Tag Archives: Texas

Texas reports four more cases of Zika spread by local mosquitoes

A woman looks at a Center for Disease Control (CDC) health advisory sign about the dangers of the Zika virus as she lines up for a security screening at Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida,

(Reuters) – Texas health officials said they had identified four additional cases of Zika likely spread by local mosquitoes, two weeks after the first case was reported in the state.

The four patients live in very close proximity to the first case, the Texas Department of State Health Services and Cameron County Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement on Friday.

The first case involved a woman living in Cameron County near the Mexico border, who is not pregnant.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Florida Department of Health said earlier on Friday the Miami Beach area was no longer considered an active Zika transmission zone.

The CDC said there had been no new cases of local Zika virus transmission identified in South Miami Beach for more than 45 days, suggesting that the risk of infection was no longer greater than in the rest of Miami-Dade County.

“Florida no longer has any identified areas with active Zika transmission,” Governor Rick Scott said in a statement.

(Reporting by Subrat Patnaik and Akankshita Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr and Shounak Dasgupta)

Texas reports first case of Zika likely from local mosquitoes

(Reuters) – Texas officials on Monday reported the state’s first case of the Zika virus that was likely transmitted by a local mosquito, expanding the spread within the continental United States of a virus that has been linked to microcephaly, a rare birth defect.

The case involved a woman living in Cameron County near the Mexico border, the Texas Department of State Health Services said. The state said it currently has no other suspected cases of local transmission.

(Reporting by Letitia Stein; Editing by Andrew Hay)

U.S. authorities warn of al Qaeda threat to election

The rising sun lights One World Trade as it stands over the Manhattan borough of New York.

By David Ingram

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Federal officials have warned authorities in New York City, Texas and Virginia about an unspecific threat of attacks by al Qaeda militants around Election Day, putting local law enforcement on alert days before the vote, officials said on Friday.

A U.S. government source in Washington said some federal agencies sent bulletins to local and state officials flagging the information but that the threat was relatively low level.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates airports, tunnels and bridges around New York City, continues high levels of patrol it has had in place, spokesman Steve Coleman said.

Coleman declined to offer details on the warning, but the New York City Police Department said the threat report lacked specifics and was still being assessed.

“We are aware of the information,” the department said in a statement, adding that it was working with intelligence agencies and the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Although some of the attention of U.S. authorities has shifted to Islamic State-inspired attacks, the al Qaeda network has shown resilience more than 15 years after it was responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

Last month, the United States carried out strikes in Afghanistan targeting two of al Qaeda’s senior leaders there,  and al Qaeda’s Yemen branch has posed a risk to merchant ships in waterways nearby.

U.S. intelligence agencies still view al Qaeda and its affiliates as a top counter terrorism priority.

The White House said it was aware of the reported al Qaeda threats and mindful of increased risk of attacks during events such as Election Day.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement his office was monitoring the situation and urged Texans to remain vigilant. In Virginia, Brian Coy, a spokesman for Governor Terry McAuliffe, said: “We are doing everything we can to keep Virginians safe, and we’re confident they are going to be able to vote safely on Election Day.”

The task force issued a notice identifying the three states as possible targets of an al Qaeda plot, a New York law enforcement official said on condition of anonymity. The official said the type of threat was common but authorities were giving it more attention because of Tuesday’s election.

CBS News first reported the threat of attacks, which it said were possible on Monday.

Authorities were assessing whether there was a plot and whether the states named were real targets or misdirection. “Another possibility is that this is just an attempt to inspire someone here to mount an attack,” the official said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security did not confirm the reports or comment on details.

In Washington, a Homeland Security official said authorities remained concerned that so-called “homegrown” militants could be inspired to attack within the United States.

“The public should expect to continue to observe an increased law enforcement and security presence across communities in public places,” the official told Reuters.

The potential for violence related to the election has already darkened a rancorous presidential race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, on top of the threat of computer hacking and fears that Russia or other state actors could spread political misinformation online or tamper with voting.

While federal and state authorities are beefing up cyber defenses against electronic threats to voting systems, others are taking additional steps to guard against possible civil unrest or violence.

(Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, John Walcott, Doina Chiacu, Ian Simpson and Roberta Rampton in Washington and Nate Raymond in New York; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Grant McCool)

U.S. warns about possible al Qaeda attacks in Virginia, Texas, NY

The rising sun lights One World Trade as it stands over the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S.,

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. intelligence officials have warned local authorities in New York, Texas and Virginia about possible attacks by al Qaeda on Monday, a day before the U.S. presidential election, CBS News reported on Friday, citing unnamed sources.

No specific locations were mentioned, but U.S. intelligence officials alerted joint terrorism task forces about the possible threat, CBS reported.

The FBI did not comment specifically on the report. “The counterterrorism and homeland security communities remain vigilant and well-postured to defend against attacks here in the United States,” it said in a statement on Friday.

The bureau was working closely with federal, state and local law enforcement to identify and disrupt any potential threats, it said.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report, and officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The potential for violent clashes is darkening an already rancorous presidential race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, on top of the threat of computer hacking and fears that Russia or other state actors could spread political misinformation online or tamper with voting.

And while federal and state authorities are beefing up cyber defenses against potential electronic attacks on voting systems ahead of Election Day, others are taking additional steps to guard against possible civil unrest or violence.

Local authorities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wisconsin and Florida told Reuters they were not boosting election-related law enforcement personnel or resources above 2012 levels.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu in Washington and Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Refugee from Iraq pleads guilty in U.S. to attempting to join Islamic State

By Alex Dobuzinskis

(Reuters) – An Iraqi-born man who entered the United States as a refugee pleaded guilty on Monday in Texas to attempting to volunteer to fight with Islamic State, federal prosecutors said.

Omar Faraj Saeed Al-Hardan, 24, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Houston to one count of attempting to provide material support, specifically himself, to the militant group, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the southern district of Texas said in a statement.

Al-Hardan, who most recently lived in Houston, faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 17, prosecutors said.

The case comes during a U.S. presidential race in which the question of admitting refugees from the Middle East, especially Syria, has become a point of contention between the two leading candidates.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has called for increasing the number of Syrian refugees admitted and said the United States can adequately screen them. Republican nominee Donald Trump has opposed their entry and called for “extreme vetting” of incoming Muslim immigrants.

In the Texas case, federal agents began investigating Al-Hardan in 2014 after he communicated with a California man who he believed was associated with the Syrian Islamist rebel group Al-Nusrah, prosecutors said in a statement.

Al-Hardan in 2014 and 2015, in discussions with a confidential informant, said he planned to travel overseas to support Islamic State, prosecutors said.

He also said he had taught himself to make remote detonators and showed off a circuit board he built as a transmitter, prosecutors said.

Al-Hardan entered the United States as an Iraqi refugee in late 2009, about two years before the start of a civil war in Syria, after spending time in refugee camps in Jordan and Iraq, prosecutors said. He was later granted legal permanent residence.

The arrest of Al-Hardan gained national media attention in January, with Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, a conservative Republican, citing it as an indication of why Texas was seeking to block the resettlement of Syrian refugees.

Islamic State, which controls tracts of land in Iraq and Syria, has claimed credit for a surge in global attacks this summer, even as it has been hammered by U.S.-led coalition air strikes. On Monday, Iraqi forces launched a U.S.-backed offensive to drive Islamic State from the city of Mosul.

President Barack Obama has said refugees are properly screened and vetted.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Texas withdrawing from U.S. refugee resettle program

Texas Governor Greg Abbott speaks at a campaign rally for U.S. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz in Dallas, Texas

By Jon Herskovitz

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept 21 (Reuters) – Texas gave notice on Wednesday that it was withdrawing from participating in the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement’s program, citing security concerns after failing in federal court to halt the inflow of
Syrian refugees into the state.

The Texas State Refugee Coordinator sent a letter to the agency, giving 120 days notice of its intention to withdraw, charging the program was riddled with problems that present security risks, Republican Governor Greg Abbott said.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement said in a statement its services to help integrate newcomers into U.S. society are only provided after they complete stringent U.S. security screenings.

“Despite multiple requests by the State of Texas, the federal government lacks the capability or the will to distinguish the dangerous from the harmless, and Texas will not be an accomplice to such dereliction of duty to the American people,” Abbott said in a statement.

Texas, a bellwether state for conservative policies, has seen other Republican-led states follow its lead in challenging the Obama administration’s refugee resettlement plans in and out of the courts.

“The security vetting for this population – the most vulnerable of individuals – is extraordinarily thorough and comprehensive,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a joint, five-page letter to Abbott in November which outlined the process.

Since Jan. 1, 2011, there have been 1,104 Syrian refugees resettled in Texas, according to the U.S. State Department-affiliated Refugee Processing Center. That is less than the 1,610 people resettled in California and the 1,515 sent
to Michigan.

A Texas withdraw is not expected to impair the work of private relief groups from resettling refugees in the state.

The Obama administration said on Aug. 29 it would meet its goal of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees during the current fiscal year a month ahead of schedule and was working with Congress to increase the target by a few thousand during 2017.

U.S. admission of Syrian refugees has been a hot button issue in the 2016 presidential race.

The civil war in Syria has led to a flood of refugees. The United States has offered refuge to far fewer than many of its allies. Germany has taken in over a million refugees from Syria, North Africa and Asia in the last year, while Canada admitted nearly 30,000 between November last year and May 1.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Daniel Bases)

Texas to consider Mexican-American textbook critics decry as racist

School bus

By Jon Herskovitz

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – The State Board of Education in Texas is expected to hear testimony next week from critics of a new textbook for Mexican-American studies who say the tome is riddled with mistakes and perpetrates demeaning stereotypes.

The book’s publisher, run by an evangelical Christian and self-described Republican patriot, argues it is academically sound and is being targeted by those advancing a liberal political agenda.

A decision by the Texas State Board of Education to approve the book could have wide ramifications. The conservative board is responsible for buying 48 million textbooks a year, and volumes that win its support often are marketed by publishers to school districts nationally.

The textbook being considered at a hearing on Tuesday in Austin, titled “Mexican American Heritage,” was the only one submitted after Texas put out a request for a book to be used in a proposed high school elective course on Mexican-American studies.

One of the few liberal members of the board, Ruben Cortez, said in a statement this week that the book “describes Mexicans as lazy, alleges that Mexican culture does not value hard work and that Mexicans bring drug and crime into the country.”

He commissioned a body of academics, mostly professors of history, to examine the book. They said in a report this week it was filled with errors and did not meet state standards.

“We have a web of racist assertions that are built in passages, that are built on multiple errors. This is a textbook that is a polemic against the Mexican-American community,” said Trinidad Gonzales, a history instructor at South Texas College who was on the book review team.

One passage regarded as biased concerned views employers have had of Mexican workers.

It reads: “Stereotypically, Mexicans were viewed as lazy compared to European or American workers … It was also traditional to skip work on Mondays, and drinking on the job could be a problem.”

Cynthia Dunbar, chief executive of Momentum Instruction which published the book, said in a phone interview the criticism is unfounded.

“There is absolutely no context, motivation and no agenda to in any way do anything negative or detrimental to Mexican-Americans or Mexican-American history,” said Dunbar, a former Texas state school board member from 2007 to 2011 who is now based in Virginia.

She is listed as a contributor to the book, which was written by two people whose credentials are not listed.

The state board likely will make a decision later this year whether to approve the book.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Marguerita Choy)

Flooding disaster that killed seven in Louisiana now menaces Texas

Richard Rossi and his 4 year old great grandson Justice wade through water in search of higher ground after their home took in water in St. Amant, Louisiana,

By Bryn Stole

LIVINGSTON, La. (Reuters) – Overwhelmed rivers in much of southern Louisiana receded slowly from record levels on Monday while crews in boats searched for more people stranded in inundated homes after three days of torrential rains that killed seven people.

While the threat of flash flooding moved west into Texas, more than 11,000 Louisianans have signed up for disaster assistance. Many are waiting for the flood waters to drain away so they can determine what can be salvaged from their sodden homes and businesses.

Emergency crews already have rescued more than 20,000 people and continued to search for more after a storm dumped more than 2 feet (61 cm) of rain in three days.

Aerial photographs on Sunday showed houses inundated in mud-colored water with only their roofs visible while the bridge over the Amite River around Port Vincent, Louisiana, was almost underwater. People had become trapped overnight in their cars when the water rose on Saturday over parts of a major interstate around Baton Rouge.

While some rivers were receding on Monday, others downstream were still cresting.

“The water started rising three or four days ago and it’s still coming up right now,” said Lonnie Wells, 59, as he stood on flooded state highway in French Settlement, a town in southern Livingston Parish.

Wells said he would try to ride out the floods with his chickens, rabbits, goats and dogs, although neighbors urged him to flag down a passing Louisiana National Guard truck to get out.

The Louisiana flooding, which prompted U.S. President Barack Obama to issue a disaster declaration, resulted in seven deaths, National Weather Service meteorologist Jennifer McNatt said. Four occurred when people drove vehicles into high waters.

“IT’S GOING TO TAKE A WHILE”

The flood waters were expected to linger.

“It is going to take a while for that water to make its way out,” McNatt, who is based in Fort Worth, Texas, said in a telephone interview.

Rivers in Louisiana crested at record levels in multiple places, with the Amite River reaching 46.2 feet (14 meters) in Denham Springs, 5 feet (1.5 meters) higher than a 1983 record, McNatt said.

In flood-ravaged Livingston Parish, scores of people woke up on Monday in packed emergency shelters, sprawled out wherever they could find room. Emergency rescuers worked through the night to bring to safety people who were still stranded in roads in the middle of subdivisions, surrounded by flood water.

Pierre and Barbara Pitard, both 76, had just minutes to leave their home in Denham Springs as the water rose rapidly. The couple fled first to a neighbor’s two-story house before moving on to a Walmart, a gas station and a community center. They were finally rescued by boat and carried to safety on Saturday night, the vessel rocking as it hit submerged pickup trucks on streets inundated by water.

Pierre Pitard accepted the damage to his home but fretted about the scope of the state’s devastation.

“It’s already under water,” he said of his house. “I’m worried about how you go about getting it fixed because you’ve got thousands of people now with the exact same problems.”

Some 11,000 people already have registered with the federal government’s disaster assistance website, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said in a Twitter post on Monday morning.

Flooding in Texas was a concern on Monday with the NWS saying a flood watch extended from Houston to the Hill Country region in the central part of the state. Rain also could menace parts of Arkansas in the next two days, McNatt said.

(Writing by Letitia Stein; Editing by Bill Trott)

Texas professors seek U.S. court help to ban guns in classrooms

File photo of a student walking at the University of Texas campus in Austin

By Jon Herskovitz

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – Three University of Texas professors plan to ask a U.S. judge on Thursday to give them the option of barring students from bringing guns into their classroom after the state gave some students that right under a law then went into effect this week.

The professors said academic freedom could be chilled under the so-called campus carry law backed by the state’s Republican political leaders that allows concealed handgun license holders 21 and over to bring handguns into classrooms and other university facilities.

“The forced presence of handguns will inevitably dampen classroom debate, discussion, and intellectual exploration by the undifferentiated intimidation unavoidably imposed by the close presence of hidden, loaded guns,” according to the lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction filed by professors Jennifer Lynn Glass, Lisa Moore and Mia Carter.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican and a defendant in the suit, filed papers this week to halt the injunction, calling the professors’ case a “frivolous lawsuit.”

“There is no legal justification to deny licensed, law-abiding citizens on campus the same measure of personal protection they are entitled to elsewhere in Texas,” Paxton said in a statement.

Lawyers for the professors said they expect a decision before Aug. 24.

The professors argue that they discus controversial and emotionally laden subjects such as reproductive rights, and it would be inevitable for them to alter their classroom presentations because of potential gun violence, according to court filings.

The law took effect on Aug. 1 as the University of Texas held a memorial to mark the 50th anniversary of one of the deadliest U.S. gun incidents on a college campus.

On Aug. 1 1966, student Charles Whitman killed 16 people in a rampage, firing from a perch atop the clock tower at the University of Texas at Austin, the state’s flagship public university.

University of Texas professors lobbied unsuccessfully to prevent the campus carry law, arguing the combination of youth, firearms and college life could make for a deadly situation.

Republican lawmakers said campus carry could help prevent a mass shooting.

The law allows private colleges to opt out, and most of the state’s best-known private universities have done so, saying the measure runs counter to protecting student safety.

Eight states now have provisions allowing the carrying of concealed weapons on public postsecondary campuses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks state laws.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Federal Team begins probe of deadly Texas balloon crash

Authorities head down a dirt road toward to investigate the scene of a hot air balloon crash that left 16 feared dead near Maxwell, Texas, U.S.

By Jim Forsyth

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) – U.S. safety investigators in central Texas began gathering evidence on Sunday into what caused the crash of a hot air balloon that killed 16 people after it hit a power line and plummeted to the ground in flames.

The balloon crashed on Saturday into a pasture near Lockhart, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Austin, killing all aboard. It was the deadliest crash ever involving a hot air balloon in the Western Hemisphere, according to the Balloon Federation of North America.

Aerial television footage showed flattened remnants of the red, white and blue balloon, adorned with a yellow smiley face wearing sunglasses.

The crash comes two years after the National Transportation Safety Board recommended greater oversight of the hot air balloon industry, said Robert Sumwalt, who is heading the NTSB’s investigation of the accident.

“The NTSB feels that there needs to be greater oversight by the regulator, and that regulator is the Federal Aviation Administration,” Sumwalt told a news conference near the crash site on Sunday. The FAA could not be immediately reached for comment.

Sumwalt said the balloon struck high-voltage power lines crossing the pasture before it crashed. But he said it had yet to be determined whether the fire started before or after it struck the wires.

The balloon took off about 20 minutes late, after passengers met in a Walmart parking lot and took a van to a nearby launch site, he said. Investigators want to know why takeoff was delayed.

Investigators have recovered cameras, iPads and mobile phones belonging the people on board the balloon. Most of the devices were damaged, but NTSB investigators still hoped to be able to gain information from them, he said.

Not counting Saturday’s incident, there have been 60 hot air balloon crashes in the United States since 2011, leading to seven deaths, Sumwalt said.

The balloon was operated by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides, based in New Braunfels, according to the NTSB. Attempts to reach the company for comment were unsuccessful.

Federal Aviation Administration records showed that Nichols had a 2014 commercial pilot’s license for hot air balloons, with an address in Chesterfield, Missouri.

Authorities have not released the names of the passengers.

But friends and family of Paige Brabson and her mother, Lorilee Brabson, said the two women are among the dead.

Paige Brabson was herself a new mother, according to a Facebook post by Ivan Monterrosa. It was not immediately clear where the women lived, but Monterrosa’s Facebook profile indicated that he graduated from high school in Wylie, Texas, in 2011.

“Yesterday, the beloved mother of my daughter, Paige Brabson and her mother, Lorilee Brabson, both passed away in a tragic hot air balloon accident,” Monterrosa wrote. “All I ask for are prayers and good vibes not just for myself but the Brabson family as well.”

The firm’s records as well as photos and videos will be part of the investigation, Sumwalt said.

The balloon company said in a recorded telephone message that chief pilot and owner Alfred “Skip” Nichols had died in the crash and all flights were canceled.

In a 2015 Facebook video, Nichols said he was inspired to become a balloonist at 15, when one landed on his street. He helped pack it up and became a crew member.

“It’s an adventure every time,” he said.

The company’s Facebook page was filled with condolence messages and photographs of Nichols.

“In loving memory of my sweet friend, Skip Nichols, I will always remember your visits to my house, just showing up for long walks and talking about life, I will love you forever, Godspeed, my friend!” Lisa Wade Kaminski wrote on Facebook.

(Additional reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington and Frank McGurty in New York; Writing by Ian Simpson and Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Sandra Maler)