A Texas attorney has been accused of using work-related visits to a county jail to smuggle in legal paperwork laced with ecstasy and synthetic marijuana to inmates over the past several months, authorities announced Monday. Ronald Lewis, 77, was arrested on Friday after arriving at the Harris County Jail in Houston to visit an inmate, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said at a news conference. This booking photo provided by the Harris County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office, shows Ronald Lewis on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. Authorities have accused the Houston attorney of using work-related visits to a county jail to smuggle in legal paperwork laced with ecstasy and synthetic marijuana to inmates over the last several months. Lewis was free on bond on Monday, Nov. 20, after being arrested Friday at the Harris County Jail in Houston while trying to visit an inmate. (Harris County Sheriff’s Office via AP) During his arrest, Lewis had 11 sheets of paper believed to be laced with narcotics, according to authorities. Lewis has been charged with two counts of bringing a prohibited substance into a correctional facility. He is free after posting bonds totaling $15,000. An attorney for Lewis did not immediately return a call seeking…

As major repairs continue on the historic Battleship Texas, plans are being finalized for the ship’s permanent home. The Battleship Texas Foundation announced this week that it is working on a deal to bring the ship to the Pier 21 waterfront development in Galveston. Texas is the last surviving battleship that served in both World Wars. She is in dry dock in Galveston. “This ship is in a hospital. We are doing major surgery on the ship,” said Travis Davis, Vice President of Ship Operations for the Battleship Texas Foundation. The State of Texas, which owns the ship, had considered scrapping her. The 111-year-old battleship was taking on 2,000 gallons of water a minute at her longtime home near the San Jacinto Monument outside Houston. Pumps kept the Texas afloat. “There was definitely a chance we were going to lose the ship,” Davis said. Fifteen months ago, Battleship Texas was towed to the Gulf Copper shipyard and lifted out of the water. Dozens of workers are slowly reversing decades of decay. Fixing the leaks is top priority. “The work that we’re doing to the ship is very critical,” Davis said. The severely weathered wooden deck will also be replaced to make…

Voters will decide how to spend the state’s historic surplus this November when they vote on fourteen different constitutional amendment propositions. One item comes after North Texas saw more droughts and extreme weather this year and aims to restore aging and damaged water infrastructure. Proposition 6 will create a dedicated Texas Water Fund to finance water projects through the Texas Water Development Board. $1 billion from the state’s surplus will get the fund started for repairing and replacing pipes along with larger water projects like wastewater treatment plants and reservoirs. “Texas is facing a very stark situation aging and fragile infrastructure. A lot of our infrastructure is very old, very outdated,” said Sarah Kirkle, policy director for the Texas Water Conservation Association. The Texas Water Conservation Association is the trade group for organizations like the Dallas Water Authority, the Upper Trinity Regional Water Authority, and others across the state. Kirkle tells NBC 5 that every year, enough water leaks out of utilities to supply Austin, Fort Worth, El Paso, and other cities for an entire year. “You’ve probably seen in the news, you know, boil water notices and pipe breaks, leaking water. That happens not…