Here are things to know for Thursday, April 1:
1. 2 ex-Texas sheriff deputies indicted in Black man’s death
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Two former Texas sheriff’s deputies were arrested Tuesday on manslaughter charges in the 2019 death of a man whom they shocked with stun guns after a police chase that was filmed by real-time police TV series “Live PD,” authorities said.
The charges are the first directly tied to the death of Javier Ambler, a Black man whose car deputies chased for 22 minutes after trying to pull him over for allegedly failing to dim his headlights to oncoming traffic. Ambler, a former postal worker, died after deputies repeatedly used stun guns on him, despite his pleas that he was sick and couldn’t breathe. The stop in suburban Austin was caught on camera by “Live PD,” which was canceled by the A&E Network in June.
2. HPD Chief Art Acevedo gets final send-off as he departs to Miami
The rocky tenure of Hubert Arturo Acevedo as HPD chief is over.
The conclusion came much earlier than expected, not the four to six weeks originally announced. Acevedo is bolting to Miami to serve as the city’s next top cop.
In fact, the departure comes two weeks after Acevedo told the city to “get ready for 500 murders.”
Acevedo leaves not only much earlier than expected but with a crime in the city soaring, specifically historic homicides that continue to skyrocket well into 2021. The current cases load sitting at 105 for the year.
3. Hundreds of unaccompanied migrant children to arrive in Houston Thursday
A total of 500 unaccompanied migrant children are expected to arrive in Houston Thursday.
Officials said the location is undisclosed and off-limits but will operate as an emergency intake site run by the National Association of Christian Churches. Preparations are being made to accept up to 13,000 more.
Texas has several facilities that are housing unaccompanied migrant children. This week, customs and border patrol offered a look inside a facility in Donna, Texas that was originally designed to house 250 children. That number is now up to 4,000.
Many are waiting for temporary housing or to reunite with family living in the U.S. Earlier this week, Sen. John Cornyn held a press conference after touring an undisclosed and off-limits facility for migrant children run by the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
4. Texas’ COVID-19 pandemic death toll edges closer to 50,000
The number of people with COVID-19 who have died in Texas is edging close to 50,000, the third-highest death toll in the nation, researchers reported Tuesday.
Johns Hopkins University researchers said 48,140 people with COVID-19 have died in Texas during the past year. Texas has the nation’s 23rd highest per-capita death rate, according to the university’s data.
State health officials on Tuesday reported 109 new deaths, along with 3,980 new confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases.
State health officials said that 3,161 people with COVID-19 required hospitalization as of Monday, the latest total available.
5. Houston Methodist Hospital makes COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for all employees
Houston Methodist Hospital becomes one of the first big hospitals to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for everyone who works there.
President and CEO Dr. Marc Boom made the announcement in a letter to employees.
Carole Hackett, senior vice president of human resources at Houston Methodist, said employees would be educated on the facts of the vaccine.
“Certainly we do allow exemptions for medical exemptions or religious exemptions but if they don’t have any exemptions then they can be terminated for not getting the vaccine,” Hackett said.