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…

The record-breaking heat in the summer of 2023 put a real drain on the finances of businesses across North Texas, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The Dallas Fed said the intensely hot weather likely reduced Texas’ GDP by 1% (or as much as $24 billion) because people spent less and some companies had a harder time supplying goods. The findings were part of a report on the Southwest Economy by researchers at the Dallas Fed. “Anecdotally, everyday behavior in Texas changed during the summer of 2023 as the heat bore down,” researchers said in the report. Researchers said the weather’s impact on Texas GDP growth was twice as pronounced compared to the rest of the country. “The effect of rising summer temperatures on job growth is another potential concern, but the impact has been more subdued compared to the hit to GDP,” the Dallas Fed said. On the flip side, the Dallas Fed said good spring weather and more normal fall temperatures helped spur spending. “The agricultural and real estate industries, in particular, have benefitted from springs that warm sooner,” according to the report. The Dallas Fed cautions that heat waves are expected to intensify in the coming…

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) took two actions Monday related to the ongoing Israel-Hamas War, including spending millions to further secure Jewish synagogues and schools and issuing an executive order that prevents state agencies from buying goods produced in the Gaza Strip. Around 1,400 Israelis and Palestinians are dead two days after Hamas launched an attack that caught Israel’s vaunted military and intelligence apparatus completely off guard and led to fierce battles in its streets for the first time in decades. At least nine Americans are among the dead. Israel’s military ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip on Monday, halting deliveries of food, water, fuel and supplies to its 2.3 million people as it pounded the Hamas-ruled territory with waves of airstrikes in retaliation for the militants’ bloody weekend incursion. The State of Texas condemns these heinous acts of violence and inhumanity against Israel and its people by ruthless terrorists, and we stand ready to offer our complete support to the Israeli and Jewish communities. I firmly denounce the act of war against Israeli citizens and Americans in Israel and support Israel’s right to defend itself from these barbaric attacks.Texas Gov. Greg Abbott The Texas governor’s office offered his…

Below are the Texas high school football scores for games played Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 28 through Sept. 30, 2023. 2023 TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Week 1, Aug. 24-26: Scores  Week 2, Aug. 31-Sept. 2: Rankings | Scores Week 3, Sept. 7-9: Rankings | Scores Week 4, Sept. 14-16: Rankings | Scores Week 5, Sept. 21–23: Rankings | Scores Week 6, Sept. 28-30: Rankings | Scores
THURSDAY TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCORES CLASS 6A Cypress Fairbanks 49, Jersey Village 28Cypress Woods 23, Cypress Lakes 16Fort Bend Austin 24, Fort Bend Clements 21Garland Sachse 49, Garland Naaman Forest 14Houston Lamar 57, Houston Westside 0Humble Atascocita 71, Beaumont West Brook 0Katy Cinco Ranch 35, Katy Mayde Creek 0Katy Tompkins 48, Katy Taylor 13Leander Rouse 36, Pflugerville Connally 34Pasadena Dobie 59, Pasadena 14Richardson Lake Highlands 49, Irving Nimitz 7Round Rock McNeil 7, Cedar Park Vista Ridge 6SA Northside Jay 37, Sotomayor 15 CLASS 5A Denton Ryan 68, FW South Hills 0Frisco 30, Sherman 7Frisco Lone Star 56, Frisco Liberty 0Galena Park 21, Fort Bend Willowridge 14Victoria West 50, CC Moody 6 CLASS 4A Dumas 27, EP Austin 7Houston Scarborough 38, Yates 17Lake Worth 51, FW Carter-Riverside 13 CLASS 3A Canadian 69, Canyon Randall 28Lyford…

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is completing all statewide lockdowns and searches at correctional facilities. Facilities will return to normal operations as the searches are complete, TCDJ said in an update. Lockdowns began last week on Sept. 6 at 9 a.m. In an email from TDCJ Volunteer Services, officials said the lockdown is in response to a recent increase in inmate violence that appears to be directly related to the introduction and use of illegal narcotics. You can find a list of units that have returned to normal operations here. The list updates each day at noon until all facilities are back to normal. Courtesy of Texas News – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth …

Courtesy of Texas News – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth …

Ahead of the opening day of the Texas State Fair, judges announce the Big Tex Choice Award winners. Earlier in August the Big Tex Choice awards announced the finalist for 2023. On Sunday afternoon the judges released the three winners for 2023. The Big Tex Choice Awards have been held at the State Fair of Texas since 2005. Each year, concessionaires create unique and tasty foods and compete for a chance to become a finalist in the annual Big Tex Choice Awards competition. Fairgoers will get a chance to sample these winning creations when the fair arrives on Sept. 29. 2023 Savory Winner: Deep Fried Pho DEEP FRIED PHO by Michelle Le The creator, Michelle Le, mixes the southern tradition of fried food with traditional Vietnamese comfort food. The combination is a balance of flavorful and refreshing with every bite. The pho is rolled up with noodles, slices of beef, fresh herbs and bean sprouts. Served with sides of pho broth, lime, jalapeños, cilantro, hoisin sauce and siracha that are typically found in pho restaurants. 2023 Sweet Winner: Biscoff Delight BISCOFF® DELIGHT by Stephen El Gidi This sweet treat elevates the classic New York-style cheesecake with Belgian chocolate and cookies….

A Texas House interim report shines a light on teacher workforce problems in Texas ahead of a possible October special session in Austin on education issues. “Texas has seen a growing overall attrition rate–now at an all-time high,” wrote members of the select committee on Educational Opportunity and Enrichment. Last year, Governor Abbott convened a task force to look for ways to keep and train teachers. The select-committee members wrote their recommendations have not been heeded by state lawmakers. For years Amber Shields worked as an elementary school teacher in Dallas, eventually becoming a campus principal. She saw many colleagues leave and believes one reason is the number of hours they had to spend preparing work materials on their personal time. “Teacher burnout and the amount of time they’re required to spend working on their profession after they leave for the day,” Shields said. Shields is now a director of Early Matters Dallas, a coalition aiming to boost the outcomes of young students in North Texas. “If we could reduce the amount of time teachers are spending finding the resources, creating resources, that can help people to stay in the profession,” Shield said. Lawmakers passed…