Oil wells may be leaking toxic gas near your home or school. Across Texas, oil companies are belching hydrogen sulfide gas into communities with few or no repercussions, an investigation by the Examination and the Houston Chronicle has found. Known as H2S, the fumes escape from aging oil and wastewater tanks scattered within this community in the heart of the Permian Basin — one of the most productive oil fields in the world. Extremely high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide can kill quickly, but less attention has been paid to those breathing in lower levels of the gas in their daily lives. Studies have linked chronic low-level H2S exposure to neurological and other health problems. view article

One of the first school police officers to respond to the 2022 shooting massacre at Uvalde's Robb Elementary School pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment and endangerment Thursday morning during an arraignment hearing in state District Court.One of the first school police officers to respond to the 2022 shooting massacre at Uvalde's Robb Elementary School pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment and endangerment Thursday morning during an arraignment hearing in state District Court.  Adrian Gonzales was one of nearly 400 state and local officers who responded to the May 24, 2022, attack but waited 77 minutes to take down the 18-year-old gunman. A U.S. Justice Department inquiry into the massacre, which left 19 students and two teachers dead, concluded that "lives could have been saved" if officers had acted sooner, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in January.Prosecutors in a grand jury indictment unsealed last month accused Gonzales of hearing gunshots and "having time to respond to the shooter," but "fail(ing) to engage, distract and delay the shooter and fail(ing) to act in a way to otherwise impede the shooter until after the shooter entered Rooms 111 and 112 of Robb Elementary School."Adrian Gonzales was one of nearly 400 state and local officers who responded to the May 24, 2022, attack but waited 77 minutes to take down the 18-year-old gunman. A U.S. Justice Department inquiry into the massacre, which left 19 students and two teachers dead, concluded that "lives could have been saved" if officers had acted sooner, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in January.Prosecutors in a grand jury indictment unsealed last month accused Gonzales of hearing gunshots and "having time to respond to the shooter," but "fail(ing) to engage, distract and delay the shooter and fail(ing) to act in a way to otherwise impede the shooter until after the shooter entered Rooms 111 and 112 of Robb Elementary School."Gonzales' lawyers contend that there is no evidence that the officer should be singled out among hundreds of his colleagues for his role in the tragedy. view article

Plainview students will see some new signs as they walk in for their first day of school next month. They show school staff members are armed and trained to protect their students. With limited funding, the Plainview ISD police chief says that’s how the district is adapting to new state laws. view article

he Brownsville Independent School District will host Operation Border Health Preparedness this week at Rivera Early College High School, 6955 FM 802.  In partnership with the Department of State Health Services, BISD annually hosts Operation Border Health Preparedness, formerly known as Operation Lone Star, an exercise to help the community get ready for disasters. This year’s event will again offer medical services at no cost to the community.  The initiative is from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Friday. view article

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The Brownsville Independent School District will host Operation Border Health Preparedness this week at Rivera Early College High School, 6955 FM 802. In partnership with the Department of State Health Services, BISD annually hosts Operation Border Health Preparedness, formerly known as Operation Lone Star, an exercise to help the community get ready for disasters. This year’s event will again offer medical services at no cost to the community. view article

A Central Texas school district is having new technology installed this week to purify the air for its students as they prepare to return to the classroom for the new school year. The hope is to have better attendance and better academic results. Marlin ISD purchased protectED wall mounted air purification devices. view article

A North Texas man convicted of child pornography and recording himself molest a toddler was sentenced on Thursday to 120 years in prison, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton announced in a news release. Leslie Michael Alt, 40, of Forney, was indicted in Sept. 2022 and pleaded guilty a year later to two counts of production of child pornography and three counts of transportation of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Ada Brown gave him his sentence on Thursday. Alt admitted to using concealed cameras to record sexually explicit videos of two preteen girls, according to court documents. view article

The debate over cell phones in school is heating up in San Antonio. Right now, a pair of local districts are looking to update their policies and guidelines in hopes of avoiding distractions in the classroom and improving student learning. On Thursday, a school board committee with Northside ISD discussed coming up with a district-wide cell phone policy, since their guidelines currently vary from campus to campus. No decision was made, but there was some movement Thursday night at East Central ISD. view article

At Monday’s Amarillo Independent School District meeting, the school board was presented with a comprehensive plan outlining cell phone use during the instructional day at district high schools. Jay Barrett, the principal of AmTech Career Academy, and other school district leadership spoke about the need for a standard policy to deal with the disruptions to learning that teachers have observed in the classroom. Students’ addictions to their cell phones and social media were cited as major distractions. view article

An Anson ISD employee and sports photographer has been arrested on child pornography charges. Daril Gonzales, 55, was taken into custody Wednesday for Possession or Promotion of Lewd Visual Material Depicting a Child. A press release states Gonzales was initially contacted after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children told police there had been lewd visual material of children on his devices. view article

In 2022, Arizona pioneered the largest school voucher program in the history of education. Under a new law, any parent in the state, no matter how affluent, could get a taxpayer-funded voucher worth up to tens of thousands of dollars to spend on private school tuition, extracurricular programs or homeschooling supplies.  In just the past two years, nearly a dozen states have enacted sweeping voucher programs similar to Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account system, with many using it as a model.  Yet in a lesson for these other states, Arizona’s voucher experiment has since precipitated a budget meltdown. The state this year faced a $1.4 billion budget shortfall, much of which was a result of the new voucher spending, according to the Grand Canyon Institute, a local nonpartisan fiscal and economic policy think tank. Last fiscal year alone, the price tag of universal vouchers in Arizona skyrocketed from an original official estimate of just under $65 million to roughly $332 million, the Grand Canyon analysis found; another $429 million in costs is expected this year. view article

A guide to some of the professions that make up the mental health workforce.  Texas is in the midst of a mental health workforce shortage. But where is the state short?  Today, 246 of Texas’ 254 counties are wholly or partly designated by the federal government as “mental health professional shortage areas,” and that’s in a state where roughly 5 million people do not have health insurance. This has had a particularly dire effect in rural, border, and frontier counties in Texas, as some regions might have only one mental health professional or none.  “If you look at the raw numbers, we don’t have enough providers, even if they were evenly distributed,” said Alison Mohr Boleware, the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health policy director. view article

The school district and sheriff’s office in Uvalde must release their records and documents related to the Robb Elementary School shooting — including police body camera footage, 911 calls and communications, a Texas district court judge ruled last week. A group of news organizations including The Texas Tribune sued the city of Uvalde, the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office and the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District over access to the records after their open-records requests were repeatedly denied following the May 24, 2022 shooting. Lawyers representing the outlets on Monday announced the ruling from the 38th Judicial District Court of Uvalde County, touting it as a “victory for government transparency.” view article

By the start of the new school year, officials at Edcouch-Elsa Independent School District say students will be safer in the classroom. The district approved new security measures last week, and they hope to have everything in place by the end of August. One upgrade is the addition of new fences at all nine campuses. Currently, two elementary schools don't have any fencing. The other seven campuses have fences, but only on certain areas of the school properties. view article

A Uvalde County judge ruled Monday that records detailing the botched law enforcement response to the tragic 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary must be released in the next 20 days. In a news release announcing the judge's order making public the documents that have been sought by a consortium of media outlets, including the American-Statesman, and the families of the 19 children and two adults who were killed in the shooting, Laura Prather, the media litigation chair for Haynes Boone, the firm representing the plaintiffs, said the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District and Uvalde County sheriff's office are required to release "all responsive documents" within 20 days. "This ruling is a pivotal step towards ensuring transparency and accountability,” Prather said in a statement. “The public deserves to know the full details of the response to this tragic event, and the information could be critical in preventing future tragedies.” view article

TROY, Texas (KWTX) - To give students quality school lunches, the Texas Department of Agriculture’s Farm Fresh program is connecting local farmers with nearby schools’ nutrition teams. Through the Farm Fresh Program, Troy resident Karly Gilmore and her family, Gilmore Beef and Cattle, got connected with Florence ISD to provide fresh quality beef for school lunches. As a teacher herself, Gilmore is happy to help local schools in the classroom as well as the lunchroom. “I’m supplying them with good quality food every day in their cafeteria and that just makes me very proud,” Gilmore said. view article

Carthage ISD staff in the guardian program took part in "an intensive training session" last week, the district said. The guardian program, which began in Carthage in 2014, allows designated and trained school employees to carry a concealed firearm and act as a first line of defense until law enforcement arrives in the event of an active threat situation. view article

Dallas ISD is expanding its clear backpack policy to all grades starting in the upcoming school year. Students from pre-K to 12th grade must use a clear or mesh backpack. The district will provide each student with one clear backpack at no cost. Students can still carry small, non-clear pouches to hold personal items inside their backpack. view article

Carthage ISD staff in the guardian program took part in "an intensive training session" last week, the district said. The guardian program, which began in Carthage in 2014, allows designated and trained school employees to carry a concealed firearm and act as a first line of defense until law enforcement arrives in the event of an active threat situation. view article

Nicole and Sam Cano are proud of their teenage son Kingston. He might be a little small for his age, but he’s a curious student and an avid athlete who has found both satisfaction and success as a baseball player and on the football field. But when he walks the stage with the Class of ’28, he won’t do it as a Guyer High School Wildcat. He’ll graduate from a neighboring district. view article

Amy Marzano, a soon-to-be junior at New Diana High School, died on Wednesday following a medical emergency, Superintendent Marshall Moore said. Marzano was a dedicated majorette in the high school band and during practice this morning, she experienced a medical emergency that was reportedly not related to the activity. view article

A New Diana High School student has died following a medical episode she suffered during a majorette practice session. New Diana ISD Superintendent Marshall Moore announced Wednesday afternoon that Amy Marzano, who would have been a junior this fall, was transported to Longview Regional Hospital after she experienced a “medical emergency” during the morning practice session at the elementary school gym. Moore said that the emergency was not related to activity during the practice. view article

A new report shows that unaccompanied illegal alien children were being sent to live in unsafe environments under the Biden administration. A report from The Wall Street Journal revealed documents and interviews showing the federal government was repeatedly ignoring and overriding the concerns of lower-level workers who warned them about placing children in households with criminal records. At one holding facility near Los Angeles, California, more than 100 children were sent to live with temporary guardians previously issued denials by case coordinators. Nearly two dozen more denials were overturned by clerical errors or issues including missing fingerprints that were later resolved. However, many others were approved, with some of the home addresses tied to people with histories of criminal activity. Despite this knowledge, it cannot be determined what happened to the children after they left the facility. view article

The final arbiter of all civil matters in the state, the Texas Supreme Court, issued rulings in several cases this year ranging from what medical treatments can be performed on children in Texas to who should oversee local elections in certain counties. While the high court rejects weighing in on most cases put before it, each year the nine justices are tasked with issuing sweeping decisions, as per its interpretation of the state constitution, in matters that deal with everything from family disputes to clarifying business contracts. The following is a look at a few cases the Texas Supreme Court has decided so far this year. The court has a slate of future oral arguments set on its docket in September and October. view article

These days, fireworks have all kinds of names: Ghost Dragons, Bombers, Boomers, and while they may look pretty shooting up into the air, they’re just as dangerous as they sound. view article

A former Kilgore ISD teacher was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having an improper relationship with a student. Phillip Daniel Nix, 38, of Seymour, pleaded guilty on Monday to an improper relationship between a student and an educator in connection and then sentenced to 10 years. According to officials, Nix was arrested in 2022 following an investigation led by Kilgore Police officers and the Kilgore ISD administrators regarding information about a March 1, 2021, incident. view article

The Dallas Independent School District board of trustees voted to approve a student code of conduct that would give campus leaders and parents the option to send misbehaving children to six-hour "Saturday school" or community service instead of alternative school -- provided their parents also take a three-hour parenting class. view article

A woman in Montgomery County tested positive for West Nile virus, marking the first human case in Texas this year. The county reported high levels of the virus in the area, with more than 110 mosquito samples testing positive this season, Montgomery County Precinct 3 officials said in a news release. Texas Department of State Health confirmed the case. The patient, a woman in her 50s, lives in the West Conroe area from I-45 to Lake Conroe, up to Panorama Village. She tested positive through a blood test taken at a local emergency room, authorities said. "We have West Nile cases every year in different parts of the state," Lara Anton, a spokesperson for Texas Department of State Health Services, said. "It's not unusual, but it does remind us that you need to take precautions to protect yourself from getting bitten by mosquitos." view article

Floresville Independent School District will move forward with a proposal to randomly drug test 7th through 12th-grade students. The school board unanimously approved the idea on Wednesday night, but parents have given the decision mixed reviews. “Many parents feel that the drug testing of students is an example of overreaching,” said one Floresville ISD mother during a public comment. view article

Following the deadliest school shooting in Texas, legislators have enacted stricter laws regarding gun control and school safety. The House Bill 3, passed late last year, mandates armed security guards on all campuses and increases mental health resources for students. In Texas, the Texas Education Agency, Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office, and the TxSSC are responsible for setting public school safety guidelines. These rules were updated after the 2022 tragedy in Uvalde, but experts are concerned that parents still lack detailed knowledge of school safety policies. Brian Clason, Texas State School Safety Center’s program manager for training and education, advises parents to establish relationships with school staff to understand safety protocols before emergencies occur. Here’s a guide for parents on handling emergencies such as active threats, natural disasters, or hazmat situations: view article

More Texas homeowners and renters than ever are struggling with high housing costs — and the state’s high home prices have potentially put the dream of owning a home out-of-reach for a growing number of families. That’s according to a new report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, which also found that home prices and rents remain well above where they stood before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Texas housing market has cooled amid high interest rates after steep increases brought on by the state’s recent red-hot economic growth. So would-be homebuyers now need to make more money than ever before in order to buy a home in Texas’ major urban areas. The number of Texas homeowners and renters who struggle to keep a roof over their head also now sits at an all-time high. view article

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — A South Texas migrant detention center that has the most detainees of any U.S. facility will be shutting down, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. The South Texas Family Residential Center, in Dilley, Texas, will be closing to save costs, according to ICE, which said it is “the most expensive facility in the national detention network.”  ICE detention facilities at highest levels since 2020, report finds  The Dilley facility is operated by the Tennessee-based CoreCivic, a private prison operator for whom it generated $156.6 million in revenue in 2023, according to Dow Jones. view article

Before Roe v. Wade was overturned two years ago, the monthly average was around 4,400. Before Roe v. Wade was overturned two years ago, the monthly average was around 4,400..  In the last two years, Texas abortion clinics closed, legal challenges raced through the court system, towns tried to ban out-of-state travel, conservative activists made abortion pills and emergency oms into battlegrounds, and woman after woman after woman came forward with stories of medical care delayed or denied because of confusion over Texas’ abortion laws.  A nd five women were able to get an abortion, on average, each month.  Texas, with 30 million residents and 10% of the women of reproductive age in the nation, used to see about 4,400 abortions a month.  Now, five. view article

The trustees’ statement came a day after Lorena City Council rejected city board applicants labeled “adversarial” to the school district. The trustees’ statement came a day after Lorena City Council rejected city board applicants labeled “adversarial” to the school district. view article