A Texas board that had unanimously supported a posthumous pardon for George Floyd over a 2004 drug arrest in Houston backpedaled in an announcement Thursday, saying “procedural errors” were found in their recommendation months after leaving the decision to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. The unusual reversal was announced by Abbott’s office two days before Christmas, around the time he typically doles out his annual pardons. The withdrawn endorsement was met with outrage from a public defender who submitted the pardon application for Floyd, who spent much of his life in Houston before his death in 2020 under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer. Allison Mathis, an attorney in Houston, accused the two-term governor of playing politics ahead of Texas’ March GOP primary elections as he faces challengers from the far right. Floyd’s name was withdrawn along with two dozen other clemency recommendations that had been submitted by the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles. In a letter dated Dec. 16 but not released publicly until now, the board told Abbott that it had identified “unexplained departures” from its process of issuing pardons and needed to reconsider more than a third of the 67 clemency recommendations it sent to Abbott…

One person was killed and at least 14 others were injured Sunday night in a drive-by shooting during a candlelight vigil near Houston, a sheriff said. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the shooting happened around 6:40 p.m. CT when about 50 people were gathered for a celebration of life near North Market Loop in Baytown, about 25 miles west of Houston. “Right as they were releasing the balloons up into the air was when the vehicle came,” he said. “Almost at that exact time is when they opened fire into a crowd.” Three of the wounded were in critical condition and taken to a hospital by helicopter, Gonzalez said. One of the injured was believed to be a young child, he said. Gonzalez said it was too early to know whether the shooting may be gang-related. “Those bullets don’t have eyes or anything, so it just puts everybody at risk,” Gonzalez said. One witness, Sidney Williams, told KTRK-TV that “people were screaming and running to their cars.”
This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. Courtesy of Texas News – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth …

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 …