Tesla says it has officially moved its corporate headquarters from Silicon Valley to a large factory under construction outside of Austin, Texas. The company made the announcement late Wednesday in a filing with U.S. securities regulators. CEO Elon Musk had said at the company’s annual meeting in October that the move was coming. The filing said the relocation from Palo Alto, California, to what Tesla calls a “Gigafactory” on Harold Green Road near Austin was done on Wednesday. In U.S. regulatory filings at the end of last year, Tesla said it had about 71,000 employees worldwide. Company news releases in 2020 said about 10,000 work at the Palo Alto headquarters and 10,000 are employed at its factory in Fremont, California. It wasn’t clear if all of the headquarters employees would be required to move. A message was left Wednesday seeking comment from Tesla, which has disbanded its media relations department. Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives said in October that he expects some of the 10,000 employees in Palo Alto won’t want to leave the Bay Area, but says a large number will, due to Austin’s lower cost of living. He said he thinks Tesla will give many the option of staying, but expects 40%…

Police on Sunday continued investigating the death of a Southwest Airlines worker who was shot near an employee parking lot at the airport in El Paso. Police say they were dispatched to the airport Friday night on an aggravated robbery call and when officers arrived, they found the body of the worker. In a statement on Saturday, Southwest Airlines said the unidentified employee, who worked at the airport’s ground operations, had been fatally shot while leaving work. “This is a heartbreaking, tragic loss for the Southwest Team, and we extend deepest sympathies to our colleague’s family, loved ones, and their extended Southwest Family. Southwest Leadership is focused on supporting our employees while we offer our full support to the active investigation being conducted by local law enforcement,” the airline said. In a statement, El Paso Aviation Director Sam Rodriguez offered his condolences to the worker’s family and said his agency was cooperating with police in its investigation. “The airport remains open as we work with law enforcement to provide a safe flying experience,” Rodriguez said. No arrests have been made in the shooting. Courtesy of Texas News – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth …

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered a halt to the enforcement of Texas’ ban on mask mandates in the state’s schools. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel ruled in Austin that the ban ordered by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott violated a federal law protecting disabled students’ access to public education. The nonprofit advocacy group Disabled Rights Texas argued that Abbott’s ban prohibited accommodations for disabled children particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Yeakel prohibited Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from suing school districts that require students to wear masks as a safety measure. Paxton already had sued 15 school districts to overturn those local mask mandates. “Governor Abbott’s executive order clearly violates federal law, and Attorney General Paxton’s enforcement of the order against school districts is now stopped,” Kym Davis Johnson of Disability Rights Texas said in a statement. “As the court found, Texas is not above federal law, and state officials cannot prevent school districts from providing accommodations to students who are especially vulnerable to the risks of COVID-19.” Messages seeking comment from Abbott’s and Paxton’s offices were not immediately returned Wednesday. Courtesy of Texas News – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth …

Four people were killed and 11 others were hurt Friday when a sport utility vehicle carrying 15 migrants rolled over on a West Texas highway, officials said. The crash was reported at about 5:30 a.m. Friday on Texas 54 near the Blue Origin rocket launch site, about 24 miles north of Van Horn and 100 miles east of El Paso, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. No other vehicles were involved, Lt. Elizabeth Carter said. Six of those in the SUV were airlifted to University Medical Center in El Paso, where a spokeswoman said three were in critical condition Friday. Other occupants were taken by ambulance to other local hospitals, Carter said. She did not know their conditions or the fate of the driver. The migrants appeared to have been from Guatemala, Carter said. The crash, she said, remained under investigation. Courtesy of Texas News – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth …

Texas congressmen complained Tuesday about the Mexican government’s attempts to limit competition in the electrical power sector. In a letter to U.S. Ambassador Ken Salzar, about 20 Texas congressmen and senators criticized changes proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to restrict the market share of private power generators and favor Mexico’s state-owned utility company. The letter circulated by Republican Rep. August Pfluger said the new rules would “discriminate against American energy producers.” The complaint came on the same day the Mexican government claimed it is leading a transition to more renewable energy, even though López Obrador is pushing to restrict private wind and solar projects. López Obrador submitted a bill earlier this month that would cancel contracts under which 34 private plants sell power into the national grid. The plan declares “illegal” another 239 private plants that sell energy directly to corporate clients in Mexico. Almost all of those plants are renewable or natural-gas fired. The measure also would cancel many long-term energy supply contracts and clean-energy preferential buying programs, often affecting foreign companies. It puts private natural gas plants almost last in line — ahead of only government coal-fired plants — for rights to sell electricity into the grid,…

Christopher Ramirez, a 3-year-old boy missing since Wednesday in Grimes County, has been found safe.
According to Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell, the child was found wandering in a wooded area near FM 1486 north of Highway 249, almost five miles from his home, at approximately 11:15 a.m. Authorities were able to locate the child after a “citizen called in after hearing some noise,” Sowell told NBC News. “It looks like little boy was just lost in the woods,” Sowell said. The child has been reunited with his mother, Araceli Nunez, and taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure. Ramirez was last seen on Wednesday afternoon playing with a family dog near Plantersville, about 60 miles northwest of Houston. Family members said the boy followed the dog into a wooded area and had not been seen since. Authorities searched several bodies of water and drained one pond while looking for the child. They also conducted ground searches with K-9 units, surveyed the area with drones and helicopters, and reviewed surveillance footage from nearby homes. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Courtesy of Texas News – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth …

The Texas Secretary of State’s Office announced Tuesday the details of a “forensic audit” of the 2020 election it launched last week, a day after former President Donald Trump suggested that Gov. Greg Abbott (R) order the audit. The Secretary of State’s Office says the audit ensures “Texas voters have confidence in the elections system” and addresses things election officials could face “that undermine the integrity of our elections.” Trump won Texas in 2020 by 5.5 percentage points and there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the state. Still, it was the closest margin of victory by a GOP presidential nominee in Texas in decades. The Secretary of State is appointed by the governor in Texas but has remained vacant since Ruth Ruggero Hughs stepped down in May. Election Audit Elections Sep 25 Explainer: As Arizona Election ‘Audit' Ends, New Ones Begin Donald Trump Sep 24 Cyber Ninjas' GOP-Backed Audit of Arizona Votes Still Shows Biden Won, Maricopa County Says …

The Biden administration worked Saturday on plans to send many of the thousands of Haitian immigrants who have gathered in a Texas border city back to their Caribbean homeland, in a swift response to the huge influx of people who suddenly crossed the border from Mexico and congregated under and around a bridge. Details were yet to be finalized but would likely involve five to eight flights per day that would begin Sunday, according to an official with direct knowledge of the plans who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. San Antonio, the nearest major city to Del Rio, where the migrants have gathered, could be among the departure cities. The official said Friday that operational capacity and Haiti’s willingness would determine the number of flights, but that “good progress” was being made. Another administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity expected two flights per day, at most, and said all migrants would be tested for COVID-19. U.S. authorities closed traffic to vehicles and pedestrians in both directions Friday at the only border crossing in Del Rio after the chaotic influx of migrants presented the administration…

The sweeping changes to Texas’ election code that GOP Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law Tuesday make it harder — sometimes even legally riskier — to cast a ballot in the state, which already has some of the nation’s most restrictive voting laws, the Associated Press reports. Democrats gridlocked the state Capitol for 38 consecutive days after more than 50 fled to Washington, D.C., in July to deny Republicans a quorum, which is required to conduct the state’s business. Enough of them returned about three weeks ago to end the impasse, and GOP leaders made quick work of pushing the bill through both chambers. Abbott immediately said he would sign it, which happened Tuesday. Texas is among at least 18 states, including Florida, Georgia and Arizona, that have enacted new voting restrictions since the 2020 election, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. The national GOP campaign to tighten voting laws has been partly driven by former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the election was stolen. Here’s a closer look at what’s in the new Texas law: Empowering Poll Watchers Some of the most significant changes in Texas law concerns partisan poll watchers, the volunteers deployed by both major…

Through tears, Elizabeth Holguin talks about her son. “He was a great kid,” Holguin said. “He was my son.” A marine she says was killed in the suicide bomber attack in Afghanistan. “He’s my hero,” Holguin said. “My marine and he’s served his country.” The family said military is what he always wanted to do since he was about 14 years old. “I think all veterans are going to be disturbed,” The Veterans Center of North Texas Executive Director Paul Hendricks said. Hendricks is also a veteran of the Vietnam War and knows what’s happening in Afghanistan can trigger other veterans. “There was certainly a mass exodus out of Vietnam just like there is going on today with Afghanistan,” Hendricks said. He knows veterans of previous wars or even from this one may need help.  Their nonprofit is one that provides resources. “We’re here to provide referral,” Hendricks said. “Where can I go to get services in the community and help on that integration and just help to be stable in the community.  And then we do have resources to provide direct financial assistance if that’s warranted.” Hendricks added for many veterans seeing what’s happening overseas or just returning from Afghanistan…