minneapolis, Minnesota, in January, Renee Good and Alex Pretti were fatally shot in separate incidents while protesting a massive immigration operation in that city. Last week, the Trump administration announced it would end its large-scale immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota.
Immigration enforcement has become a salient political issue in recent months, particularly in border states like Texas, where federal and state authorities frequently coordinate operations. Texas will hold its primary elections on March 3, and immigration operations have become prominent issues on the campaign trail in key races.
[ad_2]
[ad_1]
A nurse from the Ecuadorean Ministry of Health vaccinates a person against whooping cough in Guayaquil, Ecuador on May 8, 2025. (Photo by MARCOS PIN / AFP) (Photo by MARCOS PIN/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Texas reported more cases of whooping cough last year than anytime in the last 66 years, according to provisional data from the state health department.
This peak comes as vaccination rates among children continue to decline.
There were 4,120 cases of whooping cough in 2025, according to provisional data from the Department of State Health Services. That’s the most cases since 2013, when the state reported 3,985 cases. The 2013 peak was the most cases since 1959, said Lara Anton, spokesperson for the state health department.
The rate of Texas kindergartners up-to-date on their DTaP vaccines, which protect against diphtheria and tetanus as well as whooping cough, dropped from almost 97% to 93% between 2019 and 2024, according to state data.
Whooping cough is caused by bacteria known as pertussis. The bacteria cause an annoying illness in most healthy adults, and is sometimes known as the “100 day cough” for the length of time the illness persists. But in young children, the disease can be quite serious. One in three infants it infects need to be hospitalized, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 1% of infants die from complications of the disease.
“The younger you are, the more at risk you are for a severe infection with pertussis,” said Dr. Robert Frenck, a professor of pediatrics in the division of infectious diseases at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, adding that the bacteria can prevent infants from breathing because it causes so much coughing.
Pertussis outbreaks are common in the U.S. because immunity tends to fade about seven to 10 years after you’ve been infected, or about five years after you’ve been vaccinated, said Frenck, who is also the director of the Vaccine Research Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. But outbreaks have become larger and more common as vaccination coverage has dropped in the U.S. and in Texas, said Frenck and Dr. James Cherry, a professor of pediatrics at UCLA.
“If we use the vaccines properly, the way they’re recommended, and in particular, see that pregnant women get vaccinated, you can prevent virtually all deaths [from pertussis],” Cherry said.
In Tarrant County, there were 483 cases of whooping cough reported, according to data from the county health department.
The state health department issued a health alert because of the high number of pertussis cases, the second year in a row the department has done so.
Frenck said he expected outbreaks to continue if vaccination continues to wane throughout the U.S.
“The worst case scenario that we could have in the United States is that we stop vaccinating,” he said.
In addition to outbreaks of pertussis, 2025 saw multiple outbreaks of measles throughout the U.S. Measles is the most contagious vaccine-preventable disease. In Texas, a measles outbreak infected 762 people, and killed two children.
[ad_2]
Ciara McCarthy
Source link
[ad_1]
Second-grade students at Cesar Chavez Elementary work on an assignment during class on Feb. 3 in Fort Worth.
amccoy@star-telegram.com
In the digital world, screen time is almost unavoidable for children. Experts have tips for how parents can navigate the content their children are consuming and the amount of time they’re consuming it.
Screens should be avoided for infants and toddlers from 18 months to 2 years old unless they’re video chatting with a family member to facilitate a connection, according to Texas clinicians. But when children grow older, they eventually become exposed to media at home or at school for both education and entertainment. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends families create their own media plan to navigate this and to use the “5 Cs”, which is based on the child, the content, ways to calm down, what media is crowding out and ongoing communication.
“What are your child’s strengths? What content are they exposed to? Are we using this as a calming mechanism? Are we crowding out other opportunities for growth with the digital ecosystem? And is it being used in a way that is going for or against communication in the parent-caregiver relationship?” explained Dr. Liz May, a pediatrician at Texas Children’s Pediatrics.
May reiterated the importance of the content itself and how time boundaries will look different for each family depending on their children’s ages. Toddlers and preschoolers between ages 2 and 5 are recommended to limit screen time to one hour per day of quality programming, according to clinicians. At age 6 and older, emphasis is placed on what they’re doing on the screen, which should be monitored by parents, according to Dr. Nicholas Westers, a clinical psychologist with Children’s Health and an associate professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
High-quality, educational media can have positive impacts on children, while low-quality content can have the opposite effect. May and Westers encourage parents to avoid showing violent or discriminatory content to their children.
“Research indicates that excessive or inappropriate use of digital media can impede language development. Conversely, high-quality educational content, when used appropriately, can support language acquisition and vocabulary growth,” according to a May 2025 article published by the AAP.
Parents are advised to watch digital programs with their child and talk about what’s happening with them. This avoids an otherwise passive experience that lacks interaction. Both Texas clinicians also recommend parents model the same habits they’re trying to instill in their children, such as banning phones during dinner time.
Westers suggests parents focus on what they’re protecting rather than what they’re taking away. For example, protecting sleep by turning off screens an hour before bedtime reframes the boundaries limiting digital exposure.
“Whatever time that they’re spending on these screens, tablets or TV — What is it they’re not doing?” Westers said. “Usually, they’re not playing with their toys. They’re not moving around, being active… They’re not socializing or interacting with others, and they’re not reading out loud.”
It’s important to avoid using screens to help soothe your child when they’re overwhelmed or emotional, according to May and Westers. This prevents the child from learning how to regulate their emotions and can send an indirect message that their caregiver is unable to hold space for those emotions. May notes an overreliance on screens also increases the risk of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self harm and a sedentary lifestyle.
May wants parents to know she understands the guilt that can come with screen time and the fast pace of life, but it’s important to remember screens are deeply ingrained into society beyond child-caregiver relationships.
“(I) encourage parents to do the best they can with the resources that they have, and their visual media plan or family plan may look different than another, and that’s OK,” May said. “These are things that are far larger beyond just the family unit. I encourage them to talk to their pediatrician if they’re struggling with screen time or things they’re worried could be related to screen time,” May said.
[ad_2]
Lina Ruiz
Source link
[ad_1]
The sun rises behind downtown Fort Worth’s skyline on Friday, September 9, 2022.
Fort Worth Star Telegram
The U.S. Census Bureau recently released its growth report from 2024 to 2025, and Texas has the biggest numerical population growth, once again.
Though the southern region of the U.S. saw a one percent drop in growth for the first time since 2021, Texas was still deemed popular for migrants. This marks the third consecutive year that the Lone Star state has had the largest numerical population increase in the country.
The 2020 census recorded just over 29 million residents in Texas. And from June 2024 to July 2025, the data shows a net gain of 391,243 residents. As of July 2025, Texas has an estimated 31.7 million residents, according to Census data.
Interestingly enough, the states with the largest population numbers — California, Texas, New York and Florida — were also the states with the largest numbers of residents moving away. Census Bureau data also shows that Texas was the biggest supplier of new residents to nine other states– Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
Let’s take a closer look at Texas’ growing population.
Though Texas had the highest population growth number, for the first time since 2021, the state had a drop in growth percentage rate. Texas saw a growth rate of 1.2 percent from June 2024 to July 2025, according to the Census Bureau.
South Carolina had the nation’s highest growth percentage, with a 1.5 percent rate. Factors that affect the growth percentage include size of the state and the amount of new residents added to its population.
The addition of new residents to Texas didn’t make as much of an impact (compared to South Carolina), as the state is much larger in scale and population size.
A Texas Migration Report that analyzed moving data from June 2024 to May 2025 showed that people from California, Florida, Colorado, Arizona and Illinois, respectively, moved to the Lone Star state the most.
According to the Texas Migration Report, Dallas-Fort Worth is the leading metroplex for new residents.
In the following order, these metro areas grew the most from May 2024 to June 2025:
Ella Gonzales is a service journalism reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She is part of a team of local journalists who answer reader questions and write about life in North Texas. Ella mainly writes about local restaurants and where to find good deals around town.
[ad_2]
Ella Gonzales
Source link
[ad_1]
Imagine if a candidate for, say, the California Assembly appeared at a political event and delivered the following remarks:
“No to kosher meat. No to yarmulkes. No to celebrating Easter. No, no, no.”
He, or she, would be roundly — and rightly — criticized for their bigotry and raw prejudice.
Recently, at a candidates forum outside Dallas, Larry Brock expressed the following sentiments as part of a lengthy disquisition on the Muslim faith.
“We should ban the burqa, the hijab, the abaya, the niqab,” said the candidate for state representative, referring to the coverings worn by some Muslim women. “No to halal meat. No to celebrating Ramadan. No, no, no.”
Brock, whose comments were reported by the New York Times, is plainly a bigot. (He’s also a convicted felon, sentenced to two years in prison for invading the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. No to hand-slaughtered lamb. Yes to despoiling our seat of government.)
Brock is no outlier.
For many Texas Republicans running in the March 3 primary, Islamophobia has become a central portion of their election plank, as a longtime political lance — illegal immigration — has grown dull around its edges.
Aaron Reitz, a candidate for attorney general, aired an ad accusing politicians of importing “millions of Muslims into our country.”
“The result?” he says, with a tough-guy glower. “More terrorism, more crime. And they even want their own illegal cities in Texas to impose sharia law.” (More on that in a moment.)
One of his opponents, Republican Rep. Chip Roy — co-founder of the “Sharia-Free America Caucus” — has called for amending the Texas Constitution to protect the state’s tender soil from Islamification by “radical Marxists.”
In the fierce GOP race for U.S. Senate, incumbent John Cornyn — facing a potentially career-ending challenge from state Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton — has aired one TV spot accusing his fellow Republican of being “soft on radical Islam” and another describing radical Islam “as a bloodthirsty ideology.”
Paxton countered by calling Cornyn’s assertions a desperate attack “that can’t erase the fact that he helped radical Islamic Afghans invade Texas,” a reference to a visa program that allowed people who helped U.S. forces — in other words friends and allies — to come to America after being carefully screened.
There hasn’t been such a concentrated, sulfurous political assault on Muslims since the angst-ridden days following the Sept. 11 attacks.
In just the latest instance, Democrats are calling for the censure of Florida Republican Rep. Randy Fine after he wrote Sunday on X: “If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Muslims is not a difficult one.” He’s since doubled down by posting several images of dogs with the words “Don’t tread on me.”
In Texas, the venom starts at the top with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who’s waltzing toward reelection to an unprecedented fourth term.
In November, Abbott issued an executive order designating the Muslim Brotherhood and the Council on American-Islamic Relations — the latter a prominent civil rights group — as terrorist organizations.
Not to be out-demagogued, Bo French, a candidate for Texas Railroad Commission, called on President Trump to round up and deport every Muslim in America. (French, the former Tarrant County GOP chair, gained notoriety last year for posting an online poll asking, “Who is a bigger threat to America?” The choice: Jews or Muslims.)
Much of the Republican hysteria has focused on a proposed real estate development in a corn- and hayfield 40 miles east of Dallas.
The master-planned community of about 1,000 homes, known as EPIC City, was initiated by the East Plano Islamic Center to serve as a Muslim-centered community for the region’s growing number of worshipers. (Of course, anyone could choose to live there, regardless of their religious faith.)
Paxton said he would investigate the proposed development as a “potentially illegal ‘Sharia City.’ ” The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development last week jumped in with its own investigation — a move Abbott hailed — after the Justice Department quietly closed a probe into the project, saying developers agreed to abide by federal fair housing laws. That investigation came at the behest of Cornyn.
The rampant resurgence of anti-Muslim sentiment hardly seems coincidental.
For years, Republicans capitalized on the issues of illegal immigration and lax enforcement along the U.S. -Mexico border. With illegal crossings slowed to a trickle under Trump, “Republicans can’t run on the border issue the way [they] have in the past,” said Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.
What’s more, cracking down on immigration no longer brings together Republicans the way it once did.
General support for Trump’s get-tough policies surpasses 80% among Texas Republicans, said Henson, who’s spent nearly two decades sampling public opinion in the state. But support falls dramatically, into roughly the high-40s to mid-50s, when it comes to specifics such as arresting people at church, or seizing them when they make required court appearances.
“Republicans need to find something else that taps into those cultural-identity issues” and unifies and animates the GOP base, said Henson.
In short, the fearmongers need a new scapegoat.
Muslims are about 2% of the adult population in Texas, according to the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study, completed in 2024. That works out to estimates ranging from 300,000 to 500,000 residents in a state of nearly 32 million residents.
Not a huge number.
But enough for heedless politicians hell-bent on getting themselves elected, even if it means tearing down a whole group of people in the process.
[ad_2]
Mark Z. Barabak
Source link
[ad_1]
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Texas Tech star JT Toppin was doing his usual work in the paint Tuesday night, pouring in buckets and grabbing rebounds against Arizona State in a tough road environment.
The 13th-ranked Red Raiders can recover from their 72-67 loss to the Sun Devils. But it’s going to be much harder if the 6-foot-9 Toppin — a preseason All-America selection averaging nearly 22 points per game — is out for an extended period.
Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland said Toppin injured his lower leg with 6:03 remaining, but wasn’t sure about the severity. Toppin stayed down for a few minutes before needing assistance to gingerly limp off the court.
“It’s hard to say until we get it looked at closely,” McCasland said. “But I just know he’s really disappointed. He’s such a competitor. We’ll get back and get him looked at.”
Toppin finished with 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four blocks, and the Red Raiders were obviously shaken when he left the floor. He sat on the bench for a brief period before going back to the locker room.
“I hope he’s OK, and I hate to see a guy go out of a game like that. He’s one of the best players in the country,” Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley said. “My heart goes out to him and hope that he’s back soon for them.”
Texas Tech was trailing 61-56 at the time of the injury and fell behind 67-56 over the next few minutes. The Red Raiders regrouped and pulled to 70-67 in the final seconds, but Christian Anderson turned the ball over, costing them a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer.
“It knocked us on our heels a little bit,” McCasland said of Toppin’s injury. “But, man, we’ve got a competitve group and found a way to get it to a one-possession game. Gave ourselves a chance late, which is what you want. I told our team that I loved the group that was on the floor at the end and the fight.
“If we had done that for the previous 38, 37 minutes, then we would have put ourselves in better position.”
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
[ad_2]
Associated Press
Source link
[ad_1]
We just lost the greatest stiff of all. Doug Moe officially left us Tuesday for That Big Coffee Shop In The Sky, holding Big Jane in one hand and Saint Peter with the other.
“I’d kept in touch with Jane, and she called last week,” former Nuggets assistant “Big” Bill Fricke told me Tuesday, not long after Moe, the Nuggets’ idiosyncratic coach from 1980-90, passed away at the age of 87.
“And when I talked to (Moe’s wife), she said, ‘We’re both at peace. Doug’s at peace with it. He’s ready to go. And I’m at peace with it.’ So it was good to hear that.”
Ficke was Moe’s right-hand man with the Nuggets from 1982-84, the Abbott to his Costello, at the start of one of the most successful — and absolutely bonkers — periods of the team’s history.
Under Moe, the Nuggets made the playoffs nine straight times, reached the Western Conference semis on four occasions and danced it all the way to the conference finals in 1985. The Nuggets wound up losing Alex English to a thumb injury in Game 4 of those finals, and the Lakers took the series in five. Denver wouldn’t reach the Western finals again until 2009.
“I thought he was one of the best coaches in the league,” Ficke continued. “A lot of those college coaches wouldn’t have told you that. They thought all he did was move the ball around and that was it.”
At the surface, everything about Doug Moe — his teams, his manner, his dress sense — seemed to embody complete madness. Yet there was a method. There was always more going on underneath the hood, kicking the way a baby duck’s legs kick through a summer pond.
Although they were both New Yorkers, Ficke reminded me, he didn’t know Moe well until he’d moved to Denver more than four decades ago. In those days, Ficke lived west of I-25. Moe lived east of I-25. Doug’s place wasn’t wired for cable.
So this one afternoon, Bill’s phone rang.
“Hey, Ficke, you got cable?” Moe asked.
“Yeah,” Bill replied.
“You think it would be all right if I came over to watch a game tonight?”
“No problem.”
“Can I bring Jane?”
“Sure, my wife knows Jane.”
And over they came. About a week later, Moe called him again. Same request.
So this goes on a couple more times, well into the spring. One day, Bill thinks it was June of ’82, Moe called again.
“Hey Ficke,” Moe said. “How would you like to be my assistant?”
“Oh, (expletive),” Bill replied. “Don’t ask me twice.”
“He wanted somebody that he knew,” Ficke explained, “who wasn’t going to knife him in the back, that he could rely on. So it was great.”
So were they. Moe was ahead of his time. He’d followed his friend Brown to Denver, the frumpy ying to Brown’s structured yang, as a Nuggets assistant during the dying embers of the ABA. When Moe took over the Nuggets for Donnie Walsh as head coach in ’80, he weaponized altitude, preaching a high-tempo offense with constant motion and no set plays.
Moe and Ficke usually rode together to games. On one of the days they didn’t, Doug had called the Nuggets locker room and asked for Big Bill.
“Ficke, I need you to catch tonight,” Moe said. “Because I’m sick.”
“OK,” Bill said.
“And Ficke, remember this: After two minutes, nobody’s listening. Don’t go into the (huddle), don’t go into the locker room and start talking.”
He knew his players. He knew his business. Moe was the NBA’s Coach of the Year in 1988. Brown helped transition the Nuggets into the NBA. But it was Moe, and his high-tempo attack, that put the franchise on the national map.
“Hey, Doug, don’t you think we should put a couple plays in for Alex or somebody?” Ficke asked him once.
Moe pondered this for half a second.
“Ficke, if you put in one play,” the coach replied, “they’re not going to believe in our running game.”
On good nights, they ran teams ragged. Players were told not to hold the ball for more than two seconds. English and Kiki Vandeweghe ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in NBA scoring in 1982-83.
Moe’s Nuggets ran and dared the rest of the NBA to catch up. Those who saw them would fall in love with an end-to-end blur of rainbow jerseys, games in which no lead was ever safe. And where no parent could sit their kids within 15 feet of the Nuggets’ bench without hearing a torrent of Moe obscenities.
“Everybody has that image of him yelling at the players on the court,” Ficke recalled. “They didn’t realize that he was telling the players what was (about to happen) three steps ahead of them.”
When his teams didn’t entertain, Moe became the show, this cursing, grumbling, rumpled 6-foot-5 firebrand who dressed like a ’70s private detective, a disheveled anti-hero who detested suits and ties. He was Joe Don Baker cast as a basketball player, Columbo with a jump shot.
Moe once got fined for throwing water at an official. When he was fired in 1990, he brought champagne to a news conference to celebrate his axing because he was now being paid to do nothing.
He was a savant. He did five-digit multiplication in his head. Moe was a genius when it came to basketball and personalities. He was an absolute artist with profanities, as blunt as the business end of a sledgehammer.
“The thing was, everything was over with the next game, the next day,” Ficke recalled. “And the players knew that. And that’s why they respected him.”
While Moe painted in four-letter words, he became more renowned for one five-letter sobriquet: stiff. It was his pet phrase for try-hard guys. His pet phrase for athletically-challenged guys. It became his pet phrase for almost everybody.
Bill Hanzlik? Stiff. Danny Schayes? Stiff.
“I gave up trying to explain Doug Moe long ago,” Nuggets icon Dan Issel told the Los Angeles Times in 1985. “The thing I like about Doug is, he doesn’t take it personally. If you mess up and he hollers and screams, you had it coming. When the game’s over, it’s forgotten. You can go have dinner with him.”
He laughed easily. He forgave easily. Moe used to joke that he was two guys: Before and after the tilt, a sheer delight. In between, a snarling, barking wolf from pregame until the final horn.
“The most loyal person you’d ever meet,” Ficke said. “They should put his picture next to the word ‘loyal’ in the dictionary. If you’re his friend, you’re his friend for life.”
Doug wouldn’t let his body get him down, although Lord knows his body tried. As a Nuggets assistant for George Karl in 2004, Moe suffered a heart attack and required bypass surgery. The next year, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which led to another procedure in September 2005.
Doug and Big Jane eventually retired down in San Antonio, close to their boys. Ficke visited the Moes down in Texas this past November. He remembers that they hung out for six hours or so. He remembers how they told war stories ’til it hurt. He also remembers a hospice nurse was coming over daily to check on the former Nuggets coach.
“He was weak, don’t get me wrong,” Ficke said. “But he was upbeat.”
He was one of one, real as a hangover. Moe became the face of Denver sports before John Elway, the Nuggets’ Joker before Nikola Jokic. And the NBA still hasn’t quite caught up with him.
Luckily, Saint Peter’s coffee shop never closes, because Moe has more stories to tell, loosening a tie he hates, having tossed aside a jacket that never quite fit. The angels are in for an earful.
[ad_2]
Sean Keeler
Source link
.JPG "PHi_j0230(14).JPG")