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…

A late-night appeal from the Texas Attorney General’s office has paused an injunction that exempted people with medically complicated pregnancies from the state’s abortion ban. The state appealed directly to the Texas Supreme Court to stop “an activist Austin judge’s attempt to override Texas abortion laws,” First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster said in a statement. The stay of the injunction will remain in effect until the Texas Supreme Court makes a decision on the appeal. Travis County Judge Jessica Mangrum issued the short-lived injunction Friday evening, exempting Texans from the state abortion ban if they have medical conditions that complicate pregnancy or if their fetus has a condition that makes it unlikely to survive after birth. Two weeks prior, four Texas women testified in Austin about abortions they were denied or forced to delay under the state’s ban on the procedure. Texas’ abortion trigger ban, which went into effect last August, outlaws abortions in all cases except for those that threaten the life of a pregnant patient. But the original exemption for medical emergencies created uncertainty among physicians about whether and when they could provide abortion care, Mangrum said in the ruling. Doctors who perform abortions can face up to life in prison, a $100,000…

If you’ve got writer’s block, UT Austin has the program for you. The University of Texas at Austin’s Michener Center for Writers has unveiled the Steinbeck Writers Retreat, an opportunity for writers to live and write at Nobel and Pulitzer-prize-winning author John Steinbeck’s former residence. Steinbeck is famous for a number of iconic works, most notably “Of Mice and Men,” “The Grapes of Wrath,” “Tortilla Flat,” and “East of Eden.” Sitting on the East Coast in Sag Harbor, New York, the home is where Steinbeck wrote his two final books and where he learned he’d won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Steinbeck Writers’ Retreat will allow writers the breathing room to unlock their creativity in one of the most inspiring settings on the East Coast as they walk in the steps of one of time’s greatest authors, John Steinbeck.UT President Jay Hartzell, in a statement While writers stay and write at the residence, they will also deliver public readings, workshops and work with Michener Center students. The residencies will be available to writers of fiction, poetry, plays, and scripts that are at different stages of their careers. They will also be offered to alumni of the UT Austin…

Mexico’s top diplomat said Friday her country has sent a diplomatic note to the U.S. government expressing concern that Texas’ deployment of floating barriers on the Rio Grande may violate 1944 and 1970 treaties on boundaries and water. Foreign Relations Secretary Alicia Bárcena said Mexico will send an inspection team to the Rio Grande to see whether any of the barrier extends into Mexico’s side of the border river. She also complained about U.S. efforts to put up barbed wire on a low-lying island in the river near Eagle Pass, Texas. Bárcena said that if the buoys impede the flow of water, it would violate the treaties, which requires the river remain unobstructed. Mexico has already asked that the barriers be removed. Texas began rolling out the new floating barrier on the Rio Grande in early July. It is part of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s multibillion-dollar effort to secure the U.S. border with Mexico, which already has included busing migrants to liberal states and authorizing the National Guard to make arrests. Migrant advocates have voiced concerns about drowning risks from the buoys and environmentalists questioned the impact on the river. Once installed, the above-river parts of the system and the webbing they’re connected with…

Embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will not testify in his upcoming impeachment trial that could result in the Republican being permanently removed from office, according to his defense team. In a lengthy statement released Monday night, Paxton’s lead attorney against criticized the proceedings that led to the GOP-controlled Texas House impeaching the state’s top law enforcement in May. The trial in the Texas Senate is scheduled to begin Sept. 5. “‘They had the opportunity to have Attorney General Paxton testify during their sham investigation but refused to do so,” attorney Tony Buzbee said in a statement. “We will not bow to their evil, illegal, and unprecedented weaponization of state power in the Senate chamber.” A spokesman for the House managers leading the impeachment did not immediately return a message seeking comment Tuesday. Paxton, a Republican, is temporarily suspended from office pending the outcome of his trial on 20 articles of impeachment that include charges of bribery and abuse of office. Separately, he is under FBI investigation over accusations that he used his power to help a donor. That donor was indicted in a federal court in Austin last month on charges of making false statements to banks. Paxton is also still awaiting trial on felony securities fraud charges from 2015….

ERCOT, the operator of Texas’ power grid, is issuing a Weather Watch from June 25 to June 30 in anticipation of high temperatures paired with expected higher electrical demand across the state. Grid conditions are expected to be normal however reserves may be lower. “ERCOT is trying to be more transparent,” University of Houston Energy Fellow Ed Hirs said. Hirs said the Weather Watch is something people should pay attention to. “I think what ERCOT is explaining is it’s going to be hot and the grid is going to be stressed,” Hirs said. “We do bring them outside when the sun is going down because it is getting hotter out here,” said Angelique Grace from a park in Euless. She and her family are already preparing for what’s to come knowing temperatures will likely be over 100 degrees for several days ahead. “Staying hydrated,” Grace said. “Just staying cool. Keeping that air conditioner running.” ERCOT said there is a possibility of reaching an all-time peak demand record next week. But adds there is enough capacity to meet forecasted demand. Still, ERCOT says it will monitor conditions closely and will deploy all available tools to manage the grid. …

Texas is eliminating paper license plates. Gov Greg Abbott (R) signed HB718 into law Monday bringing an end to the state’s troubled temporary paper license tag system. The new law will replace all paper tags with metal ones starting July 1, 2025. A yearlong series of reports from NBC 5 Investigates led to calls for change. Our series, “Paper Tag Nation” exposed how criminals obtained car dealer licenses so they could access the Texas DMV’s online system and then print and sell fraudulent paper tags. Some of those tags were then used on cars involved in serious crimes. State Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) told the Senate during the legislative session that passage of the bill would deliver a blow to organized crime. Over the last year, the Texas DMV has implemented new security measures and suspended dozens of licensed car dealers suspected of using the state’s own system to sell fraudulent tags on the black market.  But as the DMV cracked down, counterfeiters stepped in making and selling entirely fake tags and capitalizing on the widespread confusion created by the proliferation of fraudulent tags printed out of the DMV’s system. PREVIOUS REPORTS
June 12, 2023 – Gov. Abbott signs law eliminating paper license plates…