Sex trafficking plea deal unending ‘nightmare’ for Texas mom
March 24, 2023 GMTSAN ANTONIO (AP) — Irma Reyes’ mind raced as her husband drove through the predawn darkness toward a courthouse hundreds of miles from home: Don’t they know my daughter matters?
Reyes had been barely able to eat since she heard that Texas prosecutors planned to let the two men charged with sex trafficking her daughter walk free.
A sex trafficking case, a plea deal and a mother’s pain
March 24, 2023 GMTSAN ANTONIO (AP) — Irma Reyes changed clothes in the back seat of the pickup: skirt, tights, turtleneck, leather jacket. All black. She brushed her hair and pulled on heels as her husband drove their Chevy through predawn darkness toward a courthouse hundreds of miles from home.
Surge in eating disorders spurs state legislative action
March 23, 2023 GMTDENVER (AP) — Stranded at home amid pandemic lockdowns in spring 2020, Emma Warford stumbled down a social media rabbit hole in her quest to get in shape. Viral 28-day fitness challenges. YouTubers promising “hourglass abs.” Diet videos where slim-stomached influencers peddled calorie-tracking apps.
Biden creates national monuments in Nevada, Texas mountains
March 21, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday he is establishing national monuments on more than half a million acres in Nevada and Texas and creating a marine sanctuary in U.S. waters near the Pacific Remote Islands southwest of Hawaii.
Judge pauses Biden waterway protections in Texas, Idaho
March 20, 2023 GMTGALVESTON, Texas (AP) — A federal judge paused the Biden administration's waterway protections in Texas and Idaho as Republicans across the country challenge the environmental regulations as vague and argue the rules would create economic burdens.
Texas, Florida push border laws as governors eye presidency
March 17, 2023 GMTPHOENIX (AP) — Led by tough-talking Republican governors weighing presidential runs, Texas and Florida are debating especially strict legislation on border security as the GOP tests federal authority over immigration.
Texas announces takeover of Houston schools, stirring anger
March 16, 2023 GMTHOUSTON (AP) — Texas officials on Wednesday announced a state takeover of Houston's nearly 200,000-student public school district, the eighth-largest in the country, acting on years of threats and angering Democrats who assailed the move as political.
Here is what’s at stake in abortion medication case
March 16, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge heard arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit that poses a threat to the nationwide availability of a leading abortion medication. The hearing comes as a conservative Christian group seeks to reverse federal approval of the drug mifepristone.
Lawyers seek removal of judge in Texas school shooting case
March 15, 2023 GMTHOUSTON (AP) — Attorneys for a man accused of fatally shooting 10 people at a Texas high school in 2018 are seeking to have the judge handling the case removed, accusing him of bias for pushing to have experts deem the former student competent to stand trial.
Texas judge in abortion pill case is a conservative favorite
March 15, 2023 GMTTexas drove out Chinese firm, not the wind farm it planned
March 15, 2023 GMTDEL RIO, Texas (AP) — Long before a Chinese spy balloon captivated and spooked the U.S.
Houston joins cities fighting potential state takeovers
March 11, 2023 GMTHOUSTON (AP) — In four years of Houston schools being under threat of one of the biggest state takeovers ever in the U.S., teacher Arnetta Murray says the district has come a long way.
As Houston braces for a decision from the state on whether it will seize control of public schools in Texas' largest city, Murray thinks the fight isn't just about failing grades.
Texas women sued for wrongful death after aiding in abortion
March 11, 2023 GMTAUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Three women in Texas are being sued for wrongful death by a man who claims they helped his now-ex-wife obtain medication for an abortion. It's another test of state-enforced bans since the U.S.
Texas executes inmate for killing 4 during drug robbery
March 10, 2023 GMTHUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Texas has executed an inmate convicted of the drug-related killings of four people more than 30 years ago, including a woman who was 9-months pregnant.
Arthur Brown Jr., 52, insisted he was innocent before receiving a lethal injection Thursday evening at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.
Texas attorney shot by Cheney during 2006 hunting trip dies
February 7, 2023 GMTHarry Whittington, the man who former Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot while they were hunting quail on a Texas ranch 17 years ago, has died.
DeSantis expected to control Disney district governing board
February 6, 2023 GMTTALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Ron DeSantis would take control over the board of a special governing district Walt Disney World operates in Florida under a bill introduced Monday, as the Republican governor punishes the company over its opposition to the so-called “Don't Say Gay” law.
Texas executes inmate for 2007 fatal shooting of Dallas cop
February 2, 2023 GMTHUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Texas on Wednesday executed an inmate convicted of fatally shooting a Dallas police officer nearly 16 years ago after a high-speed chase.
Wesley Ruiz, 43, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas, for the March 2007 killing of Dallas Police Senior Corporal Mark Nix.
Texas death row inmates sue over solitary confinement
January 26, 2023 GMTHOUSTON (AP) — A group of death row inmates filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against the Texas prison system over its policy of mandatory and indefinite solitary confinement for all prisoners who are awaiting execution, saying it causes severe physical and psychological harm.
US sweetens pot to study siting for spent nuke fuel storage
January 26, 2023 GMTALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The U.S. government has long struggled to find a permanent solution for storing or disposing of spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plants, and opposition to such a site is flaring up again as New Mexico lawmakers debate banning a facility without state consent.
Uvalde families press urgency after California shootings
January 25, 2023 GMTAUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Families from Uvalde on Tuesday pleaded with new urgency for tougher gun laws in the wake of a series of mass shootings in California, including the nation's deadliest act of gun violence since last year's attack at a Texas elementary school.
New Mexico AG seeks to codify abortion rights, nullify bans
January 24, 2023 GMTALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s top prosecutor on Monday asked the state Supreme Court to nullify abortion ordinances that local elected officials have passed in conservative reaches of the Democratic-led state.
Harris rallies against GOP push to roll back abortion rights
January 22, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris railed against efforts in Washington and in Republican-led states to restrict abortion on what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe vs.
US divided over Roe’s repeal as abortion foes gird for march
January 18, 2023 GMTAnti-abortion activists will have multiple reasons to celebrate — and some reasons for unease — when they gather Friday in Washington for the annual March for Life.
The march, which includes a rally drawing abortion opponents from across the nation, has been held annually since January 1974 — a year after the U.S.
Birth control ruling to see fresh scrutiny at Texas Capitol
January 10, 2023 GMTAUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Samantha Sorsby-Jones watched friends at her Texas high school go to great lengths to get birth control: Secretly arranging rides to clinics that didn’t require parental consent and hiding phones in bushes in case parents were tracking them.
Court revives claims by Texas death row inmate backed by DA
January 9, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday revived claims by a Texas inmate who has the rare support of the state prosecutor's office that put him on death row.
Conservatives take aim at tenure for university professors
January 8, 2023 GMTMISSION, Kan. (AP) — When Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asked Texas colleges to disavow critical race theory, the University of Texas faculty approved a resolution defending their freedom to decide for themselves how to teach about race.
States target transgender health care in first bills of 2023
January 7, 2023 GMTAfter a midterm election and record flow of anti-transgender legislation last year, Republican state lawmakers this year are zeroing in on questions of bodily autonomy with new proposals to limit gender-affirming health care and abortion access.
US appeals court blocks ban on rapid-fire ‘bump stocks’
January 7, 2023 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Trump administration ban on bump stocks — devices that enable a shooter to rapidly fire multiple rounds from semi-automatic weapons after an initial trigger pull — was struck down Friday by a federal appeals court in New Orleans.
Court goes against Texas inmates questioning execution drugs
January 5, 2023 GMTHOUSTON (AP) — Texas’ top criminal appeals court has barred a civil court judge from issuing any orders in a lawsuit by three death row inmates who allege the state plans to use expired and unsafe drugs to execute them.
US settles with Mexican man arrested despite DACA status
January 5, 2023 GMTSEATTLE (AP) — A Mexican man who was arrested by U.S. immigration agents in 2017 despite his participation in a program designed to protect those brought to the U.S. illegally as children will be allowed to remain in the country for at least the next four years under a settlement with the Justice Department.
Inmates allege Texas plans to use unsafe execution drugs
January 3, 2023 GMTHOUSTON (AP) — Texas plans to use expired and unsafe drugs to carry out executions early this year in violation of state law, three death row inmates allege in a lawsuit.
Prison officials deny the claim and say the state’s supply of execution drugs is safe.
New year expected to bring more changes to state voting laws
December 29, 2022 GMTState lawmakers around the country introduced thousands of bills to change the way elections are run after former President Donald Trump falsely blamed his 2020 loss on voter fraud.
EXPLAINER: What happens if COVID asylum restrictions end?
December 28, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Since the pandemic began, the United States has been using a public health rule designed to limit the spread of disease to expel asylum-seekers on the southern border.
Title 42, as it’s called, has been used more than 2.5 million times to expel migrants since March 2020, although that number includes people who repeatedly attempted to cross the border.
US Supreme Court keeps asylum limits in place for now
December 28, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is keeping pandemic-era limits on asylum in place for now, dashing hopes of migrants who have been fleeing violence and inequality in Latin America and elsewhere to reach the United States.
States banking big bucks as Fed attempts to fight inflation
December 27, 2022 GMTJEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — State governments emerging from the coronavirus pandemic built historic cash surpluses as inflation in prices and wages drove up sales and income tax collections.
Now many states are reaping another reward: banking millions of dollars off those surpluses as the Federal Reserve fights inflation with higher interest rates.
BLM sets up student relief fund as loan forgiveness stalls
December 12, 2022 GMTThe Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation launched a new relief fund Monday aimed at Black college students, alumni and dropouts overburdened by mounting education costs and the student loan debt crisis.
Biden called gay marriage ‘inevitable’ and soon it’ll be law
December 10, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — A decade ago, then-Vice President Joe Biden shocked the political world and preempted his boss by suddenly declaring his support for gay marriage — one of the country's most contentious issues — on national television.
AP WAS THERE: Supreme Court gives same-sex marriage rights
December 8, 2022 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Editor's Note: On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples had the right to marry. The narrow, 5-4 decision did away with same-sex marriage bans in 14 states.