The U.S. military is investigating the death of a soldier at a Texas Army post that in recent years has struggled with homicide, suicide and sexual assault among its troops. Fort Hood officials said Wednesday that Pvt. Ana Basaldua Ruiz, a combat engineer who spent 15 months with the 1st Cavalry Division, died on Monday. Basaldua Ruiz, 20, who was from Long Beach, California, joined the Army in July 2021 and was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division since December that year, NBC News reported. Officials at the military installation 150 miles southwest of Dallas initially did not release further information about Basaldua Ruiz or the circumstances surrounding her death. They said in a statement that her family would be provided with support and “all releasable information.” Fort Hood then shared an update Thursday, saying the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division confirmed that “at this point in the investigation into the death of Pvt. Ana Basaldua Ruiz no foul play is evident, and will remain under investigation.” “Army CID will continue to conduct a thorough investigation and gather all evidence and facts to ensure they discover exactly what transpired. Information related to any possible harassment will be addressed…

Texans should get ready for an abundant, flourishing wildflower season this year. According to experts at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, wildflower season in Texas will be especially lush in 2023. “I think it’s going to be an above-average spring, particularly when it comes to bluebonnets,” says Andrea DeLong-Amaya, the center’s director of horticulture. “We had good fall rain when the seedlings were just starting to come up, and that continued through the winter.” Rainfall is not the only factor that contributes to the time that the wildflower season begins. Temperatures in Texas year-round can cause the wildflowers to bloom earlier or later. “We’ve had above normal rainfall in the fall which is good because that’s when not only bluebonnets but the other wildflowers typically germinate,” Julie Marcus, senior horticulturist at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, said. “But we’ve had such warmer temperatures, seasonally warm temperatures, that have caused them to bloom a little earlier. We are a little worried now that they are going to peak earlier than normal.” Weather maps shared by David Yeomans, KXAN meteorologist, and Wildflower Center advisory council member, indicate that January and February were significantly warmer during 2023 in Texas than…

Federal environmental authorities have ordered a temporary halt in the shipment of contaminated waste from the site of a fiery train derailment earlier this month in eastern Ohio near the Pennsylvania state line. Region 5 administrator Debra Shore of the Environmental Protection Agency said Saturday the agency ordered Norfolk Southern to “pause” shipments from the site of the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine but vowed that removal of the material would resume “very soon.” “Everyone wants this contamination gone from the community. They don’t want the worry, and they don’t want the smell, and we owe it to the people of East Palestine to move it out of the community as quickly as possible,” Shore said. Until Friday, Shore said, the rail company had been solely responsible for the disposal of the waste and supplied Ohio environmental officials with a list of selected and utilized disposal sites. Going forward, disposal plans including locations and transportation routes for contaminated waste will be subject to EPA review and approval, she said. “EPA will ensure that all waste is disposed of in a safe and lawful manner at EPA-certified facilities to prevent further release of hazardous substances and impacts to communities,” Shore…