ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The third night of the Miss America competition gets underway Friday as contestants have one last chance to impress the judges and score points before Sunday’s nationally televised finale. Miss Texas Margana Wood won the swimsuit competition Wednesday, and Miss Utah JessiKate Riley won the talent portion with a classical … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — As high water spreads from Houston through Texas and Louisiana, authorities are bracing for an inevitable wave of fraud and other criminal activity set into motion by Harvey’s punishing rains. In a warning to those who would seek to defraud the government and people wanting to help or seeking assistance, a … Continue reading
HOUSTON (AP) — A sodden Texas coastal community was becoming increasingly isolated Wednesday, as Harvey-fed rains flooded most major roadways leading out of the city and swamped a shelter for those displaced by the storm that ravaged the Houston area. Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy Marcus McLellan said he wasn’t sure where the 100 or so … Continue reading
HOUSTON (AP) — Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coast some 175 miles (280 kilometers) from Houston, but the nation’s fourth-largest city has never needed a direct strike from a catastrophic storm to flood. Regularly inundated by floodwaters ever since its settlement in the mid-1800s, Houston looked on warily even before Harvey roared ashore. In … Continue reading
HOUSTON (AP) Photos with pleas for help in finding the missing from Hurricane Harvey are being posted, cut-and-pasted and retweeted by thousands of people as desperate family members seek loved ones who they fear might be dead, but may only have a dead phone. No official number of the unaccounted-for had been released Tuesday night … Continue reading
HOUSTON (AP) — The Latest on Tropical Storm Harvey (all times local): 8 a.m. Emergency vehicles made up most of the traffic in downtown Houston on what would have normally been a busy start of the work week. Due to Harvey, the usually bustling business area was mostly deserted Monday morning. The water had receded … Continue reading
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Hundreds of protesters opposing Texas’ tough new anti-“sanctuary cities” law launched a raucous demonstration from the public gallery in the Texas House on Monday, briefly halting work and prompting lawmakers on the floor below to scuffle — and even threaten gun violence — as tense divides over hardline immigration policies boiled … Continue reading
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A transgender “bathroom bill” reminiscent of one in North Carolina that caused a national uproar now appears to be on a fast-track to becoming law in Texas, though it may only apply to public schools. A broader proposal mandating that virtually all transgender people in the country’s second-largest state use public … Continue reading
TEXAS CITY, Texas (AP) — Family members of a Houston-area high school student who killed herself are rallying for tighter laws against cyberbullying. Brandy Vela’s family says cyberbullying pushed the 18-year-old over the edge, leading her to shoot herself in the chest Tuesday afternoon at the family’s Texas City home as family members watched. Her … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Texas regulators investigated Trump University for fraud six years ago, Donald Trump’s lawyers tried the same defenses the presumptive Republican presidential nominee cited again as recently as Tuesday June 7th — that the now-defunct real-estate workshops were top-notch and the students overwhelmingly satisfied. But internal emails reviewed by The Associated Press … Continue reading
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Residents of some rural southeast Texas counties braced for more flooding along a river that is expected to crest at a record level just two years after it had run dry in places because of drought. National Weather Service meteorologists predicted the Brazos River would crest at 53.5 feet by … Continue reading
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Baylor University and its president faced mounting pressure Tuesday, May 10th, over how the school has handled reports of rape and assault by football players, and the Texas university said its governing board was still considering the results of an internal investigation into the matter. Asked about reports that the board … Continue reading
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — When Texas takes up always-contentions revisions of science and social studies coursework in 2017, a former schoolteacher who believes dinosaurs were on Noah’s Ark and Democrats killed John F. Kennedy won’t have a vote. Mary Lou Bruner lost her Republican primary runoff for a seat on the powerful Texas State Board … Continue reading
DALLAS (AP) — Texas’ lieutenant governor said Friday, May 13, that the state is prepared to forfeit billions of federal dollars in public school funding in defiance of an Obama administration directive requiring schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their chosen gender identity. The new directive is expected … Continue reading
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Texas Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels struck out trying to see last year’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show despite paying nearly $70,000 to a London-based event promoter for VIP tickets, according to a recent lawsuit. The former Philadelphia Phillies star said he and his wife hoped to attend the 2015 New York City lingerie … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 