President Joe Biden has designated the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Southern Nevada as a national monument, protecting 506,000 acres of Nevada's Spirit Mountain and the surrounding desert. This is a major victory for the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, who have been advocating for the site for three decades, and is part of Biden's larger effort to protect the environment. The monument is one of the largest tracts of land to come under federal protection so far during Biden's presidency.
Posts tagged as “North Texa”
On Monday morning, a shooting occurred outside of Lamar High School in Arlington, Texas, leaving two students injured. Police have arrested the suspected shooter and the school remains on lockdown as the district provides counseling services to those affected. One student is in critical condition and the other appears to have suffered minor injuries.
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon has signed a bill prohibiting abortion pills in the state, allowing a separate measure restricting abortion to become law without his signature. This is the latest in a series of state-level restrictions on abortion access, with the Governor expressing concern that the issue should be decided as soon as possible with a vote of the people. His decision follows a federal judge in Texas raising questions about a Christian group's effort to overturn the decades-old U.S. approval of a leading abortion drug.
U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz debunked a claim made by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) that agents had found an “explosive” near the southern border in January, confirming that the object was actually a piece of a plastic water bottle. All of the Democrats on the panel opted to boycott the hearing, arguing that Republicans were using the field hearing to “score political points” and spread misinformation. The incident highlights the ongoing political tensions between Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
The Houston Independent School District (HISD), the largest school district in Texas and one of the largest in the nation, will have its superintendent and board of education trustees replaced by a new board appointed by the state Commissioner of Education. This move has angered Democrats, and deepens a rift between Texas' largest city and state Republican leaders. It is unclear what changes the new board will make, who will be appointed, or what impact the takeover will have on the district's students and staff.
A federal judge in Texas heard arguments Wednesday in a case that could potentially threaten the most common form of abortion in the United States. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk heard arguments from the Alliance Defending Freedom lawyers to revoke or suspend the approval of the abortion medication mifepristone, which has been used by millions of American women for over two decades. Judge Kacsmaryk did not issue a ruling Wednesday, but the outcome of the case could have far-reaching implications for women’s reproductive rights in the United States.
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured an unprecedented image of WR 124, a Wolf-Rayet star in the Sagittarius constellation 15,000 light-years away. This massive star is in the brief Wolf-Rayet phase before going supernova, and Webb's observations of this rare phase are valuable to astronomers. The telescope is a joint project between NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency and is set to launch in 2021, providing astronomers with the most powerful space telescope ever built to study stars, galaxies, and planets, and search for signs of life.
A 13-year-old girl reported missing in Dallas, Texas was found safe in an outbuilding in North Carolina after being enticed away from home by an adult man she met on a social media platform. The man, 34-year-old Jorge Ivan Santos Camacho, was arrested on child abduction, felonious restraint, statutory rape and other charges. The girl was found unharmed and has since been reunited with her family. The Davidson County Sheriff's Office is continuing to investigate the incident and encourages parents to be aware of their children's online activity.