The suspended Academy ISD employee jailed on a charge of displaying harmful material to a minor is now facing additional charges, including child sex assault, The Bell County Sheriff’s Office said. Earlier this week, deputies arrested William “Will” Anthony Blackburn, Sr. view article

No arrests have been made in a northwest Harris County shootout, the department says, which involved several teenagers. While no one is behind bars, the sheriff's office believes most, if not all, of the teens are current or former Cy-Fair ISD students. view article

No students were reportedly hurt after a school bus accident, Tyler ISD officials confirmed Wednesday. The accident happened at 6:53 a.m. at 522 West 32nd Street near Griffin Elementary. Jennifer Hines, the Tyler ISD Chief Communications Officer, said early reports indicate that students were not injured. Tyler police later said a cement truck was waiting on the roadside to back into a driveway for a scheduled project when the bus “cut a little too close,” hitting the boom on the back of the truck. view article

Austin ISD adopted a reduced property tax rate for fiscal year 2025-26, which could mean hundreds of dollars in savings for homeowners.   view article

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday directed the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to “bolster security efforts surrounding places of worship in the wake of the escalation of violent attacks against people and places of faith across the nation.”  In the directive, Abbott said local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies will partner to increase safety and security at churches, synagogues, and faith-based organizations in Texas.  “Places of worship are sacred,” Abbott said. “We will marshal all resources necessary to safeguard our places of faith. To accomplish that objective, I directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to bolster security efforts to protect places of worship.”   According to Abbott’s office, Texas Highway Patrol troopers, Criminal Investigations Division special agents, and Texas Rangers, supported by the DPS Homeland Security Division, will work with local and federal law enforcement to “identify threats and prevent life-threatening attacks before they happen.” view article

Texas has taken several steps in recent years to allow churches more freedom to protect themselves and their congregants.  Gov. Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to ramp up security around places of worship across the state.  The announcement comes after a horrifying assault over the weekend at a Mormon church in Michigan, where authorities say 42-year-old Thomas Sanford drove a truck into the building, opened fire, and set the structure ablaze. Four were killed in the attack, and eight others were injured. view article

Texas has taken several steps in recent years to allow churches more freedom to protect themselves and their congregants.  Gov. Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to ramp up security around places of worship across the state.  The announcement comes after a horrifying assault over the weekend at a Mormon church in Michigan, where authorities say 42-year-old Thomas Sanford drove a truck into the building, opened fire, and set the structure ablaze. Four were killed in the attack, and eight others were injured. view article

The University of North Texas Police Department has agreed to protect a student facing harassment and threats. An audio recording of a prior meeting revealed that police originally asked the student to come up with a safety plan.  Texas Scorecard obtained a Sunday email from University of North Texas Police Chief Ramona Washington to Randee Hallmark, the mother of UNT student Mary-Catherine Hallmark. Washington offered for Lt. Christopher Boesch to meet with Mary-Catherine Hallmark to review a “safety plan.”  Hallmark is the UNT student who opposed a classmate celebrating Charlie Kirk’s assassination. She said she’s been harassed and threatened since then. view article

In a social media post Friday afternoon, the Crosby County Sheriff’s Office said they were working with Lorenzo ISD to investigate a phone threat made against the district. They stated that all students and faculty were safe and that no incident had taken place at the time of writing. In addition, they urged parents to not come to the school, with a normal dismissal schedule still in place. view article

A Corrigan-Camden ISD student is in critical condition after collapsing on the sidelines of a football game Friday, the ISD said. The student was there to support his team, but he suffered a medical emergency unrelated to the game, according to a letter from Superintendent Brian Aiken and Athletic Director Brett Ratliff. view article

Officials in Plano Independent School District finally addressed the issue of mold in Murphy Middle School after students, parents, and teachers complained.  But for some, the issue is not resolved.  Principal Tramy Tran emailed Murphy families on Tuesday to “address recent concerns” regarding air quality and “potential black mold” in the building.  Tran confirmed that the district had hired a third party to conduct a “limited” mold inspection, which concluded that air quality inside the school was “well within acceptable range and presents no health concerns.”   At least one Murphy student’s mom is still concerned, as are several staff members. view article

The notes say he was targeting immigration agents and wanted to cause terror, according to the U.S. Justice Department.  The man who shot and killed a detainee and hospitalized two others at a Dallas immigration facility before turning the gun on himself acted alone and left detailed notes stating he intended to shoot and terrorize U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday.  Fairview resident Joshua Jahn, 29, opened fire with a bolt-action rifle at a Dallas ICE field office around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, shooting across the length of the building, through windows, and toward law enforcement vans, where he hit three detainees being transferred. One died and two were taken to a nearby hospital, where they are undergoing treatment, acting U.S. Attorney Nancy Larson said at a press conference Thursday. view article

A middle school student was arrested Wednesday after allegedly making a threat against a Rockwall ISD school, police said. According to the Fate Department of Public Safety, a school resource officer at Ursula Rakow Middle School learned a student made a threat against the school and its students late in the day on Tuesday. Fate DPS said the student admitted to the SRO that they made the comments "as a joke" during a visit to the student's home. view article

An Austin ISD custodian has been arrested for indecency with a child, the district told parents and guardians in a letter sent Thursday. AISD said on Wednesday, U.S. Marshals arrested Agustin Ibarra Lopez, a regional custodial specialist for the district, on a charge of first-degree felony indecency with a child. view article

Two shootings Thursday morning left a woman injured and her alleged shooter dead.  At 10:57 a.m. Thursday the Orange County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call reporting a shooting near the 3700 block of Granger Lane in Orangefield.  Due to the close proximity of the reported shooting to the Orangefield Independent School District and local daycares, school district officials and daycares were notified, and lockdown procedures were initiated. view article

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee, recently reconstituted by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., met to debate changes to childhood immunizations and coronavirus vaccines. The final votes could have been worse, but the advisers’ comments offered a troubling preview of what lies ahead. view article

The parents of Cile Steward, the last camper who has yet to be found from Camp Mystic, demanded on Thursday that the private camp not reopen its doors next summer as the search for their daughter's body continues.  CiCi and Will Steward sent a letter to the Christian summer getaway destination for girls on Wednesday, following its announcement of resuming operations at Camp Mystic Cypress Lake next year.  view article

The folks behind Edible Arrangements are bringing you another type of edible. view article

A student is being investigated after allegedly bringing two knives to Dessau Elementary and threatening students and a staff member on Tuesday. Principal Daniela Guardiola sent a letter to families following the incident informing them that a serious incident took place on campus. view article

The second of Laredo's two major school districts has made changes to its schedule due to the inclement weather in the area. United Independent School District announced Thursday morning before 6 a.m. that its schools would be operating under a delayed start due to the downpour and flooded streets around the area. view article

Lufkin ISD says it is investigating after an unloaded gun was brought to the Lufkin Middle School campus earlier in September. The district says it received a report Monday and has confirmed that more than one student witnessed a gun on the middle school campus on Sept. 12. The district, in a statement, said it was working on recommending further measures to enhance campus security and reminded students, parents and guardians that failing to report incidents was “unacceptable.” view article

Health experts hope data out of Texas will raise awareness about a type of infection commonly spread through kissing bugs.  Researchers with Texas A&M University and the Texas Department of State Health Services analyzed state health data and found it supports classifying Chagas Disease as endemic in the U.S., meaning consistently present in a community like the common cold and strains of influenza.  The U.S. doesn't have standardized surveillance of Chagas, and that can make its presence difficult to study. view article

TEXARKANA, Texas -- Liberty-Eylau Independent School District held a regular school board meeting Thursday and made decisions regarding school security officers and financial decisions for the district.  Superintendent Jeff Wright asked the board to approve the continued use of armed security officers on LEISD campuses, referring to a recently enacted statute. view article

The White House clarified its change to H-1B visas after workers, companies and foreign governments scrambled to respond to its latest immigration crackdown.  The surprise order from the Trump administration imposing a new $100,000 fee on some visas set off a day of frantic travel as workers, companies and foreign governments scrambled to respond to Washington's latest immigration crackdown.  By the time the White House clarified that existing holders of the H-1B visas for skilled workers were not affected, the chaos had already been sewn: U.S. allies expressed concern and their nationals abandoned holidays, business trips and plans to see their families as they raced back to America before the new rules took effect Sunday. view article

lease explore to learn more about kissing bugs, the parasite they transmit, and how you can submit your insects and observations to our research program. view article

Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza recently announced that his office secured a hate crime conviction for Michael Boone. Timeline: On August 11, 2023, the Austin Independent School District’s Police Department investigated a terroristic threat sent to the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees via their "Let’s Talk" App prior to the Board of Trustees' participation in the Austin Pride Parade on August 12, 2023. view article

A youth baseball game turned terrifying Sunday morning when a 27-year-old coach was shot in the shoulder by a stray bullet, reportedly fired from nearby recreational gunfire. The coach was airlifted from the scene in front of stunned families and players at TheRac Baseball complex in Katy. view article

A youth baseball game turned terrifying Sunday morning when a 27-year-old coach was shot in the shoulder by a stray bullet, reportedly fired from nearby recreational gunfire. The coach was airlifted from the scene in front of stunned families and players at TheRac Baseball complex in Katy. view article

RIO GRANDE CITY — Jake Margo Jr. stood in the triage room at Starr County Memorial Hospital explaining why a person with persistent fever who could be treated with over-the-counter medication didn’t need to be admitted to the emergency room.  “We’re going to take care of the sickest patients first,” Margo, a family medicine physician, said.  It’s not like there was space on that June afternoon anyway. A small monitor on the wall pulsed with the vitals of current patients, who filled the ER. An ambulance idled outside in the South Texas heat with a patient waiting for a bed to open up. “Everybody shows up here,” Margo said. “When you’re overwhelmed and you’re overrun, there’s only so much you can do.” view article

Riviera Independent School District was briefly placed on lockdown Wednesday after a report that a student might have had a firearm on campus. District officials said staff immediately followed safety protocols and contacted law enforcement after receiving the report. Officers and school staff searched the student, their belongings, and the entire district. No weapon was found. view article

For more than two decades, Joe Nino has walked the halls of Alice Independent School District with one goal in mind: keeping the school safe. As the district's chief security guard and longest-serving member of the security team, Nino has dedicated 24 years to protecting students and staff. An Alice graduate himself, he said serving and protecting has been his calling. view article

All students are safe and making their way to school after a Gladewater ISD bus was involved in a wreck with an 18-wheeler Friday morning. Officials said the crash happened on U.S. Highway 271 near County Road 3104 in the Gladewater area. view article

The city of Austin will not renew its contracts with Urban Alchemy, a Bay Area homeless services nonprofit that operates two downtown emergency shelters, when the current agreements expire Sept. 30.  Austin’s Homeless Strategy Officer David Gray wrote in a memo to City Council that the decision came after the nonprofit “identified staff who improperly, and without permission, misrepresented” data around when people were exiting the shelters. The data has since been corrected, Gray wrote in the memo. view article

A second Texas higher education student is no longer enrolled after controversial remarks about Charlie Kirk's death and political pressure from Gov. Greg Abbott to punish those who "celebrate" his assassination.  Texas State University President Kelly Damphousse announced Tuesday night that a student in a viral video shared by Abbott who was seen pantomiming Kirk's death and cursing the conservative activist is no longer enrolled at the university, and condemned the actions. view article

According to the Huntington ISD superintendent, a student was taken into custody by school district officers on Monday. The incident, according to Dr. Carolyn Fiaschetti, happened around 10:30 a.m. The HISD police department was notified of a possible weapon located in a student vehicle in the PRIDE alternative campus parking lot. view article