INSIDER
Marijuana decriminalization measures in San Marcos, Austin get early court wins
Read full article: Marijuana decriminalization measures in San Marcos, Austin get early court winsThree other cities have passed similar measures but the Texas AG and others question whether they can be enforced because of conflicts with state law.
19-year-old arrested in Austin hookah lounge shooting that killed 2
Read full article: 19-year-old arrested in Austin hookah lounge shooting that killed 2Police say a 19-year-old has been arrested in a January shooting at a hookah lounge in Austin, Texas, that left two high school students dead and three other people seriously injured.
Texas hard freeze versus Storm Uri: 3 ways the weather ahead can’t compare to February 2021
Read full article: Texas hard freeze versus Storm Uri: 3 ways the weather ahead can’t compare to February 2021Local officials have repeated in recent days that the Texas freeze will not compare to the deadly and devastating Winter Storm Uri in in February 2021.
Voters in five Texas cities approved decriminalizing marijuana. Now city officials are standing in the way.
Read full article: Voters in five Texas cities approved decriminalizing marijuana. Now city officials are standing in the way.Some local leaders say they worry the changes violate state law, while residents who supported decriminalizing marijuana say the pushback disrespects democracy.
Five Texas cities vote to decriminalize having small amounts of marijuana
Read full article: Five Texas cities vote to decriminalize having small amounts of marijuanaVoters in Denton, San Marcos, Killeen, Elgin and Harker Heights overwhelmingly supported the local ballot propositions to decriminalize low-level possession. These moves followed Austin voters’ similar decision in May.
Fort Hood set to be renamed after Richard Cavazos, Texas’ first Hispanic four-star general
Read full article: Fort Hood set to be renamed after Richard Cavazos, Texas’ first Hispanic four-star generalDefense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin accepted the Naming Commission’s change and announced it would take place by Jan. 1, 2024.
Vanessa Guillen’s family seeks $35 million in the Army specialist’s 2020 wrongful death at Fort Hood
Read full article: Vanessa Guillen’s family seeks $35 million in the Army specialist’s 2020 wrongful death at Fort HoodArmed with a new federal court ruling that allows a former Army colonel to pursue a sexual assault lawsuit, the family of Vanessa Guillén has filed a wrongful death and assault case against the federal government.
Texas’ Fort Hood likely to be renamed for first Hispanic four-star general instead of Confederate general
Read full article: Texas’ Fort Hood likely to be renamed for first Hispanic four-star general instead of Confederate generalThe Army’s largest active-duty armored post is named after Gen. John Bell Hood. A commission has recommended naming it for Gen. Richard Cavazos, a native Texan.
Texas Democratic Party leadership election roiled by accusation that a candidate shoved a staffer
Read full article: Texas Democratic Party leadership election roiled by accusation that a candidate shoved a stafferWitnesses say Kim Olson pushed the party’s top staffer during a bus tour in 2018. Olson denies the allegation.
Houston one year after the freeze: How is the 2021 winter storm still affecting you?
Read full article: Houston one year after the freeze: How is the 2021 winter storm still affecting you?In February 2021, a brutal winter storm battered the state, overwhelming its power grids and forcing millions of Texans to scavenge for the basic elements for survival — food, water and shelter from record cold.
United Airlines to halt service to 8 cities at the start of 2022, including 2 in Texas
Read full article: United Airlines to halt service to 8 cities at the start of 2022, including 2 in TexasUnited Airlines announced Saturday that they will stop serving eight smaller cities in the U.S. at the beginning of the new year.
How a doughnut-shaped district breaks up voters of color near Fort Hood and helps House Republicans
Read full article: How a doughnut-shaped district breaks up voters of color near Fort Hood and helps House RepublicansThe doughnut district would be in Bell County, a traditionally red area that has trended blue in recent years as the diverse community around the nation’s biggest military installation grows.
Study: Warmer Arctic led to killer cold in Texas, much of US
Read full article: Study: Warmer Arctic led to killer cold in Texas, much of USA new study finds that the warming of the Arctic due to climate change has increased the number of polar vortex outbreaks, when frigid air from the far north bathes the central and eastern United States in killer cold.
Inside the chaotic response to a 911 call in Texas: ‘Half of the family just disappeared’
Read full article: Inside the chaotic response to a 911 call in Texas: ‘Half of the family just disappeared’It was 9:08 p.m. when Michael Negussie’s phone rang. Twenty minutes had passed since he called 911 asking for emergency crews to check on his cousins and their two children, fearing that they had fainted from carbon monoxide poisoning in their Houston home during a massive winter storm.
What’s in store for Texas this winter? Will the state experience another ice storm? Here’s what the Farmers’ Almanac says
Read full article: What’s in store for Texas this winter? Will the state experience another ice storm? Here’s what the Farmers’ Almanac saysWhat’s in store for Texas this winter? Will the state experience another snow storm?
A year after Vanessa Guillén’s death, lawmakers and advocates call for Congress to pass military sexual assault reform bill
Read full article: A year after Vanessa Guillén’s death, lawmakers and advocates call for Congress to pass military sexual assault reform billA federal bill was recently reintroduced, proposing sweeping changes to the way the military investigates sexual assault and harassment allegations. Texas lawmakers are urging Congress to make it law.
"Significant number" of U.S Army officers and soldiers at Fort Hood expected to be fired, AP reports
Read full article: "Significant number" of U.S Army officers and soldiers at Fort Hood expected to be fired, AP reportsA memorial for Specialist Vanessa Guillén outside the Fort Hood U.S. Army post in Killeen. A “significant number” of U.S Army officers and soldiers at Fort Hood in Texas are expected to be fired in an effort to correct a years-long culture of sexual assault and a pattern of violence at the base, the Associated Press reported. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy is expected to remove soldiers from their jobs and trigger investigations that could lead to wider punishments, according to the AP. Guillén was the victim of sexual harassment, her sister said, but she didn’t report the sexual harassment out of fear of retaliation. Between 2014 and 2019, an average of 129 felonies were committed annually at Fort Hood, including murder, kidnapping and sexual assault.
Fort Hood soldier facing murder charge in woman’s 2019 death; How DNA revived the case
Read full article: Fort Hood soldier facing murder charge in woman’s 2019 death; How DNA revived the caseKILLEEN, Texas – A Fort Hood soldier has been arrested in the death of a woman at a Texas hotel last year, authorities said Wednesday. NBC News reported Cory Grafton, 20, an active-duty soldier assigned to the Texas base, was arrested Tuesday. The Texas Rangers, which received a grant for DNA testing last year, approached police with the possibility of using the testing in the year-old case, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. Police had also gotten a statement from one of Grafton’s co-workers who said he had confessed to the killing, the Department of Public Safety said. NBC News reported Grafton was being held in lieu of $1 million bail Wednesday night, according to online jail records.
Fort Hood: The Army’s most dangerous post?
Read full article: Fort Hood: The Army’s most dangerous post?So far this year, nearly 30 service members connected to Fort Hood have died, including by homicide, suicide, accident and illness. Army leadership has admitted that Fort Hood has the worst rate of violent crime and incidents among its U.S. installations. Christopher Wayne SawyerSawyer, 29, was found unresponsive on March 5 in his residence on Fort Hood, according to a statement released by the post. Mejhor MortaMorta, 26, was found unresponsive July 17 in the vicinity of Stillhouse Hollow Lake, near Fort Hood. His body was discovered on Aug. 25 near railroad tracks in Temple, about 30 miles from Fort Hood.
Army asks for help in a search for missing Fort Hood soldier
Read full article: Army asks for help in a search for missing Fort Hood soldierFORT HOOD, Texas – The U.S. Army is asking for the public’s help in a search for another missing soldier in Texas. Fort Hood officials issued a missing soldier alert Thursday night for Sgt. Gregory Morales, 24, a Fort Hood soldier who was reported missing on Aug. 20, 2019. Vanessa Guillén, 20, a Fort Hood soldier who had been missing since April. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy has commented that Fort Hood has one of the highest rates of murder, sexual assault and harassment in the Army.
Investigators: Texas couple defrauded Army out of millions
Read full article: Investigators: Texas couple defrauded Army out of millionsInvestigators told the court there was probable cause to believe the couple committed crimes including wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering. He told the Fort Hood Sentinel that he was first drawn to the initiative by the chance to save on gas. Starting around 2014, according to the affidavit, Pelayo registered soldiers around the country for subsidies of $255 or $265 a month. Several enrolled soldiers said they had never ridden in the van pool and investigators found that many were not even at Fort Hood. A Fort Hood spokesman declined to answer questions, saying he'd defer to those agencies' statements.
Bond denied after suspect pleads not guilty in Vanessa Guillen case
Read full article: Bond denied after suspect pleads not guilty in Vanessa Guillen caseAUSTIN, Texas A 22-year-old woman accused of helping hide the body of a slain Texas soldier pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges related to the crime. Cecily Aguilar of Killeen, near Fort Hood, entered the pleas Tuesday in federal court in Waco to three conspiracy charges in the death of Army Spc. Vanessa Guilln, 20. A judge denied bond for Aguilar and she will remain in the Bell County Jail in Belton, Texas, while awaiting trial, KCEN TV reports. She said they will continue to build a whistleblower case for the slain soldier and asked anyone with information on Aguilar to come forward.
Hundreds march from Discovery Green to city hall to demand justice for Vanessa Guillen
Read full article: Hundreds march from Discovery Green to city hall to demand justice for Vanessa GuillenHOUSTON – Hundreds of people marched from Discovery Green to Houston’s city hall in honor of 20-year-old Vanessa Guillen. The Houston native, who was missing since April, is believed to have been bludgeoned to death on the Fort Hood army base in Kileen. Lupe Guillen, Vanessa’s sister, choked back tears as she addressed the large crowd. Other protesters, like Yvette Villegas, were at the event demanding those responsible for Guillen’s death be held accountable. “I don’t think any woman or anybody should have to go through this whether she’s in uniform or not,” Villegas said.
Skeletal remains found in Killeen field after Fort Hood investigators receive tip, police say
Read full article: Skeletal remains found in Killeen field after Fort Hood investigators receive tip, police sayHOUSTON Skeletal remains were discovered in a Killeen field Friday morning after the Fort Hood Criminal Investigations Division received a tip, according to the Killeen Police Department. At 9 a.m., Killeen police say Fort Hood officials notified them of a tip about a body in a field near the 3200 block of Florence Road in Killeen, Texas. The two agencies were assisted by the Texas Parks and Wildlife K9 division to search the field. During the K9 search, skeletal remains were located and a crime scene was established, officials wrote in a release. Tim Miller with Equusearch told KPRC 2 the skeletal remains are not believed to be those of missing Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen who was last seen on April 22.