Lawmakers will investigate response to floods Gov. Greg Abbott said Sunday he’s likely to instruct the Legislature to investigate early warning systems and other governmental responses to July Fourth flash flooding that killed dozens of people in the Hill Country.
Lawmakers are set to convene in Austin July 21.
Meanwhile, as of Sunday, in addition to local first responders, more than 1,300 state personnel were dispatched to the scene.
Abbott has issued a disaster declaration covering more than 20 Hill Country counties, where rain continued to fall during the weekend.
“We will be relentless in going after and ensuring that we locate every single person who’s been a victim of this flooding event,” Abbott said. “We’re not going to stop today or tomorrow.”
Appeals court: Immigration law unconstitutional A three-judge panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked a 2023 Texas immigration law that would have permitted local police to arrest people believed to have illegally crossed the Texas-Mexico border.
The vote was 2-1, The Texas Tribune reported.
“For nearly 150 years, the Supreme Court has recognized that the power to control immigration — the entry, admission and removal of aliens — is exclusively a federal power,” the ruling says.
The Trump administration earlier this year dropped the federal government’s opposition to a suit filed by two immigrant rights groups and El Paso County challenging the constitutionality of the Texas state law.
It would have made it a Class B misdemeanor to cross the border between ports of entry. Subsequent offenses could have resulted in a second-degree felony.
It was not immediately known whether the state will appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Interfaith parents sue to block Ten Commandments law Two separate lawsuits are challenging a law passed during the last legislative session requiring the hanging of posters of the Ten Commandments in all public- school classrooms.
The San Antonio Express- News said the latest suit was filed against several Austin, Houston and San Antonio-area districts.
“Permanently posting the Ten Commandments in every Texas public-school classroom — rendering them unavoidable — is plainly unconstitutional,” one of the suits states.
The plaintiffs are parents from Jewish, Christian, Unitarian Universalist and Hindu faiths, plus some who are nonreligious. They are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Church and Faith.
The new law, which would take effect in September if a court doesn’t halt it, would require all publicly funded schools to hang a 16-by-20-inch framed poster of the Ten Commandment in a “conspicuous place” in every classroom.
First Texas case of West Nile reported
The first case of West Nile illness in Texas this year has been reported by the Department of State Health Services in a resident of Brazos County.
West Nile is transmitted by mosquitoes and 80% of people exposed do not get sick, but the rest can have symptoms such as fever, nausea, headaches, muscle fatigue and muscle and joint pain. Fewer than 1% suffer more serious symptoms, including some fatalities.
“Texans should be aware that mosquitoes transmit disease, and some of these illnesses, like West Nile and dengue, can be severe,” said Department of State Health Services Commissioner Jennifer A. Shuford. “But taking steps to prevent mosquito bites and eliminating mosquito breeding areas around homes are proactive measures that can reduce the risk of mosquito-borne illness.”
Several steps can be taken to avoid West Nile, including wearing long sleeves and pants, using insect repellent and removing standing water in outside containers.
A total of 455 cases of West Nile disease were reported in 2024, including 56 deaths.
Northeast Texas farmer plans run against Abbott A former firefighter and farmer from Wood County plans to run next year as a Democrat against Abbott, the Houston Chronicle reported. Bobby Cole is vowing to “take back the government for working people of the state.”
“Republicans have spent 30 years in office and working men and women have been having to pay the cost,” said Cole, 55. “It has to stop.”
Cole retired as a firefighter in Texarkana and later in Plano. He maintains a family farm in Quitman where they raise 300 head of cattle and also chickens.
Abbott has been governor since 2014 and has already announced plans to run for reelection.
Borders is a veteran award -winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview,FortStockton,Nacogdoches, Lufkin, and Cedar Park. Email:[email protected].
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